Brendan Fraudgers!

Got a bad feeling about Musonda will be a bust and glad we have loaned him.

 

Totally agree Paul this summer there could be significant turnover in the squad with a few players into the last 12 months of their deals and Moussa possibly moving on! Seems to be making the right noises on edouard and saying it’s nowhere near the figures quoted. We have a significant cash reserve at Celtic and should bring in decent sums if a few players leave; Dembele, Armstrong and Sviatchenko all on perms. If Rogic has a decent World Cup and wants to move on could get a decent fee also. Poss Jozo and Boyata moving on too! Will be a interesting summer ahead!

 

The board really needs to push the boat out for Brendan in the next 3 seasons. Whether or not we win 10IAR is down to the board IMO.

 

https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport...endan-rodgers-insists-celtic-rangers-12327052


agree with everything Brendan says here. That split and us not being aloud to win the league against the scum is shocking! I hope we slip up a few times then when we do play them, we can win it t parkhead against them.

 

If it doesn't happen this summer then I could fear Rodgers could be for the off.

 

Our form this season I think has been down to a mixture of things.

1. Fatigue, majority of the squad hasn’t had more than 2/3 weeks off since he took over in 2016.

2. Last season set the standards that high players are struggling to reach that form individually and collectively. It’s hard to keep them motivated when we still lack quality in certain areas of the pitch.

3. Injuries, a big one this season since there has been no consistency in team selection which is mostly down to injuries and then Rodgers wanting to roatate and give players a chance.

Bottom line is we were spoiled last season, not many managers can keep a team playing that well and consistenly winning by playing good attractive football while scoring for fun.

This season has been like a delayed transitional period that we never got the first season. I think he’s taken a lot of this squad as far as it will go and needs to bring in more quality to get others to up there game all the time and not just a few games a season.

 

Brendan Rodgers has urged the SPFL to embrace the box appeal of a league title decider between Celtic and Rangers rather than avoid it.

The Parkhead side need just one win to secure the title following the win over Hamilton Accies yesterday afternoon.

This week will see the fixtures announced for the top and bottom six with the expectancy being that league bosses will shy away from making a meeting between Celtic and Rangers the first post-split fixture.

The avoidance of a possible powderkeg encounter will be the dominant thinking behind the decision, but Rodgers has urged those responsible to showcase the game.

"Let’s live and learn," said the Celtic manager. "I know they are trying to avoid what happened in 1999 but it’s been a long time since then. You have to show that football and society has changed for the better and you can make it work. Hopefully they will do that - if that’s what they want to do and not just try and avoid it.

"Scotland is a wonderful country with passionate supporters so make it a great advert - let’s not run away from it.

"I think it’s sad for Scottish football and it’s sad for society in Scotland. In any other country in the world, they would look to play the game and showcase your football on telly - whether it was Real Madrid v Barcelona, Manchester United v Manchester City or AC Milan v Inter. They’d be falling over themselves to get it on the telly.

"But for some reason we can’t do that here which is a sad indictment of the world that it is here at times.

"But if it’s one they want to do then they should do it and put it at an appropriate kick-off time and trust that people can behave themselves and play the game and show it as a great advert for Scottish football. Don’t bury your head in the sand and hope things don’t happen.

"It would happen in every other country in the world.

"We played them in the semi final last year and then we played a week later. There were consequences on that game.

"There’s always going to be something. Look at the Manchester derby, there were pockets of trouble. But the games I’ve been involved in up here with Celtic and Rangers the passion has been incredible. They are high octane, intense games but that’s what you want. That’s what football is about.

"They have to trust that the authorities and everyone can deal with it in the best possible way that they can.

"It’s a league where the split makes things happen to make it more exciting. It’s an opportunity to put on a game that I’m sure everyone would watch. It gets good viewing figures anyway but a chance for Celtic to win the league on that game would be great. Hopefully they can trust that the game can go by and and they can deal with it rather than run away from it."

 

BR: "We are at a club here where the history is enormous and what we did last year was historic but we want to keep writing our own history and that means going into these games focused on the next game.

BR: "We go in to Hampden where the team have played very well and that gives us faith and confidence in our work but not taking away knowing it will be a tough game."

BR: "Everyone talks about this gap. Celtic’s opponents are not just Rangers, you’ve got Aberdeen that have been second the last number of years, Hibs up and doing really well, Hearts getting stronger, Kilmarnock and Motherwell doing well. Every game is a challenge."

BR: "It’s like when we played Bayern. It was very close the home game but they were clearly better than us. For us, it’s not about being concerned if they are closer or not. They’ll be looking at Hibs and Aberdeen in terms of their race. Our focus is very much on ourselves."

BR: "The last game showed the remarkable resilience of this team and their mentality. When anything happens in the game against us, we have that calmness and ability to come back. The odds were stacked against us but we showed our qualities and rose to the challenge."

BR: "This is the game they were cheering for. For us, we always respect every opponent we play and get ready for the game. One of the values of this club is about humility. We respect every opponent we play. We just prepare for the game."

BR on injuries: "Craig will return to the squad and we’ll assess over the next 24 hours the team and which team we put out. We are keeping an eye on Stuart, knock with his calf so we’ll need to assess that over the next few days."

 

That second last paragraph

Another factor in why I think we'll be ultra pumped for this game..

Despite pumping them with 10 in their own midden straight after those remarks....clearly it hasn't been forgotten..

 

Regardless of what comes next, Brendan Rodgers will be assured of his place in the Celtic story.

