Brendan Rodgers Discussion Thread

Oh aye 100% he finds it tedious. And i think as you said he is the sort of * to go why aren't they singing my name, he will do the 3 years and that will be it for me. He might sign a new deal to get a bigger pay or add 1 year on max

 

Not really sure where he goes either though. He has worked at teams at all levels of the EPL. He won’t get a top job down South so a league title is out the question I think. Does he go abroad to chase money? I’m not convinced that’s for him. I’d love to see him stay longer and have the board continue backing him.

 

Perhaps Spain. A Saudi type move I really don’t see happening. I definitely think he will be here for the 3 years. The ambition we show in the summer might be the difference whether he then stays longer or not.

 

That whole thing of him learning Spanish when he was a younger manager was because he intended to end up there one day. I’d assume after us he’ll try get a job there. Although not sure which club would want him as most employ Spanish managers. And Barca, both Madrid’s, both basque clubs, Sevilla wouldn’t employ him. In the current league could only really see Betis, Villarreal and Valencia as tempting for his ego. Rest he’d never leave for

 

I’d imagine they’ll probably pay the same as us. He’s our highest paid manager ever right? I think come the end of his contract the only clubs that will want him will be any of the 7th-24th in the premier league. It’s a while off now…..but when Leeds get promoted this year. Inevitably sack farke after 1/2 bad seasons in the premiership. I think they’ll come back in for him as they approached him before Rodgers joined us

 

How is the squad looking ahead of this game tomorrow night?

Yeah, Nicolas (Kuhn) is back but we'll give Daizen (Maeda) one more day and see how he reacts. But yeah, good news with Nic back. Everyone else is the same.

It will be a boost to have those two back if both are fit. You showed at the weekend that you can have that versatility and play in different ways, didn't you?

Yeah, I think that was important at the weekend with the difficult conditions. I thought the players, especially when they watch the game back as well and analyse the game, I thought we played the game to a high level technically and as quickly as we probably could play on the surface.

So I thought the squad did well. If you think our efforts on goal were nearly 30 attempts at goal and shots at goal. So from that aspect of it, it was very good. But yeah, we rely on everyone. Of course, if you have one or two players out, then okay, you have to deal with that. It is a squad game for us and the squad has done well at the weekend.


Even Yang I thought had a really good game. He's been in and out and had his chances, hasn't he?

Yeah, I think it is a challenge for Yang in terms of the guys in front of him who are doing so well. So he's had limited game time. What we see in him every day is that he works so hard at his game. Sometimes, especially when you're an attacking player, when you don't play so much, there's always a chance that you come in and you try to force things. But for me, he gives his all. He gives everything.

Yes, he needs to be more efficient. You know, attacking players have to be able to create goals and score goals as well as do that pressing function that we want. He gives absolutely everything.

He was unlucky. He had a great bit of skill. That nearly made him a goal, but the keeper made a good save. He makes a great run. You see his desire to get into the position that leads to the penalty. So in terms of effort, he gives absolutely everything. He did well at the weekend.

Is he one you think you can develop? You want to develop all the players, but given what you're talking about on the other side, is he something you think you can get to the next level?

That's just time and patience. To get anywhere as a player you need that mentality also. We've always worked and given our best to all the players. It's about talent and how that accelerates going forward.

He's a young guy who's adapted so well to come on over from Korea and speaking English now, translating with the players. It's a huge testament to him. He's a really good kid. Then, as I said, we have to look at it. At this moment in time, there are players out. He's coming in and working very hard.

What you said about attacking players coming in and trying to force it. Is that a similar thing for Adam Idah at the moment? Is it a cliche to say the big man needs a few games to get going? Do you sense he's getting that rhythm back after two or three starts in a row?

I thought, again, Adam did well at the weekend. He didn't get his goal. I think some players are better at rhythm and playing. There are certain positions that you have to produce. That's the reality of it but I was pleased with his contribution.


I don't need my striker to score 40 goals. If you look at any of my teams, the goals are always spread out. What I need is for the players to be intense and to be aggressive.

There were some great moments for him at the weekend. He didn't get his goal, but he was there. He had vital contributions, setting up the game for us, and allowing other players to attack the space, and he's working very, very hard at him. I just think it's one of those things. It will drop for him at some point. If you're scoring four goals and your striker's not scoring, then you will take that.

Is that something you speak to him about as well? Strikers love scoring goals. Has it affected him, maybe that kind of thing?

No, I don't believe so. I think his own personal self and self-pride, you want to score goals as a striker. That's why you're there, to create goals and score goals. For me, as long as I'm seeing the work rate and the intensity and the mentality, then I'm really happy with that.

Knowing that the goal-scoring burden doesn't go to one player, it has to go to the whole team. As long as the team are working well, then that makes me happy. For him, he's working well. He's been unfortunate. He was sort of near post, and he had a couple of other wee moments but the goals will come from that. He's shown that he can score goals.


