Brendan Fraudgers!

Wish he was ma da.

 

BR: "It was an outstanding performance and result."

BR: "Everyone had built the game up before as a real pressure game for us but it was a brilliant team performance

BR: "We started the game with good confidence, and we just needed to be cleaner in our build-up play.

BR: "Our confidence grew with the more passes we made. Got first goal from a great move and from that point, we were a real threat."


BR: "There are still areas to improve but they were absolutely exceptional."

BR: "Two of the goals we scored came from real high pressure and having that courage to press the game.

BR: "You saw the fitness and everything of the players as the last goal."

BR: "When we score we had five players in the box, all in good positions. "

BR: "Played very well. For a Scottish team to come away and get a 3-0 victory & keep a clean sheet at this level- a big achievement.

BR if that was a massive step towards 3rd spot in the #UCL group: "Not really. It’s a great victory for us."

BR: "But a long way to go in the group. Need to take the victory and reflect on it. I believe we can better than we were tonight."

BR: "On back of a high-intensity game, to come away & deliver that type of performance, players deserve all the plaudits they can get."

BR on @ScottBrown8 injury: "He said when he came off that he just felt something tight and didn't want to aggravate it."

BR: "So I will not know for the next 24-48 hours to what that's at."











BRENDAN Rodgers has hailed his players after they produced a stunning performance tonight to brush aside Anderlecht in Brussels and record Celtic’s biggest-ever UEFA Champions League victory.

In a magnificent European away display, the Hoops scored three times without reply in the Belgian capital, with Leigh Griffiths opening the scoring in the first half and Patrick Roberts and Scott Sinclair on target after the break to seal a thoroughly-deserved three points for the visitors, much to the delight of a jubilant travelling support.

It was the Scottish treble-winners’ first away win in the UEFA Champions League in five years and it put them firmly in the hunt in Group B to secure European football beyond Christmas.

Speaking to the media after the the manager said: “It was an outstanding performance and result. Everyone had built the game up before as a real pressure game for us but it was a brilliant team performance.

“I think that we started the game with good confidence and gave the ball away loosely at times and we just needed to be cleaner in our build-up play, but our confidence grew with the more passes we made.

“We got the first goal from a great move and from that point, certainly offensively, we were a real threat. The defensive organisation of the team, I thought their concentration and tactically and these are the things you are looking to see at this level and how they cope and deal with that. There are still areas to improve but they were absolutely exceptional.

“Two of the goals we scored came from real high pressure and having that courage to press the game. You saw the fitness and everything of the players at the last goal. When we scored, we had five players in the box, all in good position – from protecting the middle of the pitch and then having that speed and ability to go away and score.

“It was an outstanding performance. We played very well, and for a Scottish team to come away and get a 3-0 victory and keep a clean sheet at this level is a big achievement.”

Many had predicted beforehand that this match would be pivotal in the battle for sealing third spot in the section, but the Hoops boss was adamant that there was still plenty of football to be played – and that this Celtic team still had room for improvement.

“It’s a great victory for us and, for me, it shows the development of the squad over the last year or so,” he said. “But there is a long way to go in the group. We just need to take the victory and reflect on the game, and I believe we can better than we were tonight.

“But the players deserve a huge amount of credit. On the back of a high-intensity game at the weekend, to come away and deliver that type of performance, they deserve all the plaudits they can get.”

Scott Brown, who was fantastic in the middle of the park came off in the second half, nursing what looked like a hamstring strain, but the manager added that it was too early to give an accurate prognosis on the injury.

“He said when he came off and I haven’t spoken to him since that he just felt something tight and he didn’t want to aggravate it so I won’t know for the next 24-48 hours what that’s at.”

 

Post match interview
https://streamable.com/amp_player/abc2w

 

I'm going to have BR babies - he just doesn't know it yet

 

He must be absolutely buzzing when he sees his instructions carried out to the letter and it ends with a result like that.

If I came home and caught him * my wife I would make him a cup of tea.

 

KOLO Toure’s new job as a technical assistant at Celtic marks the third time in his career that he’s worked with Brendan Rodgers, having previously been a player at both Liverpool and Celtic under the guidance of the Irishman.

The admiration between the two is clear, and the Ivory Coast internationalist recognises that working with a manager of Brendan Rodgers’ calibre and experience will stand him in good stead going forward as a coach.

“I am at an amazing club which has a great manager like Brendan Rodgers so I know I could not be in a better place and I am very thankful for that,” Toure said. “The manager and his staff are really great guys so I'm very happy to be here with them and I want to do everything I can to help them and learn as much as I can as a coach.

