Utrecht star slams Celtic

FC UTRECHT'S Edouard Duplan has branded Celtic lazy, arrogant and disorganised - and he's a fan of the Parkhead club.

The French winger, who travelled to Seville wearing a Celtic top to support Martin O'Neill's side against Porto in the 2003 UEFA Cup final, was stunned, singling out captain Scott Brown for special criticism.

"I was surprised by how Celtic just accepted the defeat," Duplan said. "I expected their players to respond when we went in front but they didn't and we won really comfortably.

"You think that Celtic players will fight for every ball but they didn't work so hard. We won all the duels all over the park because we wanted it more than they did.

"Celtic clearly under-estimated us. They thought we were an average club from a Dutch league which no one pays much attention to. They thought they only had to turn up in Holland to go through and we knew that they would treat us that way: it was obvious from their reaction at the end of the first leg in Glasgow."

Duplan added: "Celtic's attitude was disappointing. They looked at us in an arrogant way, as if Utrecht was no big deal and, of course, we didn't like that.

"Even during the warm-up their body language was wrong. One of my team-mates said: 'Hey guys, look at them - they're not taking us seriously!' From that moment on we really wanted to show them.

"Scott Brown is the engine of Celtic's team but he was really wild. He should put more energy into playing football instead of wanting to fight.

"There was no connection between Celtic's defence and their midfield or their midfield and their forwards. They were a collection of individuals but we attacked and defended as a team and that was the difference between us. Of course, Celtic remain a huge club - much bigger than Utrecht - but I can't believe how their players simply accepted defeat on Thursday night."