Brendan Rodgers Discussion Thread

Honestly, I can't argue with any of that.

Of all those mentioned, perhaps AJ has at least not been as inconsistent or repeatedly under performing, but as you correctly point out, have not had Ralston given a sniff to have something to compare to. Ralston did pretty well in the first Scotland game, A v Greece (less so in the second), so at least deserves a chance here or there.

As such, you are completely bang on with each of those assessments.

 

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has admitted that he was “not overly surprised” after his side’s 1-0 defeat to St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park.


An early goal from Daniels Balodis ensured that the club would have to wait to get the chance to win the Scottish Premiership, as the bottom side in the league ran out worthy winners in Perth.

Speaking after the game to Sky Sports’ Luke Shanley, Rodgers praised the performance of the hosts, who gave their Premiership surivival hopes a much-needed shot in the arm. He said: “Both (result and performance) were very, very disappointing.

“Listen, I want to give the credit to St Johnstone, because I thought from the first minute their fight was better than ours. They're obviously desperate for the points, we should be desperate for the points, but they made it really, really difficult for us.

"We just started off too soft at the beginning. Obviously, we had chances in that particular second half, lots of pressure, lots of really good moments.

“We were really, really disappointing


When asked if the performance of his players away from home surprised him on the day, the Celtic manager’s response was blunt. “No”, he said.

“We've got three sides of the ground today, all expectant. But I think what it's told me over the course of this season, especially this part of the season, is that expectation versus the underdog, and the players who can cope with that here, because it's easy when you're the underdog when you're playing in Champions League games and you're fighting and running.

“Playing at Celtic is about being able to deal with both. And the expectation and how we've started games, especially over this last little period, hasn't been good enough. But that tells me something as a coach.

“So no, I’m not overly surprised.”

Celtic will now have to wait until after the split and the Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden before getting the chance to seal their fourth consecutive Premiership title, following today’s defeat

 

Wants 'massive backing' this summer.

If 'massive backing' = another 30m on Engels, Idah & Trusty then 'thanks, and all the best Brendan'

 

We’re just dire to watch right now and we have been for a while.

Team needs freshened up, massively. If we have another season of this type of football then hopefully a freshen up in the dugout as well.

 

Indication he's looking at a squad refresh to some degree.

 

Rodgers knows what the problems are.

Get this fucken League and Cup won, and then do the purge in the summer.

 

He signed half them. Recruitment, for the money we spent, was terrible.

 

Guess the worry is if we stagnate towards a treble(mad to say really)

It could carry into next season.

Still, if we do win the treble he earns the right to lead us next season.

 

Exactly my concerns heading into the Summer window, he has proven throughout his entire managerial career that he does not have the greatest eye for a player, what a huge waste of cash that is, managers having the final say in transfers is fast becoming a thing of the past anyway, looking at some of the most progressive clubs in world football who rely heavily on the data side of things (AZ, Leipzig, Brighton, Brentford, USG), the scouting and recruitment side of the club sanction the signings, not the manager, the manager is then there to coach the players into becoming better, maximizing their potential, before selling on at profit

 

Encouraging words from him there. Exactly what I wanted to hear.

 

At least we won't be complacent when we play them in the semi

 

This is it, we are staggering over the finishing line at the moment.
We know the league is done.

But the way we are playing and have been playing for a while is a growing concern.

My only concern about this summers window is, all the old bullshit excuse being rolled out cause we don’t have automatic champions league.

Yet every other team can strengthen their side with no issues who are also battling the qualifying rounds.

We need players in the door early, there should be a number of targets we are looking at and be able to get in the door early on.

 

All played a massive part in us improving in Europe. The supposed acid test for us.

 

Europe is just the icing on the cake. We had a relatively easy passage in the Champions League, but as soon as we came up against the big boys, we fell short.

The supposed acid test is and always will be in Celtic fan's eyes is beating Rangers, and we are not doing it anymore.

We have looked second best in the last three/four games against them.

The 4-3-3 that Rodgers deploys is not cutting it anymore. He is most reluctant to change it, almost Ange style, a slight tweak here and there, but he soon reverts back to type, though it is patently not working anymore, other teams have sussed it out long time ago.

And do we have blue jersey syndrome all of a sudden. First the Huns and now St. Johnstone.

 

Elite manager you say...... Bollicks. HH

 

At the start of the season, we have to win the league, it’s that simple. We will do that. One cup on top of that is probably the absolute bare minimum, we have done that. We have a great chance of adding another making it a treble. That should never be sniffed at. It seems to be the case nowadays within a section of our support however. The acid was always seen as what we do in Europe. We have had favourable draws in recent campaigns and been out on our * before we made it to the final group game. This year we undoubtedly seen an improvement. The aforementioned players all played a big part in that.

Engels was the whipping boy for some earlier in the season, and it appears he is facing the same again. I personally think he has shown enough to suggest he can be a top player for us, and with a full pre-season with us under his belt, it confident he will kick on. Trusty strangely has done better in Europe than he has domestically. I am concerned about Idah however, I would agree there.

Beating the huns is class. We have done that this season in the games that have mattered the most. When the chips have been down, we have. That’s no excuse for losing the other week by the way, but it is fact.

 

I agree on point about winning the league and one Cup as a mininum, that's my requirements as well, fall short of that and it not a good season in my opinion, but yes we have done very well in the Champions League, I'm not criticising the manager, it's some of the players, are showing distinct signs of a lack of commitment to the club I feel.

I'm not worried about Idah, I think he is missing the good link he had with Bernado, and has found himself in the same boat as GG did, an impact sub, not good for the confidence of a £9M player, and he may well get discontented soon, sitting on the bench and getting splinters on his *, and be asking for a move.

Solution.?

Move Maeda back to the left wing and restore the Idah and Bernado partnership in the team.

Switch Jota to the right wing. I've seen enough of Trusty and Engels now, to see that they are not going to cut it here. Sell.

Same for Kuhn and Hatate.

 

I think we need a bit more from Rodgers here. Often after a bad result his reflections appear honest but they seldom ever place any blame at his door.

The squad havent really performed anywhere near their best for half a season really. We pick up a lot of points on the back of average performances because of the lack of quality and competition in the league. That often disguises deeper issues. Rodgers seems slow to react or adapt to things. Its like he feels hes figured it all out already and any poor performances are on the players. I feel like we have seen the performance today, first half especially, many times this season. Sometimes we have got away with it, sometimes we havent. But it doesnt appear to have been addressed. Likewise, the games against Rangers where we have had ample warnings now but change nothing.

It cant always be about going out and spending 40M and overhauling the squad either. We spent in the Summer bringing in guys like Engels, Idah and Trusty who should be hitting their stride at the club now and driving it forward. We brought in Jota and Schlupp as well who should be hitting match fitness and providing a boost. But nearly all of them seem to be going backwards. Thats before you even get to the likes of Hatate and Kuhn who have been off it for some time but dont get dropped - another managers decision. We arent going to be going out and buying a new squad in the Summer so he needs to figure out a way of getting some of these guys performing consistently.

 

He’s got by far the best players in Scotland. They aren’t performing anything like they should. Is that on him? I genuinely don’t know, but too many absolute nothing performances of late.