Is he a good player to have at this time of year as well? It gives you different options as the pitches aren't that great and sometimes the game is slightly different as well, and you are also carrying a few injuries. Is Adam a good option to have at this time of the year?

Yeah, yeah. Very good, I think. I think he's a player who like you saw against Atlanta when you have to go over the top and pressure or whether it's a surface we still always try and play on a difficult surface, but he gives you that possibility.

He's a really good reference for the team. He can still run in behind, and he's good in the box. Having that different type of striker is fantastic for us.

As you saw with Kyogo at the weekend, his movement for the first goal is, well, just the number of runs he makes to make sure he stays onside. Just the timing, the cleverness, and then obviously the finish. So to have strikers like that that can give you different possibilities. It's very useful within your squad.

Is it something you may want to try more often to try and play Kyogo and Adam in the same system together?

I may do. I may not, I think it just depends. I normally play with wingers. It's how I've always sort of worked that way. Kyogo rolls inside very well, and the shape just morphs into a different structure but it's something that we can do. I think it's having the flexibility.

I've never been fixed to one system. I have been fixed to one style. The style will always be the same and the principles, but the actual system, I've always been flexible with how the teams have played.

So this gave us a nice little conundrum with the team short of wingers. Okay, so how can we make it work? The players made it work well.

Do you always enjoy that side of it when there is a conundrum and you need to think about things and how you do it? Do you enjoy that element of it and days like Saturday when it comes off?


Yeah, I think that's the beauty of it. I think that it's improvement and that constant improvement and development, that gives you the enthusiasm for it. Okay, so we haven't got that. So how are we going to adapt? My first look is obviously for younger players, as there's someone younger who can come into the position, that there's not really. Okay, we need to shape it slightly differently. So what can that look like?

That's what I've done a few times in my career, at a few different clubs, and you rely also clearly on the players' intelligence and the football ideas that they have. In the main, I thought it worked well for us, and that side of it clearly, I enjoy it.

I'm thinking the lead-up to the season you had marked Rocco Vata, as a young third-choice striker to come in and develop. Is Jonny Kenny showing all the right signs after coming back from his loan spell that he could occupy that role now?

Yeah, well, I was delighted for Johnny. Obviously, young players come in before, had to go away, and I hadn't seen him before. Coming back in and speaking to the guys, yeah, he looked a bit stronger than he was before. The one thing that I love about young players is their enthusiasm because, with enthusiasm, there's no expectation. They just come and play, and they come and run, and that's what he gave us when he came into the pitch.

You know, sometimes the older players, I would say the same thing to an older player. Just as long as you've been taking enthusiasm for the game, then, you know, you just go and play. Johnny did that when he committed the game straight away. He's contacted, he's touched the ball, he's good, he's on the move. You know, the last goal is there, thereabouts, that creates the chaos in the box, and we finish well.

So he's come in, he's only been in just over a week. We'll continue to monitor him, he'll be around it, and then it's the next decision.

Is he going to stay and be apart, or does he still need more game time out on loan?

At this moment, I've been pleased. He showed a wonderful enthusiasm for football and work, and he's done well. I can already see from 25 yards in, he's a good finisher.

What have you made at Dundee this season, a good result last midweek?

Yeah, very good. It's always good to be a difficult game when you go there. Probably not too dissimilar to our game at the weekend, where I think Tony's (Docherty) team will be tight and compact and low on the pitch, and then you have to get to work to break them down. If you can do it early, great. If not, then you have to keep the patience, and it may come like it did at the weekend, later on.

So, yeah, I think Tony's done an outstanding job since he's been in there and brought in some really good players. They all work, and you can see they all play for him, and he is only a few points off that top six, the last time out against Rangers, they produced a good result. So, we know that like all the games we will have to fight for the result.




It's the transfer window and managers want to do the business, are you confident you'll be able to do what you want to do coming to the end of it?

Yeah, yeah, we'll certainly try our very best. We want to improve the squad. There's a lot of work going on to do that.

How many do you think you will need to bring in?

I don't have a number. I'd love to give you a number, but I don't have any number because, you know, we may want to, but it might not be possible. So, we certainly want to add to the squad and give it a freshness, and hopefully help us come forward.

Luis Palma's been liked again with a possible move away this January. Is he someone you maybe need to look at with his future, just given the fact that he's not had as much game time as he would have wanted this season?

Yeah, yeah, he's a player that I spoke to just the other day, and he's a great guy. Everyone loves him here. We love him. He's a brilliant lad, works hard every day, trains every day, and probably not getting the game time that he would like. We have to weigh everything up.

