Brendan Rodgers Discussion Thread

It's worth adding that the Leipzig game represented something I haven't seen since the MON days and that I genuinely never thought I'd see again at Celtic: a Celtic team going toe to toe with a top European side and winning.

I know we had plently of amazing pragmatic wins under Lenny and WGS (and that "pragmatic" doesn't necessarily mean that we weren't electric on the counter, e.g. hammering Benfica under WGS) and we've gone toe to toe with great teams and lost heavily under both Ange and Rodgers; but yeah, Leipzig represented something I never thought I'd see again. 2 decades since I'd seen something like that.

It was wonderful to see that again even if just for one game. There were a couple of bits where they tried to press and we performed some incredible one-touch passing sequences to break that press (and the roar the players got from the crowd for it tells me that I wasn't the only one who loved that).

The fact that we haven't reached that level since kind of hides just what a big deal that was.

 

A very good post. One of the best examples was O'Riley he was incredible wasteful under Ange.

Only 8 goals under Ange I'd love to see the stats around that and improvement under Rodgers. Same for Daizen too who has massively improved too.

In the CL under Ange how we didn't win either Shaktar game by a mile is beyond me.

Home games against Real and Leipzig we wasted a boat load of chances to take the lead and we scored nowt.

 

Form this season kinda mirrors most season, performances tend to dip round about November time.

I think it's due to number of games, particularly the high intensity and draining European games being so close together.

The problem we have this year is there is no winter break. We generally come absolutely flying out the break and have a stronger 2nd half of the season.

Ridiculous to take it away tbh

 

Seen a stat showing out of the top 10 leagues in Europe we are the highest scorers. Boring as * mind you eh.

 

There's also the fact that they seem to set up in a way that maximises their chances against teams with better players than them who try to attack. They've done a lot better in Europe this season than I thought they would when I saw their draw, the LC could have gone either way and the game at Ibrox was horrible. The flip side of that is that they seem to be quite poor at breaking down teams with inferior players to them who play defensively.

 

What are you feeling about this game tomorrow? Is it a game you have to win?

Well we want to win it, that's for sure. It's a game we're really excited about.

The Champions League story so far has been in the main really good for us oand especially at home, so we're excited about the challenge of it.

Callum spoke quite a lot about how he expects Young Boys to approach this game a bit differently from other teams you've played so far in the campaign. How do you see that?

Well I think it's a team that obviously, you have to respect every team at this level, I know there's lots of noise around them and where they are at., But they're a team that won the Swiss League last season, and obviously it hasn't gone so well for them this season.

They're on the third manager now. The games that we've watched, they are what you'd expect a team of this level to have - athletic ability and quality. But really the focus has to be very much on ourselves, so we will respect the opponent, but for us, we want to really press and continually attack the game for 90 plus minutes.

And if we can do that, and get that special feeling that comes with that type of performance in this arena, then it can be a great night for us.

We always have to respect how every team is set up and the qualities that they have, and that's why they're in the competition.


Given what's at stake tomorrow night, do you expect maybe a wee bit of nervousness, perhaps not from the players, but from the supporters?

Well that's up to us. We've played here and some really good games this season, and the supporters have been absolutely fantastic.

I think what is important is that, the classic example is the Brugge game, probably the feeling can be that you're playing Red Bull Leipzig, so you may be feeling a little bit of the underdog, so there's that push to get you over the line.

We can't not think it's any different just because we're playing Young Boys. We saw with Brugge that they have a very, very good side, more experience in the Champions League than ourselves in recent history, and had some very good players.

So I think it's about creating the environment and the ambience to really push the players, but like I say, it's up to us in the game to really go and play with that speed and quality that we've shown at this level, especially at home


You mentioned the Leipzig game there, probably one of the high points in recent years for Celtic, but then in the last two European matches you haven't quite managed to create as many chances, would that be fair to say?

Yeah, it’s the Champions League. What happened vs Brugge was, as I said, a really good reaction in the second half, we were second best in the first half, but the players dug deep and came back and could have easily won the game in the second half.

It was a game where we didn't quite find our level, it wasn't a great game to be honest, but you can't dismiss a point at this level. You're not going to just turn up at this level and steamroll over every team you play, it is just not possible, but we're really focused and ready to perform in this game.


Brendan, having worked your way through this new Champions League format, how does it feel to now know what a win can do for you in terms of progression?

Well, it's a great position for us to be in, I think that when we started this journey we wanted to show that we can compete at this level and go on and make the next steps and get into the playoff stage.

So, we've been able to get ourselves into a really good position with nine points and our home form at the level has been really good and we have the opportunity now to take a big step to get to the playoff



How much do you lean into that stuff? Do you use it to inspire the players and how much does that sometimes cloud just focusing on the job at hand? The incentive, the chance to go through it, everything that goes along with it. Do you lean into that with the players?

I think the players are aware of it, I think they're not blind to it, they understand the magnitude of the game, but they also understand that it's about performance, I think that's key.

I think the key in games like this here is that you play the game and not the occasion, the occasion is absolutely massive for us, but we can only get to where we want to get to by playing to the levels that we play to, especially at home.

