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Celtic and Brendan Rodgers must resolve deep issues says Charlie Nicholas

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Charlie Nicholas says differences at Celtic Park have to be resolved

Celtic's board and Brendan Rodgers must sort out their problems on and off the pitch following the club's early exit from the Champions League, says former striker Charlie Nicholas

Celtic were beaten 2-1 by AEK Athens on Tuesday night as they were eliminated in the third qualifying round 3-2 on aggregate.

It means the club drop into the Europa League and Nicholas believes there needs to be greater collective understanding within Celtic Park.

"If you want to become a bigger force and a global force, which I believe is Rodgers' direction, or whether the board are more interested in taking a more domestic direction, I think that is where we see the problems," he told Sky Sports News.

"I think there are deeper problems within this football club between the board and the manager. I honestly don't know what they are right now but I think there are things that will be discussed and I think we are probably going to have to look into this in three or four weeks.

14/08/18 UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUALIFYING THIRD ROUND QUALIFIER 2nd LEG. AEK ATHENS v CELTIC . ATHENS - GREECE. The Celtic players look dejected after Athens open the scoring
Image: Celtic players after AEK Athens open the scoring on Tuesday night

"But Celtic have to sort themselves out on the pitch first and foremost and that's Brendan's and the players' responsibility and the blame game will continue.

"This is not a crisis at Celtic but what people are concerned about at Celtic is that they have given momentum to the other giant club across the road in the city at Rangers under the iconic signing of Steven Gerrard.

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"All of a sudden the challenge is on. So it's a tremendously interesting story at the moment but Celtic, the board and the manager must resolve their issues."

Celtic's elimination means they miss out on the lucrative Champions League stage but Nicholas believes the supporters are losing most.

14/08/18 UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUALIFYING THIRD ROUND QUALIFIER 2nd LEG. AEK ATHENS v CELTIC . ATHENS - GREECE. Celtic’s Jozo Simunovic looks dejected at full time
Image: Jozo Simunovic looks dejected at full time

"It's gigantic, it's the fans that miss out," he added.

"We've had Lionel Messi and Xavi and all these guys from Barcelona rave about the atmosphere at Celtic Park in the midweek on a Champions League night. It's unmissable and now they are going to miss that.

"Celtic fans are furious, they don't know who to blame because the modern way is the blame game.

"Their anger is mainly directed at the board but in all honesty I looked at the Rosenborg game before they played AEK and Celtic were average and Rosenborg were even less.

"Celtic have been put out by AEK Athen who were very, very average and that's the reality of where Celtic are."

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