Brendan Fraudgers!

Just about to post this, it's very telling.

McManaman knows Rodgers personally and has spoken to him on and off camera.

That wasn't McManaman just saying "Celtic are a bigger club than Stoke", that was an insight into Rodgers mindset, and it very much centres around Celtic.

 

He’s still a *.

 

You sound like my dad who still holds a grudge against McManaman for scoring that wonder goal against us in the '97 UEFA Cup

 

I can remember watching that on BBC and being utterly deflated. Great goal though by the clown..

Just watching that above. Seemed to be playing/arselicking big Sutton right beside him. Probably would've said the complete opposite if he wasn't there....such is the bawbaggedness of the man..

 

Sorry that's pish, Armstrong has done nothing this season to be well ahead of McGregor in the pecking order.. McGregor has been poor recently and so has Armstrong. But McGregor has been excellent at times this season, Armstrong hasn't.

I agree with you around Ntcham and omitting him v The Hun was a mistake.

What do you mean this is his first big test? Do you mean CL qualification and subsequent progression in Europe, being top of the league by 8pts at the break, having already secured the first domestic trophy of the season, which puts us on course for back to back trebles, which has never been done before?

Looks to me like he's passed every test so far?

Sent from my HTC Desire 530 using Tapatalk

 

It's BR's first real test because we had hoped/expected to progress as a team in terms of performances and we haven't.
Perhaps BR is a victim of unrealistic expectation from some, including myself?

I also see some decisions that for the first time, can at best be questioned and at worst have been clearly wrong.
Again, perhaps unrealistic expectations kicking in after a near perfect 1st season.

I think BR is the best young(?!) coach in the UK, potentially in Europe and the next 3 years are pivotal to achieving the very high standard that he and the fans want AND that will keep the manager at the club.

Ultimately, I am desperate for Celtic to be the absolute best they can be, that's the frustration....
I am optimistic that Brendan will get us moving into fast forward mode again but the coming months ARE a first test for both the manager and the board if we wish achieve the very top end of our ambitions and progress significantly as a team.

 

BRENDAN Rodgers has been delighted by the start of Celtic’s winter training camp in Dubai and he believes the trip to will also strengthen the togetherness of the group.

The Hoops are now into the third day of their mid-season break after reporting back for duty on Sunday, and the players have now undergone two intensive sessions in the sunshine under the watchful eye of the manager and his backroom staff.

Speaking exclusively to Celtic TV, the Irishman said: “It’s been great. Obviously the players have been working but it’s nice for them socially to be together. It’s been a really hard to tough season up to the break and this gives us a chance to recharge and put some good coaching mode into the players, but also to give them a chance to connect again in great weather.

“We packed so much into the first part of the season so this gives us a chance to focus a lot on the principles of our game and we will look to put that in place when we start back again on the 20th of January.”

For the first time in three years, Celtic will be involved in European football after Christmas when they face Zenit St Petersburg in the last 32 of the Europa League in February.

Preparing for this hotly-anticipated fixture and the rest of the domestic campaign will be among the Hoops’ boss objectives for the week in Dubai.

And after an excellent first six months of the season, the Scottish treble-winners will be aiming to maintain their momentum into the remainder of the term.


“I just think for every competition we are involved in it gives us a chance to get some good work into the players, and that was important,” said the manager. “We are able to work on some aspects out here that maybe doesn’t happen so much in the domestic league so we can work on other aspects of our game for the European games we play.”

“Our aim is always to win the next game but we set some goals we wanted to achieve at the beginning of the season and thus far the players are in a brilliant position. We are eight points clear in the league, we qualified for the Champions League, we have European football after Christmas and we have won the first domestic trophy on offer. It has been a very good first part of the season and now we go into part two with a renewed motivation.”

The Bhoys have already bolstered their squad ahead of the second half of the season, with experienced defender Marvin Compper arriving from RB Leipzig and hot prospect Lewis Morgan joining from St Mirren, though the winger will return to the Buddies for the rest of the campaign on loan.

Heading in the opposite direction has been Kundai Benyu, who has completed a temporary move to League One Oldham Athletic as the young midfielder seeks further game-time.

“Young Kundai needed to go and play games, so going to Oldham will be good for him in his development,” said the manager.

“Lewis is a player I have admired since I have been up here when he played against us, and watching him play for Scotland Under-21s and St Mirren. I have been impressed with him and I think he is one who can be developed, and he will obviously stay at St Mirren. There is still some work to be done for us if we think it’s the right thing to do.”

 

He elaborate on more business to be done in the transfer window?

 

Just said as per every window “of the right player comes up we will look at it” and “there is still work to be done” regarding transfers

 

Promising.

 

Aye wasn’t what I was expecting tbh

 

Sad that our Billionaire doesn’t do this.

