Brendan Rodgers Discussion Thread

Let me be as categorically clear about this as I possibly can... If the Huns heed their fans calls to give Ferguson the position full time I'll either drop dead from asphyxiation from laughing or in agony as my bollocks fail from continuous spurting... Rodgers would absolutely rattle him over a season... They'd have wasted another year and * knows how many millions in installing another hammer-throwing hack coach...

As I've said before, short of the first and last 5mins of a half stupidity goals we seem to continually give away (all on players concentration), and the fact that they always come out all guns blazing for the first half before we can assert ourselves in playing real football, we're still much better than them... If we have the players show up, for the full 90mins, we would win 75% of the time and draw some other 15% (all on Rodgers to resolve).. If we invest in a COUPLE of strong additions to our current squad we're WAY OUT in front of them... If we do sell and we replace with like for like or even better, we will not only not fold but continue to get stronger (all on the board)...

Lots of blame to go around, including some for us fans if we're honest, but nothing is critical, nothing is broken and I'd take our genuine position over their hypothetical "return... Again!" every day of the week...

 

The if we turn up/complacency arguments have run out of road though.

The evidence since this rodgers has come back is that this fixture is now a struggle.

Saying we just need our players to show up and we will win is why this fixture is trending in the wrong direction in my view.

Its plain to see we are struggling agaimst the set up rangers have adopted. We need to adapt. Not more of the same.

 

I agree that Brodgers needs to deal with his over-confidence, for some reasons making a tactical tweak to respond to another managers, seems to be something that struggles with his ego...that said he has started to show that flexibility in Europe, maybe he just doesn't want to be seen to have to react to them....

That said...

The player complacency cannot be ignored....where I think Broders has to show more flexibility - can you really tell me more than 2 maybe 3 players, who looked like they gave "everything" and were a the top of their game on Sunday.

 

I appreciate your optimism however, while I agree that our manager and players might have had the league already won in their minds on Sunday, they also never showed up for a one-of cup final against them. Also, I can't accept that our board will readily sanction the couple of strong additions to the team you talk about as they don't have a good track record in that area. As for Sunday's game, they could easily have been two or three goals ahead in that first half and while we did improve 2nd half we were never comfortable. We are not broken and we are still in the running for a treble but, by *, we need to accept that there's some major work to be done if we want to continue to be successful both domestically and in Europe

 

I certainly think our players could play better - but I really struggle to accept the complacency argument in this fixture I must say. I just think all things considered it doesnt add up.

If we were consistently walloping Rangers, had the league the league trophy already presented and we were playing them end of season - then maybe I could understand complacency.

But in context, we had no reason to be complacent against them in this fixture. This is the one domestic fixture a year that players should be up for. Its the big game. Everbodys tuning in. The fans are buzzing for it. This is where you want to show what you are about.

We have had 2 Cup finals against them in the last year. Both close run things. The most recent OF we were played off the park and embarrassed. The majority of our team turning complacent on the day is very difficult to understand in these circumstances. Theres every reason not to be complacent.

I thought our players looked flustered and devoid of ideas rather than complacent. They werent able to play their usual game. CCV and AJ seemed to spend a huge portion of the game in possession of the ball struggling to do anything with it because they couldnt find a pass or gave the ball away. We spent large periods of the game passing backwards or sideways.

If the players are consistently turning up to this game complacent then Id fear there is serious rot in that squad. I feel its more a case that Rangers have sussed out how to play against us and we havent bothered to adapt. Clement eventually stumbled across it as his inferiority complex grew and he switched from trying to take us on and match us to primarily trying to stifle us. They basically line us against us now like a you expect a Hearts or Hibs too. Resigned to having 25/30% possession, launching the ball up the pitch and trying to contain us.

 

Jesis christ!!!

Sorry mate, but AGAIN, PLEASE, READ MY POST.

I said "in the current domestic climate"!

These arent the days when Rangers where cheating and outspending us, nor even the days when we were evenly matched financially and structurally.

Wim Jansen stopped the hun 10 with a budget a quarter the size of theirs, and a brand new team with a brand new manager. A monumental achievement.

MoN , Strachan, even Lennons first stint all deserve massive credit for their successes.

Ronny, Rodgers, Lennon 2.0, Ange have all been basically up against a broke zombie outfit, that needs constant share issues, dodgy payday loans and constant cash injections to keep the lights on.

As I said, we outspend them and every other side in the league together. We are structurally light years ahead if them.

Im sorry, their not even in the same ballpark.

 

What team has had the highest wage bill in Scotland in most of the recent seasons?

 

Blood pressure is fine pal. My club are romping to another treble with a one of the best managers we could ever likely get. You keep disappearing when things get good so you don’t have to give the credit when it’s due.

 

It wont be though, he will very quickly move on from it, and that’s one of the reasons he is a good manager but not an elite manager.

 

According to this, we do, as of right now.

https://www.capology.com/uk/scottish-premiership/payrolls/

More importantly, we pay our midfield a whopping 7m more per annum than they do theirs. A midfield that has ran over the top of ours three games in a row.

Which is decidedly my point; that Rodgers has been tactically outsmarted by a belgian halfwit and a ned out of his depth and doesnt appear to be learning a thing.