Our first job is to look after our own squad, make sure that's ready, and by the end of this month set up for the challenges for the rest of the season. If that allows some players to go out, then that can and may still happen. At this moment in time, he is here and a part of the squad.

Is he back home for a few days? Is he back here now?

No, he's back, yeah, he's here now. So, yeah, it was just something that happened overnight, and I could see, I sensed with him the feeling, and then to sit in a coach three and a half hours, going up north probably wasn't going to be the best thing for him.

So, I just gave him the weekend, to be with his family, and then reset again after the weekend. So, he's come back in, and it's been a hard time for him, losing both grandparents, who were so close. He's ready to go again, and he'll be part of the squad tomorrow.

You were praising Kyogo earlier about his movement and how he scored a couple of goals against Ross County. We spoke to you last week about the issue with the MLS which was nipped in the bud. He isn't fazed by any kind of speculation about his future, is he?

Well, I think you can see, he's... Well, I can see daily, it's, you know, people who always look into something. You know, he didn't celebrate enough, or he didn't do that, or he didn't do that. So, I see him every day, I see his work, I see his intensity, and maybe he scores so much that he doesn't have to celebrate madly all the time. Or maybe he was too cold.

But no, he's just the same guy, you know. There is always speculation. I'm not scared of the speculation and the gossip. So, there'll always be wee bits and pieces around him, but he's fine, and he'll travel tomorrow.


If something was to come in for him or make an offer. Are you and the club set are you prepared for that? It could be that a club comes in with a good offer for someone like Kyogo as he's 29. It might be a no-brainer to sell him. Would that be something that you can work with and allow it to happen and be prepared for that to happen and be able to deal with it?

Yeah, all these what-if scenarios you have to be. I think the biggest thing is, if a player doesn't want to be here, then go. Then it's at that point, that the club has to get the best possible deal. So, I don't see the point of keeping someone who doesn't want to be here.

I think for us, we prepare for all eventualities, whether it's injuries, whether it's transfers. I think you just have to, you always have to be ready, and that's our message. For him, at this moment in time, he's happy, he's working well, he's scoring goals, and enjoying his football

 

Brendan certainly not missing the team tonight in his presser, calling us passive, not aggressive enough with and without the ball and not winning our battles, calling out Trusty.

He's not happy man but it's refreshing to hear the public kick up * - now get it fixed gaffer.

 

Quite uncharacteristic defensively from your side tonight?

Yes, we were very passive, especially in the second half. We should have been out of sight in the first half, made a great start. And then we lost our concentration on the set-piece in our organisation, which allowed them to break out and the young guy finishes it really well.

So that gives Dundee a little up just before half-time. We get in front, so we're in a good place and then I expect us to take it through the gears and especially on that little slope and down towards our supporters. But we defend it really, really poorly.

The second goal, we've got to deal with that much better and much quicker. And then from the corner, we go soft. So it's not what I would expect for us to do, when you consider how we've defended it all season and the aggression that we've had.



But we fight right to the end and we get a point. That's not what we want, but we have to take it and move on.

If you score three goals in any game, you should be winning it?

It's just a game that we let get away from us when there's absolutely no need for it. Sometimes when you have so much dominance with the ball and creating opportunities, it can make you a little bit passive. But in the main, we don't normally do that. We certainly did tonight


Dundee had that tenacity that just seemed to unsettle your defence, particularly in that second half?

Yes, I just think that we gave them the up just before half-time. So once they got that goal, then they've got something to fight for and hang on for.

You're not quite there in your duels first and foremost and in your defensive work. It's difficult then to get that rhythm and speed when you have the ball. Not great after the 40th minute, but we kept fighting, we kept working.

As I said, if you can't win it, don't lose it.

As disappointed as you are, Dundee seem to be putting quite a good team out there?

Yes, you've got to give all the credit to Dundee and Tony Docherty.

I thought that, like I said, we were in a good place in the first half up until their goal. They fought, they were there in the second half and they deserved something from the game.

The Adam Idah chance is a big moment in the game, Brendan, because if you scored a second at that time when Bernardo hits the bar, you’d be pretty rampant and dominant?

We had good chances, like I say. We were switching the game well against their shape, moving it onto the sides well and getting in and had some good opportunities. Like you say, if you can get the second goal then it can put you in a real good place in the game.

We didn't quite do that and we got punished for it in the second half.

Is it a worry for you to have Adam Idah going 12 games without a goal?

My main worry tonight is from a defensive perspective. That's the concern for tonight.

It's always difficult to be a striker because they want to score goals. We all want them to score. If they're pressing and working and running then we're hopeful that other players will contribute.

Tonight was more about the defending than the attacking.

Did he go straight to the dressing room, Adam, was he injured?

No, he went to get something warmer. Did you see him come back? He came back.