The 45-year-old has repeatedly spoken of his wish to leave a legacy at Celtic in terms of the style of football on offer and the success enjoyed in his tenure, but should he provide a back-to-back Treble this season his name will be etched on virgin territory.

No other Scottish football manager has achieved such a feat, something that Rodgers joked might see him invited back in the years to come.

The Celtic manager was present last summer at the Glasgow Hydro as the club celebrated the 50-year anniversary of the Lisbon Lions and he is interested to see just how his own squad’s achievement’s are framed further down the line.

“Let’s see where we go over the next few years,” he said. “As we sit here now, the players have already done last season what no other team in the history of Scottish football has ever done.

“No team has gone through a season without losing a game to win a treble. It was only the fourth treble in Celtic’s history, under three managers. So they are already there (in the history books). But we don’t think about that.

“We will all be judged when we leave. In the present, you just have to keep on fighting and working to create this new history, keep looking to raise the bar and the standards. That’s all we think about.

“In 25 years we might get an invitation to the Hydro!”

The feeling is that if Celtic play to their full potential they shouldn’t be overly concerned regardless of what Rangers do.

From the Ibrox side’s perspective there is a feeling that this is all or nothing as they look to bank some silverware and also take the shine off Celtic’s season.

There was a time when Hampden seemed like a bogey ground for the Parkhead side, something that seems like a distant memory since Rodgers’ arrival.

And the Hoops boss has revealed how eradicating the mental block around the national stadium was something that he had to address. The evidence would suggest it has been successfully negotiated; of the six visits to Hampden under Rodgers, Celtic boast a 100% return.

“We have faith if we play well, and we have evidence to show that when we do that we have a greater chance of winning, and I think what winning breeds consistently is that confidence,” he said.

“We go into the game, players are relaxed but focused on it. We know what we have to do. We have won our last four trophies and when I came in Hampden was the place that everyone didn’t seem to like.

“Very quickly we said to the players, ‘listen, you’re going to have to like it if you want to win.’ I think all of our performances there have been very good, some better than other but in the main we have performed very well and for that you need to be clear in your role and calm in your game and play the game and not the occasion.”

This weekend is a chance for Celtic to take a definitive step towards that back-to-back Treble. With the League Cup banked and just three points required from the final five league games required to claim a seventh successive title, tomorrow is a chance to move within one game of a bit of history.

“It gets us to the final and gives us that opportunity,” said Rodgers.

“We still have to close out the league, but we are in a brilliant position to do that.

“It’s been a fantastic season. A challenging season, of course, with so many injuries. But if there’s one thing about this team - outwith the free-flowing football and everything that came with it last year - they have still done what they have done with all the barriers put in their way.”

There could be another footnote, too. In the modern era the highest sequence of unbeaten games was from Rangers in the 90s, with Celtic finally stopping the tenth game with a Scottish Cup quarter final win in March 1997.

Tomorrow could be the tenth unbeaten game for Rodgers in the fixture, although it is the bigger picture that the Celtic manager is more concerned with.

“I never take too much heed of records. You get a chance to create your own. We can’t deny it has been a sequence of, in the main, very good performances which have led to those results against Rangers.

“Arguably our two most disappointing performances were at Parkhead, this season in December and last March. But you have to leave that in the past.

“In the last game at Ibrox, we came up against that little bit of adversity which really strengthens your resolve to go on and win a game.”

Stuart Armstrong is a doubt for the game with a calf injury but other than that Rodgers has the luxury of more or less a full squad to choose from.

The anticipation is that Craig Gordon will be back between the sticks will Leigh Griffiths might not start the game but will be available from the bench.

“In every game there’s been decisions to make,” said Rodgers. “The players respect I always try and put out the best team to win a game. I play different formations and different personnel and this is no different.

“What we have now is greater availability after having key players out with injury. Now I have choices. But that’s management. If you win you make the right choice and if you lose it’s not.”

 

Aye, it’s not a coincedence that with the players that we have properly backed him with are a cut above (despite current form in one) - Sinclair, Dembele and Ntcham.

 

His record at Hampden is unreal.

Been years since I can remember going to Hampden not worrying about games at all.

 

Never worried today..

He must be like "Don't call me Graeme, I've got your number"..

 

Every test

 

BR: “It was a very good game. I think semi-finals are here to win and if you can play well, then great. Our idea is always to play well and I thought in the first half we were really dominant, in control and scored two good goals so I’m very pleased.”

BR: “You have to deal with the tactics of the opponent. I can see what Graeme was trying to do. It’s always easy to criticism a manager afterwards. I think we played well today and had a real edge to our game. We pressed it well and deserved to get to get to the final.”

BR: “We never think anything other than it’s going to be a tough game. There’s always some background noise around this game. That’s my 10th game now and there’s always something around the team getting closer.”

BR: “There was a real edge to the players’ game and composure. We wanted to get to the final but there’s always pressure. You can’t get away from it. When you play for Celtic or manage Celtic the expectations are huge.”

BR: “There’s never a game where you don’t have pressure but of course, when you get to these games you’re always looking for that little difference and the players produced today.”

BR: “I'm glad Moussa's penalty went in. I didn’t expect that. He’s very cool. He’s very calm. It takes a lot of personality and courage to take that kind of penalty but he was obviously confident that he was going to score.”

BR: “This season we’ve had a number of really good performances this season. What the players have done these past couple of seasons is really inspire the supporters and make them believe that they can achieve something impossible.”

 

Full post match PC