 

That’s not what I asked though. I said what team has had the highest wage bill in most of the recent seasons. I’ll give you a clue. It wasn’t us.

 

Celtic should be scouting every nation to find a manager that can adapt his team and doesn’t play favourites or sticks to substituting players at a set time every game.

 

Tbf its a pretty vague assertion. For me at least.

"Recent seasons" means? Past 5 years? Past 6? Was this consistent? Most of them meaning not all of them?

If they have a higher player wage bill in say 22/23, does that mean it matches our transfer spend in that season? So cancels out any advantage?

I swear im not being arsey. Im just trying to understand how it equates to our transfer spend and club structure, as I understand us to be miles ahead of them.

I literally dont think a single one of their players makes it into a Rodgers starting 11 Celtic.

I was also of the understanding that they cut their cloth, MASSIVELY this year to, again, keep the lights on.
But our manager can go out a * millions on a striker who has some question marks over him still.

You dont think we are miles ahead ? Or that we should be?

The point being, for me at least, that its entirely unacceptable for any Celtic manager to be watching his players * their pants and allow them to run over of the top of us, never mind three games in a row, or at HOME. And nevermind one that has VASTLY more resources available to him. (Which, i think your saying isn't the case), or nevermind one who doesn't seem to be learning a single thing from watching them pump 3 goals against us over and over again.

But, again, maybe, MAYBE I am being unfair. After all, I literally just agreed with a * Hugh Keevins column in the record, where hes musing the same things as i am.

So maybe I am just a bias *.

Either way, thank you, (sincerely) for engaging in an actual debate and not name calling and finger pointing.

 

Well you’ve said that Rodgers, Lennon, Ange and Deila have come up against a hun team that are skint. However, the fact is, the huns have been competing and in a lot of recent seasons, been spending more on wages than we are. So basically, your argument about not deserving credit falls flat on its puss. It was nonsense anyway, but even more so given the facts. We are miles ahead though, that’s the big picture here. Trophy count in the last decade or so will tell you that. One off games here and there aren’t an indication of how far or how close we are. It’s the overall season and ultimately what trophies are won that determines the gulf.

They never ran over the top of us as Hampden in the final, or the other weekend. They were very competitive in the games, one we won, the other we lost. The game at Ibrox I’ll 100% give you. When you look at the wages both clubs spend though, that’s kind of what you would expect, whether we like it or not. There’s a reason the * regularly do pretty well in the Europa League. It’s because when they turn up, they can be a decent side.

Just on the spend. Now I can’t be arsed looking into this properly, but I’d be willing to bet that when you look at nett spend over the last 10 years, they will have spent a good bit more than we have. Does that then come into it?

 

Gets the job done every time come May , bumps along the road n all.

 

Think it's the first time in a long while we've had the highest wage bill. For years they had been paying Tavernier, Goldson, Arfield, Davis, Morelos, Defoe, Roofer, Barasic, Lundstram and Kent absolutely stupid wages. They still are with Tavernier, Dessers, Sterling, Butland and Danilo.

It's also not clear how they group up players. It says £2.4m for huns midfield. I'd imagine Raskin and Diomande have that combined. I'm sure our midfield still earns more I don't imagine the gulf is as big as that states.

They probably had a higher net spend on transfers this season than us and most seasons except maybe 22/23.

 

Brendan Rodgers insists Vaclav Cerny showed a lack of respect to Celtic fans by spraying them with water during Rangers' recent derby win.


The Czech international aimed a water bottle in the direction of nearby Hoops supporters in the main stand at Celtic Park as the winger wildly celebrated Hamza Igamane's winning goal.

This has led to a police and Scottish FA investigation into the matter, after official complaints were filed.

"My honest take on it is I know the club are dealing with it," Rodgers said. "I haven't seen anything after the game because I went away.

"You know when you lose a game of that magnitude, you don't read or listen to anything because you get out of the way.

"I had heard what had happened obviously though, and you can't do that. That's the reality.

"I understand the jubilation and the Rangers players have every right to celebrate with their supporters. But not in that way."


Barry Ferguson's comments that he 'didn't have a problem' with Cerny's actions were then put to Rodgers.

Asked if he would've taken issue had it been one of his players who spray water, Rodgers answered: "Yes, I would.

"Where's the respect in that? I think it's a lack of respect if a player is running up a touchline and he squirts a waterbottle in supporters' faces.

"I certainly wouldn't want my players to do it.

"In the main, in the games I've been involved in, the players do behave in a certain manner.

"It works both ways. There's a lot that comes from the stands to coaches, managers and players.

"I think we all know there is a line that we shouldn't cross.

"It is a very emotive game and it is an amazing fixture. It was great to have the fans back in, I thought they added that bit extra as well.

"You can't antagonise, though, as in this fixture in particular that can lead to issues.

 

I notice he did adapt the tactics to more of a 4-2-3-1 when playing out from the back today.

Hatate dropping in beside McGregor, was very noticable early in the game the first 15 minutes when we didn't really get out our own half and had a lot of the ball around our box. But happened throughout the game, quite a few times Hatate ended up the one deeper and McGregor went ahead.

First time i've really noticed it and then when attacking and up the park was just the normal set up.

Wonder if we'll play like that every game from now on.