So, that's through our focus on the performance and that's what we've talked about over the last few days.

We spoke to Alistair Johnston after the weekend's game and he said it's a bit like a cup final when you go through and that's what you've been wanting to do for so long here at this club? Is that what you want it to feel like out there in the stands, you want it to feel like a final?

Yeah, well I think it's what makes Celtic Park so special. Many teams will tell you about the stadiums and that special atmosphere, but this really is a stadium that is iconic with the atmosphere. It's hard to analyse that and look at that, but it's just how it feels.

I think that a night game here in the Champions League gives us a real connection with the past and the great story that this club has with this competition.

Many years ago, that's what the culture and the history of this club has been set on. The club that won the European Cup at that time, playing the most amazing football through that sequence of games.

That's what creates your culture and your history and that's what we live to replicate each and every season we play.

I think our feeling going into this game is to have that synergy because it's so important. As I said, the founding values of this club have been about connection, people together.

So we get that into our night and as we’ve seen already this season it's the most amazing place to be in and what we want to have tomorrow



You talk about the culture and the history of this club and this competition. What would it mean to you to lead Celtic into the knockout stages?

It would clearly be very special and it's something that I haven't done.

I mentioned when I came back that we would like to make genuine progress at this level. I never promised anything, I just promised we would do our very best to see if we could progress because it's been such a long time.

There have been some good performances without results. The managers before me have done great jobs here and obviously what we wanted to do was to be able to make that next step and I feel we're in a good position to do that.

Just a quick one on the squad. Everyone okay for tomorrow?

We're all good apart from James Forrest. Everyone else is fit and ready.

The word maturity has been used quite a lot. Even in the last couple of games you couldn't win them, but you made sure you didn’t lose them. Have you seen this team growing up in front of your very eyes?

I'm proud that they're definitely evolving and that's what you want to be able to see. We've seen that after the Dortmund game because that was a challenging night for us all but how do we respond to that and how can we recover from that?

I think you've seen that maturity and honesty in the team so I think it's something that the players feel and we've seen that ultimately in the performance level.

We're definitely improving and developing at the very highest level of the European game and if we're going to sustain it over a number of years, this has been a really good start for us.


What about the Champions League story so far? Can you envisage it being in the perfect final chapter?

If we can win tomorrow night it puts us in a fantastic position.

For me it's for the supporters to dream but to see the team on the pitch play the football that we like to play and that we've seen in other games here.

When we're fast and dynamic and attacking and pressing and everything about our game is about the press, to get the ball, to score goals and create goals.

When we do that then that's where we're going to be a good side and then we'll see what can take us there.

That maturity, how does a coach work on that? How do you develop that?

I think it's just patience and I think it's time and it's support. It's how you react to certain situations as well.

Every situation for you really is a learning. It's very easy after Dortmund, to go absolutely mad. It's not the case, especially when you're working with a group that are giving you everything every single day.

I just think maturity comes from the experiences of course. It comes from recognising in the game. You mentioned understanding the game where if you cannot win it, do everything you can to not not lose it.

That doesn't mean we stop attacking, it just means be cuter in the game. That's from experience and that's from analysis, it's from showing, it's from coaching, it's from speaking. Ultimately it's finding and feeling the feeling after the experience.

For example you go away to Atalanta, that proves that you can actually defend at the highest level of this competition against a team that score goals at the very highest level.

When you produce that maturity and that type of performance, that makes you feel good, so you know you can do it. I think it's mostly experience and time and support. Hopefully we'll gain that maturity.



If the team can get through and progress to the next stage, what would that say about them?

It would say that they've matured. It would say that they show, because your actions always will represent your development and I think this team have.

From my own view of seeing them since I've come here, seeing that development and consistency they've shown, it would be a great sign that you can actually do it. Once you make those steps then that will give you confidence going forward. I'm just looking forward to seeing us perform.

Everyone will look at the expectation that's on us, but we expect ourselves to go and perform. We've had three games here at this stadium, the atmosphere has been incredible and we want to bring that again and finish off this run of games in the group stages with a win.



About a month ago you said the team were entering an ultra-marathon period of fixtures, we're kind of at the tail end of that at the moment. The boys' preparation to this is quite night and day by contrast. If you could have had things your own way and decided, would you have chosen to lead up to the game we've had or would you have taken a break with maybe one game in advance beforehand?

I think a recovery would have been nice at some stage, but people don't want to hear you tired, It's natural that fatigue will be there for players. If you look throughout the British game, it's there, you see it in injuries, you see it in everything.

But we're ready. We played Saturday here, we played a really good game. We should have been more clinical and should have scored more goals, but we got through and played well.

We've had enough good time to recover now and now we're ready to go. There's never an ideal preparation, but all you can say is that you're ready and we are.


Over this period you've had to come up to solutions to a lot of problems. Kyogo, over the last couple of weeks when he was playing out wide, has reminded a lot of fans that he's got a lot more strings to his bow. Is that rediscovery of him something that could be a big part in this game?

