Celtic hero Chris Sutton claims John Kennedy's "unnecessary" call to arms was like something former Rangers flop Pedro Caixinha would have come away with.
The interim boss had been happy to fly under the radar but he claimed following the 6-0 win over Livingston that his charges are "still the best team in the country."
That comes with the Parkhead side trailing their great rivals by 20 points and conceding to the earliest title defeat in Scottish football history.
Kennedy 's comments have sparked fierce debate ahead of Sunday's Scottish Cup showdown with Rangers as Celtic aim to deny their rivals a double trophy success.
But count Sutton out of those people backing the 38-year-old over his passionate address to beleaguered supporters.
Speaking to the Record Celtic podcast, he said: "He could still say that Celtic have a good team that they can perform extremely well.
"But he said they are the best team in the country, that is a completely different thing to say, it's a ridiculous thing to say.
"First of all it's absolutely not true, everyone can see that and it's slightly delusional to say that.
"Whether Celtic fans like it or not, everybody has to sit back and applaud what Steven Gerrard has done at Ibrox this season.
"They have won the league easily. For Celtic, it's been a woeful, woeful season - just accept it and that's what John Kennedy didn't do.
"Now Celtic have a team who are extremely capable and a team which haven't performed well enough this season and on any given day of course they can go out and beat Rangers.
"But it was just a really daft comment to make that Celtic are still the best team in the country when they have been annihilated this season.
"That's up there with Pedro Caixinha stuff, isn't it?
"It was an unnecessary comment and, perhaps, a comment that motivates Rangers going into this game just to absolutely put one one Celtic but I would like to think that wouldn't affect the Celtic team and their mindset.
"The game is to out and prove a point, it's playing for pride, it's playing for the jersey and in a one-off game, show (Kennedy) they are a good team.
"But they aren't the best team in the country this season, that's plain to see."
The former Hoops star can see no reason why his former team-mate would feel the need to weigh in after such a disastarous campaign on the pitch.
And Sutton admits he would have been tickled if a rival manager had made a similar claim during his playing days.
He added: "I would laugh, laugh and laugh and laugh, and I would just think it was idiotic.
"It's one thing backing your team but you have to accept what's happened across the city, they have been a good team.
"They have been fare more consistent, defensively they have been stronger."