Going back home, you've got two competitions. You've got the Scottish Cup this weekend against Killie and then obviously back in Europe. Is this time of the year when squad rotation is probably most critical for you?

That's what we've tried to do. To use the same 11 all the way through is near on impossible with the energy and the intensity with which we want to play. It is important for us.

Going back home now, we've got three games from the weekend. We'll look forward to being there. All, again, very important competitions for us.

Was Trusty unsettled for the third goal?

He's got to deal with that better. You've got to stay on your feet. It's as simple as that.

He knows that. He understands that. That's what I'm saying.

Across certain areas, we went a bit soft.

A goal for Hyunjun Yang tonight, are you happy with his contribution tonight?

Yes, bless him.

He gave everything in the game. I've got to say he's done about 100 hours shooting practice and he scores with a header! He's worked so hard at his game, bless him. He gives his all.

He had some good moments in the first half. He puts so much extra work in the training field. From then, I expect us to go on because we're good in those moments.

We’ve got to defend better

 

As above good to hear him having a go at our performance. He even called out too many backwards & sideways passing which he had a go at us the fans for calling out against St Mirren. He didn't hold back around Trusty being too weak for their 3rd goal. He sees what we see so he needs to sort it out for the bigger games coming up

 

Solution will be to bring his pet scales back in

 

Definitely digging Trusty there and quite rightly. Whole team need a boot to the stones though, major lack of fight being shown these days. Unacceptable.

 

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers lamented his team for turning "a bit soft" in their dramatic 3-3 draw against Dundee.

The Premiership champions twice let a lead slip against the hosts at Dens Park before falling behind and required a stoppage-time penalty from Arne Engels to rescue a draw. Celtic were uncharacteristically sloppy, particularly in defence, with centre-half Auston Trusty singled out for not dealing with Dundee's physicality with their third goal


Trusty fell to the floor after an altercation with Dundee defender Aaron Donnelly ahead of a 79th-minute corner and then failed to deal with the Northern Irishman when the ball was swung in as he headed home what appeared to be a winner for the dark blues


Celtic extended their lead at the top of the league to 16 points - second-placed Rangers are in action on Wednesday against Aberdeen - but Rodgers was left to rue his team's profligacy in front of goal in the first half and then not being robust enough at the other end.


We were very passive, especially in the second half," said Rodgers. "The game should have been out of sight in the first half. We made a great start then we lost concentration at a set piece and our organisation allowed them to break. The young boy [Seun Adewumi] finished well and that gave them a lift before half-time.

"We got in front then I expected us to click through the gears, especially in that little slope going down towards our own supporters but we defended really poorly. The second goal, we need to deal with that much better and quicker then from a corner we go soft. So it’s not what we expect when we consider how well we’ve defended and the aggression we’ve had but we fight till the end. A point isn’t what we want but we have to take it and move on.

It’s basic stuff. It’s a game we let get away from us when there was no need. Sometimes when you have dominance and when you’re creating it can make you a bit passive. We don’t normally do that but we certainly did tonight


I think we gave them that before half-time - when they got that goal they had something to fight for. We weren’t just there in the duels and defensive work then it’s difficult to get that rhythm and speed when you have the ball. We weren’t great after the 40th minute but we kept fighting and working and if you can’t win then don't lose it.

"You’ve got to give all the credit to Dundee and Tony. We were in a good place till their goal, they fought, they were there in the second half and they deserved what they got


On Trusty's part in the third goal, Rodgers commented: "You’ve got to deal with that better. You’ve got to stay on your feet, it’s as simple as that. You’re 6ft 4in, you have to deal with that better but he knows and understands that. Across certain areas we went a bit soft.

Rodgers watched on as Adam Idah continued his barren run in front of goal to 12 matches. The Irishman missed a good chance in the first half and was hooked on the hour mark, but when asked about his striker's form, Rodgers responded: "My main worry is from a defensive perspective. It’s always difficult if you're a striker but if they’re pressing and running hopefully others will contribute."

Idah appeared to head straight up the tunnel when he was subbed but Rodgers clarified the situation. "He went to get something warmer then he came back," added the Northern Irishman.

 

Since the international break he’s had 4 really important games Brugge Zagreb and rangers twice and failed to win any of them over 90 minutes


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I'm a bit frustrated with our system at the moment. Kyogo out wide was our best player tonight and then when he went central he disappeared from the game. The strikers have received their fair share of criticism recently but the system is not helping them at the moment.

 

We’ve had a ridiculous schedule but find ourselves 16 points clear, yip that’s 16 points clear. If we don’t win a game it’s carnage in here. We all need to calm down a bit. We had that game won, nothing he can do about missing sitters and a CB pairing that is normally solid, being bullied all night long.

 

I swear he said in his sky interview we passed the ball sideways and backwards too much tonight. Last weeks refocusing the attack is this weeks sideways passing...