It may be if I decide to play him. I think what he's shown is that he has the flexibility to do that.

The other thing I would say with Kyogo, in terms of how my team have always played, he's the absolute ideal prototype of player that plays for me. Firstly his pressing is incredible. The speed at which he presses, the constant work rate.

Clearly with the ball, his movement, his touch, his awareness. All those things that he brings to the game is absolutely perfect to play in a team of mine.

Like you said, he's shown that off in a wider position. I believe he came in here as a wide player, so he can clearly play in that position. I think the flexibility is good, but we had to do that whenever we had players behind you. If we need it again, there's a possibility to do it.

But his best position is as a central striker.

Obviously people speak about the atmosphere when they come here. How good has it been for you to see the team respected again at this level?

It's very important. You know your resources aren’t near to some teams at this level, but you still have the ability to compete and play a level of football that makes people proud.

In the Leipzig game, I couldn't have been more happy with the team’s performance. The way we started the game, how we responded to going behind, how we played, how we pressed and everything.

The pressure was there. Creativity, chances, the goals, everything.

That goes around. We want this place to be difficult. It was for a number of years.

It's been a challenging decade for this club because of resources and everything else, but I think we're starting to see that we can compete and play a level of football that’s synonymous with this club.

 

Watching the Villa game and their team looks like one that Rodgers would love to coach. I reckon he'll be hoping that Emery leaves them at the end of next season so that he can take over

 

Famous last words, but he'd need to do something extraordinary up here to get another crack at a solid top-half EPL team. That last season at Leicester really wrecked his reputation. It wasn't just the way he left us that made a lot of supporters hesitant to see him brought back in. Short of getting us to the latter stages of a European competition or another undefeated season, I don't see any but the most struggling EPL sides going for him. And that's not slagging him, that's just being realistic about how he's perceived now.

 

O’Riley before Rodgers had came in was training to make sure he was a goal threat, the previous season visibly got to him the talk about him having amongst the most shots but no goals.

Rodgers though, he had been monitoring him for Leicester and was one of few coming into last season he knew what he wanted, and encouraged that and made sure he knew that he was expected to be on the end of chances and finish them. Set us up for MOR making late runs into the box to finish, and the first game of the season O’Riley sticking the laces through the ball right peg and it working it kicked on from there.

Perfect mix of determination from a player to improve what he thought he needed and manager encouraging it, supporting it and getting the best from it.

The CL run under Ange was a platform that Rodgers has used to improve, under Ange we had the same attitude Rodgers wants, we didn’t have any clinical ability whatsoever though. And the more it happened, the less we could finish. Rodgers last season had the privilege of coaching guys knowing they could do it at that level, and getting that final wee bit. It still wasn’t perfected. This season, after a bulk of the team being there two seasons, we’re seeing the results from being there and the confidence that brings. One thing, a major thing, Dortmund having embarrassed us… BR since that, he’s got us showing a mentality to not allow that at all.


And thats still a work in progress because you’ve seen us against Brugge and Zagreb go a bit too safe. But * me, between Ange starting the attitude and Rodgers continuing it, it feels like we know we belong at that level.

 

When Emery leaves them they’ll be further downsizing, the FFP rules have kicked in for what Villa can do. By the point Emery leaves, it’ll be far more. He felt that the last season at Leicester, he won’t want to go into a team his hands are tied. A team with more freedom in the market is the bigger danger, it’s not as big a danger if we continue to back what he wants here though. He came back when if he waited until the sackings started he’d be first link down there. What he does here, it won’t up his reputation down there now.

He’s came back and furthered the reputation of only winning with the best team in a ‘2 horse league’ which is in reality more a 1 horse league. And he’s in charge of that horse.

If we back his ambitions I’m not nervous about him looking elsewhere at all. If we don’t though? He’ll boost again first decent chance, like the first time round. And like the first time as well, don’t blame him either

 

What can I say!!! Thank you Brendan!!!! Please stay for another 3 years.

 

Thought bringing Scales on when Maeda got sent off was a really good sub.

 

I was screaming for him to take Hatate off but I guess that’s why he gets paid a fortune to pick the team and I pay a fortune to support them

 

He’s shut a few up questioning can he do it in Europe

 

I think he will have a lot to be concerned with from that game to be honest. That Young Boys team isnt good. They turned up there to be beat and have been thrashed by most of the other teams in the competition.

We repeatedly struggle to convert good play and dominance into goals and to put teams away. In pretty much every game since the OF we could have been out of sight after 35mins but end up at 70m or more with the game still in the balance. Im not sure theres much Rodgers can do about that because its just lack of quality in the final third. He can give the team an identity but he cant put the ball int he net.

Second half was really poor. Think part of that was fatigue but the missed penalty seemed to also drain a lot of belief from the team.

 

7 champions league games. 3 wins, 3 draws, 1 defeat.

I have some slight reservations on a couple if things but you cannot argue with that return. Our best ever CL outing?

 

Think its hard to measure the performance due to the change in format. The previous format was much less forgiving. Dont think this team makes it out of any group in the old format.