Brendan Fraudgers!

YOU ARE A * MORON AND SHOULD BE BANNED YOU MAKE THE DOC LOOK LIKE A SMART * YA HOWLING LURKER

 

I'd break the bank right now for Strachan and McGhee.

 

No it's arrogance, Brendan has it in abundance and all the best managers have it..

It was always going to be a rollercoaster in Europe under him, there will be incredible highs along with absolute trouncings..

Will be interesting to see if he adapts his philosophy.

We are lucky to have him tho..

 

Define older boy?

 

Luckily, you're nothing to do with Celtic then.

 

So you think Rodgers overrates his ability as a manager?

 

No I didn't say that.. he has total belief in his ability and has a clear philosophy on how he wants to the play the game.

And he won't stray from that mindset..

It's arrogant to go toe-to-toe with Bayern in formation and believe we're good enough to compete. I'm glad he has an arrogant streak tho as I said winners have it..

He's arrogant without being conceited, if that makes sense?

 

Fair enough. From what he has said, I think he has the long game in mind when we play the best teams. If I have misread him, then yeah, arrogant would be the best way to describe his behaviour.

 

Does winning 3-0 away from home not count as competing, to you?

What were your expectations from this group? My expectation was to challenge for 3rd place and we're on course to do that.

 

I think everyone's expectation was to be battling for 3rd place with Anderlecht. Due to our win in Belgium we are in pole position for the Europa last 32.

I thought we'd beat Anderlecht at home and thought we could sneak a win/draw vs one of the powerhouses at Paradise.

I felt we could get points from Anderlecht away but expected nothing in Munich or Paris.

If I was offered 3 points from our first 3 games at the start of the competition, I'd have taken it.

 

Aye, bring back Ronny and Johansen.

 

Why are * even responding

 

THE likelihood of Celtic ever being able to take on and beat European football’s superpowers using, to borrow that famous Jock Stein phrase, pure, beautiful, inventive football, seems remote just now.

Brendan Rodgers’s side, to their manager’s credit, attempted to take the game to their opponents in the meeting with Bayern Munich in the Allianz Arena on Wednesday night, but ultimately paid a heavy price for that.

As Kingsley Coman, Arjen Robben, Thiago, Thomas Muller and Robert Lewandowski ran amok and romped to a comfortable 3-0 win, many of their supporters were left wishing they had taken a less ambitious approach.

Celtic have certainly claimed some notable scalps in the Champions League over the years with the likes of Juventus, AC Milan, Manchester United and most famously of all Barcelona all being defeated at Parkhead.

On every one of those occasions, though, the Glasgow club sat deep, managed to withstand relentless pressure and scored on the counter attack. The results are remembered fondly and celebrated to this day. But they were hardly easy on the eye.

Wouldn't that have been a more sensible game plan for Rodgers in Bavaria, where goalkeeper Craig Gordon was subjected to a bludgeoning, in midweek?

The gulf between the top clubs in the big five leagues in England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain and those in smaller footballing nations like Scotland is larger than ever and getting wider all the time.

So, the possibility of a side getting a result against them by doing anything other than putting all of his players behind the ball appear slight.

However, the Northern Irishman remains convinced that Celtic can, despite not having the untold millions to lavish on the world’s best players that Bayern and other behemoths of the continental game do, compete in the Champions League using exactly the same tactics which have served them well domestically.

He feels his side, which contained young Scottish players such as Stuart Armstrong, James Forrest, Leigh Griffiths and Kieran Tierney, will benefit enormously from the experience and be better placed to cope with such occasions in seasons to come.

“We’re doing remarkably well with our run and record domestically,” said Rodgers. “But I came here to create a level of football which was for this [Champions League] level and not just domestic football.

“That is just about time, confidence and giving them the confidence while being exposed to the top level as often as possible. We cannot compete at all with Bayern Munich financially, but you have to find a way.

“It’s incredibly difficult, of course, but we can’t stop trying. The figures and the gap is huge, but you don’t give up hope and try to find ways to get results.

“You have to be realistic. The game now, the modern game, is moving away beyond because of finances. For us, we want to be competitive and to do that we have to find a way, a different way. That’s through an ideal of playing as a collective. It’s about breeding that and growing that.

“Listen, there is no shame in going to the Allianz and losing 3-0. We had some chances and when you look at the goals we conceded they were disappointing. I don’t feel any shame in it at all.

“Bayern Munich are a world-class outfit. They are a superpower club and at times I thought we actually played and showed confidence. But it takes more time to have that total faith.”

Rodgers retains, despite his team conceding eight goals and scoring none in their meetings with Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern in the Champions League this season, faith in his personnel and stated they simply need the belief in themselves to perform at such a high level.

He would like his players to model themselves on Scott Brown, who battled away valiantly in the centre of the park in the Group B game in midweek with little support from those around him, and is hopeful the likes of Kieran Tierney, another who acquitted himself well, is well on the way to doing so.

He added: “Technically they’ve shown they’re good enough to do it and tactically they also got in good positions. But then you have to have the nerve. You need the nerve to play.

“That’s what the top guys have and it’s what we’re trying to impose and force onto the team because to play at this level you need that. We didn’t once, from being in position in the first half, play from the goalkeeper to a centre half. Not once, not once.

“It is different. But that’s the pressure at this level. That’s why the top players, as well as having the physical attributes, they have that mental courage to play as well.