 

No, its not sad at all its sensible.

 

We are paying him a living, what is sensible about that?

 

AT the start of a Nou beginning, Philippe Coutinho contacted an old friend.

The Brazilian had just touched down in Barcelona before being whisked to the Camp Nou as he was set to put pen to paper on a £142m move that would make his dream come true. A landmark moment for the player who has yearned to spread his wings from the Liverpool base he called for the last five years.

However, as he looked to a bright – and wealthy – future as the home of the Catalan giants came into view, there was still a moment for reflection as he glanced gratefully into the past.

“He sent me a nice text the other day when he was arriving in Barcelona,” said Brendan Rodgers, the man who brought him to Merseyside from Inter Milan in 2012 for £8.5m. “He is a great young guy, he was never a moment’s problem for me. He was a magical player to work with.

“It’s brilliant for both really. He is a Barcelona player if ever there was one. At the time when I brought him he wasn’t in the team at Inter Milan. He was a young player and they needed to sell one or two players to get some money into Inter Milan at the time. So he wasn’t playing.

“I think people questioned when I brought him in whether he was big enough and tall enough. Was he maybe not as physical as the Premier League could be. But I’d seen him as a young player, saw him at Inter Milan at 18 around top players and I always felt he had the technical quality. And of course he was always going to get better physically.

“He is a wonderful example. Of course it is difficult for players. It is hard if there is a move to a club, especially a move to a club that maybe he had wanted to go to. Clearly Liverpool rightly stood their ground until they got the fee they wanted. As soon as the window shut he got on with his work. He has been a great player for Liverpool in his time there and he is in the middle of his asset age, he’s 25 years of age, so he’s going to light it up there for the next eight, nine, ten years. A brilliant, brilliant player and a really, really humble boy who works really hard and never forgets his roots.”

Rodgers may no longer have the resources he once did to spend so much unearthing a rough diamond buried on the Inter Milan bench, but the Celtic manager remains motivated by the prospect of bringing on young talent. It’s an investment in time, resource and work, not just money.

The most obvious candidate for that project now falls to Lewis Morgan, the St Mirren starlet who has blazed a meteoric trail all the way from obscurity at Paisley to becoming one of the most fancied young players in Scotland. And it’s easy to see why with 13 goals already this season including three in his last three games with the spotlight on him.

“That is the pride that is always in it for me,” said Rodgers. “I’ve said before that for me it’s not about what’s on my CV. I see the joy in seeing the likes of [Coutinho] get his move and Raheem Sterling improve from being an 18 year old kid and leaving for £49 million. And other players that I’ve worked with.

“You feel you have played a little part in helping them achieve what is a dream for them.”

The Celtic manager explains the interest in Morgan can be traced all the way back to a Scottish Cup tie back in March last year. The 21-year-old was a standout on that day at Celtic Park as St Mirren turned in a performance that earned them the tag of the best side Celtic had played that season according to Rodgers.

“He was a boy that really took my eye when we played St Mirren,” he said. “Even though we won the game 4-1 I liked how direct he was and his quality. He was a handful on the day. We kept an eye on him from then. We watched him for Scotland under-21s against Holland and he was up against a really physical player that night and it was interesting to see if he could cope with that and he did. He’s a boy that is hungry.

“He has gone there with Jack [Ross, the St Mirren manager] and done very, very well. I spoke to Jack at length about him. And then I was given permission to speak to the player at length. He is a very humble boy, he knows where he’s at in his career.

“It is hard to tell, when they come to a big club. You come to Celtic and it’s hard for lots of players so if he can cope with that level of scrutiny and pressure and expectations then he could be a wonderful player. He has the talent, he’s direct, he’s quick, he can score goals, he has two great feet, so yeah, we will look forward to the chance to work with him when he comes in the summer.”

Morgan will stay at loan at St Mirren until the end of the season where he hopes to win a Championship medal with the Paisley club. Despite the delayed start to his Celtic career, Rodgers explained he was impressed by what the young forward had to say for himself.

“You look at the player and you do your homework on him and you try to find out all the different aspects of his life. I like players that are hungry and coachable and want to learn,” he said.

“I like players that are hungry, coachable and want to learn. I tend to bring the right types of character into the squad. Everything I had heard about him was very good as a boy.

“Sometimes those boys are silver medallists. They come through and we’ve seen it in many examples. But yeah I had a real nice chat with him. He’s a good boy and had the hunger. You can’t always go on what they’re like, but obviously the first impression is important."

 

Brendan not * about

1 centre half leaving
1 centre half injury record

Got a real feeling both Erik and Jozo could go this month if we can get the right fit of CB to replace them!

Definetly seems determined to get more business done both ways this window!

 

Came in here to mention this too. Very telling interview there.

 

Sounded like he caught himself before he said to much. 2 out and 2 in I think