Brendan Fraudgers!

Brendan Rodgers: “It was probably a fair result. I thought there were lots of positives today for us in terms of players coming back."

BR: "@Tom_Rogic played his first game for three months and young @calvin_miller7 played. I have to take opportunities at some point to play some of these guys, especially with so many injuries."

BR: "I need to give some game-time to the likes of Cristian Gamboa in case they are ever needed. After European games, it’s always difficult, and even if I had a full side out today it would have been a tough game.”

BR: “We maybe weren’t quick enough in the first half. We lacked that wee bit of creativity in the final third. Second half we were a bit better & created a couple of big opportunities & we just failed to make the final pass & touch which would have got us the goal."


BR on team selection: "You have to be careful. You have so many games and we are going into a big game. @kierantierney1 has nearly played two seasons in one."


BR: "@ScottBrown8 was suspended and Mikael Lustig had a niggle in his achilles which kept him out for a few weeks there, so we couldn’t risk that. @OlivierNtcham was ill so he couldn’t play."

BR: "It was a young team but still a strong one and we just couldn’t manage to get the result.”

BR on whether those absent today would be fit for next week: "@OlivierNtcham should be fine. He's been sick the last couple of days. @ScottBrown8 will available & Mika should be fine. It was precautionary today."

 

Tbf his Liverpool team got worse due to Suarez being sold and Gerard retiring

 

Pish we should be beating St * Jonstone at Celtic park.

 

Did he deny that?

 

What have we got to do with a Liverpool team who lost two of their best players whilst teams around them got stronger?

Yeah we won one game in the CL but we had to get through 3? qualifiers to put is us that position in the first place.

 

Emm, his second season at Liverpool was the one they lost the league by 2 points, was it not ?

 

Such a sensible post yes we haven't been as clinical as last season but by no means should we be comparing . If we get through on Thursday no one will give a * about a draw

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His 1st full season he finished 2nd.


I love him as our manager but I just want him to sort the team out and get us flying again.

 

Was his second full season he started in the summer at Liverpool never came in halfway through

 

I've been critical of him myself at times this season. I think he gets too much slack due to last season, which is fair enough but doesn't make him immune to criticism. The way we're playing this season reminds me of the way we played under Ronnie Deila and he got plenty of stick from our fans, myself included.

The guys on a reported 40 grand a week. For a club like us that is massive. People can say some fans expect too much but when we're paying a manager that much and have players in our squad worth more than entire spl starting elevens, we shouldn't be performing as badly as we have been on so many occasions this season. Obviously we will have off days but the amount we've had this season has been pretty poor.

I think we're at an awkward stage of BRs managerial spell just now. Last season he built his success mainly on players from the previous regime, whereas this season he's brought in more of his own players. I think once he has perfomed a full overhaul of the squad we'll be in a better place.

 

BRENDAN RODGERS last night insisted he had no choice but to field a weakened team against St Johnstone with the second leg of Celtic's Europa League tie with Zenit St Petersburg just days away.

Celtic, who drew 0-0 with the Perth men in Glasgow, will defend their 1-0 lead on Thursday in Russia. A win would take the club to the last 16 of that competition for the first time since 2004.

Rodgers made seven changes and while victory yesterday would have stretched the lead at the top to eleven points, there was no regret from the Irishman despite his team’s poor performance.

Asked if he should have picked a stronger team. Rodgers said: “No – you have to be careful with so many big games and a big game on Thursday.

"Kieran Tierney has played nearly two seasons in one and I have to take the opportunities to give him a breather. After Thursday he has Aberdeen on Sunday and games to follow from there.

“Scott Brown is suspended, Mikael Lustig has a niggle on his Achilles and we couldn’t risk that and Oliver Ntcham was ill and couldn’t play. Scott Sinclair came in and is top class so it was still a strong team. It was young, but strong and we just couldn’t get the win.

“Olivier should be fine for Thursday. Browny is available and Mika was precautionary but should be fine. There was no need to risk it when I have other players I can give a chance to.”

Rodgers then seemed to question the St Johnstone players’ mentality after the under-pressure Perth side came away from Celtic Park with their second draw of the season.

The Northern Irishman was full of praise for his countryman Tommy Wright whose team have taken two points from the champions, won at Easter Road, but have not won a game since a comprehensive 3-1 victory over Rangers at Ibrox in December.

And the Celtic manager made it clear he felt St Johnstone were a team which did better in the bigger matches but fell short in the other matches, which is why they are struggling to finish in a top six position.

Asked why St Johnstone enjoyed a decent record against his side, Rodgers said: “There’s a question there for Tommy’s players. He’s fantastic manager and I am sure he walks away happy with a point.

“But he’s probably really frustrated. How can you win a game at Ibrox 3-1 on December 16 and then not win again right through apart from the Albion Rovers up game?

“The next big result is away at Celtic. So, the question is with the St Johnstone players.

“They were committed, fighting, running. If they do that in every single match then they would win a lot more games. But that’s the expectancy when you are a Celtic player - everyone will come and fight to make it difficult for you."

Wright himself was pleased with his side who deserved a point after what was a rather forgettable game.

 

the way I see it I can cope with poor/ inconsistent league form if it is backed up with European nights like thursday. we finished with 79 points when lennon got to last 16 a pretty horrendus points total but nobody really cares because of what we did in europe. It doesn't have to be one or the other ofcourse, but i thin he made the right decision to rest some players for the zenit match

 

He should be concentrating on how we performed and not focus on other teams who's sole ambition is to defend and kick lumps out of our players aided by Hun * in the middle.

 

Odd thing to say given celtic are clearly raising their performance for the big games as well

 

Massive week for him and the club.

Could get into the next stage of the Europa league and also a win against Aberdeen could see us restore a bigger gap.

Or we get knocked out and lose to the Sheep and the gap get out down to 6 points, even a draw could see us let the lead slip to 7 with the Zombie if they win.


The league is far from over we were 27 points better off last season, people may say oh we are in Europe after Christmas but that only 1 game more.

Teams domestically have found Rodgers out and he needs to change. Most of us all thought players are jaded and needed a rest. It' clearly not the case cause we had the winter break and apart from a few games we have been dire.

Massive week and tough run in we are making hard for ourselfs, let' see what happens this week.

 

Last season after the winter break we had a few dodgy games but we won them this season the constant changing of the team due mainly to injuries has seen some poor performances and points lost some teams are now pushing up against our players to make it harder to build from the back but at times we make it easy for teams by playing it all the way back when we are on the edge of their penalty box. Add to that the indifferent form of some players Sinclair and McGregor on Sunday were guilty of not putting enough into the game and I agree with Rodgers a draw was a fair result but had St Johnstone taken 1 of their chances I am not sure we could have raised our game to get an equaliser

 

Considering some teams struggle to win 1 game out of 2 in Europa league qualification then winning 4 out of 6 CL quals and a group stage win is definitely success.

 

18 wins in 27 in the league is a * disgrace. Let's not beat about the bush!

 

THe amount of nappy wetting clowns in here is unreal, most of whom spend all there day posting in the hun thread.