“You can’t just click your fingers and get that. That takes time, unfortunately. But this is an incredibly honest group of players and they gave everything. We have things to look at.

“But that takes time. But you saw in the second half we did it better. Okay, we made some mistakes, but we looked to get it out and come through the pitch, We worked through the midfield and created opportunities. We always feel we can be a threat in attack, but that’s the key.”

He continued: “If you look at Scott he’s got that personality. We didn’t help the midfield players and we didn’t help the front players in the first half. They couldn’t get the ball often enough because we didn’t build the play with that nerve.”

“When you have the opportunity to play at the top level as often as you can, it can do nothing but help you. I thought Kieran did really well in Munich. He was against Arjen (Robben) and you saw his qualities at 33 years of age.

“He’s a world-class operator, but Kieran stuck to his task really well, so you are only going to get better.”










BRENDAN Rodgers will steadfastly refuse to adopt more defensive tactics in the Champions League in future - despite the mauling Celtic suffered at the hands of Bayern Munich.

The Scottish champions were outclassed by their German counterparts in their third Group B game in the Allianz Arena on Wednesday night and were fortunate to only lose 3-0.

Rodgers, whose side was thrashed 5-0 by Paris Saint-Germain in their opening match at Parkhead last month, has been criticised for sending his team out to attack their hosts in midweek.

However, the Northern Irishman has revealed he will not be changing to a more negative game plan - like the one which helped the Glasgow club beat Barcelona at home back in 2012 – in Europe.

He is adamant the only way his players will develop is by trying to play football against the likes of Jerome Boateng, Kinglsey Coman and Robert Lewandowski.

Asked if he would reconsider how Celtic approach big games in continental competition after the Bayern loss, he said: “You are looking at the wrong man. It’s not me. I have no compromise. We play and our players will get better.

“You could maybe play for 100 years and never bridge the gap financially, but we’re working away in a difficult market in the Champions League and trying to compete.

“That’s the overall objective. To be competitive at this level and that’s working collectively as we work.

“Of course, you may have managers who do it in a different way, but I have no compromise. It’s how I work.”

Rodger was forced to reshuffle the Celtic defence against Bayern after Jozo Simunovic was ruled out with a hamstring strain and play Mikael Lustig at centre half.

Cristian Gamboa, who was playing in just his fourth game of the season, endured a torrid evening in direct opposition to Coman at right back and was at fault at the first two goals.

However, his manager has once again dismissed suggestions that he should have strengthened his squad with another centre back before the transfer window closed

“It is what it is,” he said. “Since I’ve come in here, from the very first day, we’ve been struggling with the availability of central defenders.

“Not just one, not just two, it’s been three and sometimes four. It’s something we’ve had to deal with and something we’ll have to look at in terms of getting that consistency.”

Celtic are still in third place in Group B three points ahead of Anderlecht – who they defeat-ed 3-0 away three weeks ago – after the Belgian club were beaten 4-0 by PSG on Wednesday evening.

Rodgers is hopeful his side can, at the very least, finish ahead of Hein Vanhaezebrouck’s men in their section and progress to the last 32 of the Europa League next year despite the loss to Bayern.

He said: “For us this year, a huge step forward for us will be coming out of this group and that would be great.

“The confidence we would gain from taking that next step is big for us this year in terms of the development of the squad.

“We are looking to create a group and a mindset who can come and be competitive at Champions League level. If you get third in the group and go into the Europa after Christmas, it’s a big step.

“You think of the level in this competition, it’s absolutely frightening, really. For us, this is what we have to do in this new football.”

Meanwhile, Rodgers has paid tribute to the thousands of Celtic fans who travelled to Bavaria to watch their team take on Jupp Heynckes’s star-studded side this week.

“There was a 75,000 seater stadium and all I heard all night was them,” he said. “They gave us incredible support. Unfortunately, we couldn’t give them the result they wanted, but thank you to them.”

 

Want to see us trying to play ugly and hard to beat against these sides, not arsed with this glorious failure, being credited for trying to play the right way and being 'brave'.

 

What I would do for this team to have half the grit as Lennons side.

The thing is people say “I’d rather have a go and lose than defend and lose”

The problem being is that we aren’t even having a go

 

Because comments like that are divisive and can become a cancer in our support. We have our share of dimwits who think like that. Who think we have a * given right to be competing with the best toe to toe and come out winners. We also have lurkers who seek to spread mischief with comments like that. Throw an idea like that out there and watch it grow......

 

Hate that *, will get us absolutely nowhere in Europe. We need the right balance in Europe, and it has to vary depending on the opposition.

If we can't, and won't, sit in in Europe and absorb swathes of pressure then we will never advance. We just don't have/can't afford the quality.

Even at Europa level it will be hard to go out and outplay certain teams, Anderlecht at home could even become risky, we are far too easily got at at this level.

Agreed regarding Lennon's side. Funny situation, with Lennon's team I went into big games (against big teams) thinking we might scrape something here, but had little confidence against the smaller clubs. Total reverse for me under Brendan, have no real optimism against top clubs, but expect results against lesser teams.

I think what that particular point says, is that we are a better side, but the current tactical philosophy makes it a harder job to scalp the big boys. When our scalps of the past happened, it was a battle of styles, us the underdog sitting in, battling, hitting on the counter, set pieces - now we are a poor mans Bayern Munich trying to beat them at their own came on a minuscule (in comparison budget), a knife to a gun fight.