“I know I can learn so much from working with Brendan Rodgers as he is a top manager. I will be working with him and his staff very closely each day so there will be a lot for me to learn.

“Brendan is one of the best young managers in the world right now. What he’s doing for Celtic is there for all to see, and he’s doing amazing right now.”

The 36-year-old has called time on his long an illustrious playing career, having become an Invincible with Celtic last season and replicating his achievement with Arsenal. And he’s delighted to be taking the next step in his career with the Celts.

"It’s a great time for me and I couldn’t be happier to be back at this club. Celtic is a great club, and to be able to come back here and work with a fantastic club and a fantastic manager is amazing.

 

NEIL LENNON insists he always knew Brendan Rodgers was destined for the top-level after marvelling at the Celtic boss’ work first-hand eight years ago.

Lennon, 46, has revealed how he travelled to watch Rodgers’ training sessions when the current Parkhead chief was still in charge of Reading. He was immediately won over by the innovation, detail and intensity of his compatriot.

A development coach with Celtic at the time, Lennon departed with plenty of food for thought and would later step into the top job in Glasgow’s east end, leading his boyhood heroes to five major trophies during his three years in the dugout.

Rodgers, meanwhile, rose through the ranks with Swansea and Liverpool before his dismissal by the Reds put him on the path to Celtic Park.

The gaffers – who will go head to head when Hibs visit Parkhead tomorrow – still enjoy a good relationship, with the duo exchanging texts in the aftermath of Celtic’s magnificent 3-0 Champions League win over Anderlecht this week.

“I get on very well with Brendan,” smiled Lennon. “I sent him a text after the win in Anderlecht and he got back to me. Being the Celtic manager is like being part of an exclusive club – it is like being the ex-President of the United States!

“There has only been a few of us in the course of the clubs history and it is a very special group to be among. I am very proud of that.

“Brendan has always been great with me. He was very good when I was coaching very early on in my career. His brother contacted me through an e-mail and I was able to go down to Reading to see him for a couple of days.

“I was still coaching the Celtic development team and it was great couple of days. I took an enormous amount of information from him and he was really good. It was something completely different.

“It was just really thorough, there was real snap to the training and the way he put them on. The way he came across in training was top class. He made you think about the game. He learned a lot coming through at Chelsea but he is definitely his own man now and has taken his career onto great things.

“The way his teams play are a joy to watch. I like this Celtic team, I like it a lot.”








CELTIC chief Peter Lawwell says the job Brendan Rodgers has done with a squad mainly featuring players from Ronny Deila’s reign has been INCREDIBLE.

The Hoops stormed to their first Champions League group stage away win in FIVE years after their 3-0 rout of Anderlecht.

Leigh Griffiths, Patrick Roberts and Scott Sinclair all scored in a stunning win over the Belgians.

Victory keeps Brendan Rodgers’ men’s hopes of European football after Christmas alive.

And Lawwell, who was delighted with the result, hailed the remarkable job Rodgers has done since arriving at the club.

He told STV: “It was a fantastic, mature European performance so we’re delighted.

“And it was against a club you can really benchmark and measure yourself against.

“I think we came out with flying colours.

“It’s been remarkable, the majority of the players that appeared for the first team each week and appeared last night were at Celtic with Ronny before Brendan came.

“So he’s done an incredible job, he’s an outstanding manager and outstanding coach, and I’m delighted for him.

“The amount of work he puts in, the coaches put in, the way the players have developed and the way they are performing, it’s been remarkable really.”

 

He's sexy and he knows it

 

While I absolutely love Brendan, so nobody take this the wrong way, I was thinking about our strongest starting 11.

6 of the players were signed or debuted under Ronny, and I'd be tempted to award him Rogic as well and say 7 (Gordon, Tierney, Boyata, Simunovic, Armstrong, Roberts)

Only 2 were signed by Rodgers (Dembele/Sinclair)

With Strachan (Brown) and Lennon (Lustig/Rogic) rounding it off.

Obviously that's got some opinion in there and Griffiths/Ntcham could maybe replace Armstrong & Dembele.

Just surprised me how little of the main squad was brought in by Brendan, we've not had the player overhaul that I thought we'd had, we just have a lot of the same players playing a lot lot better due to Rodgers, and a lot of the players mercilessly cut.

 

BR: "@ScottBrown8 and @StuArmstrong16 won't be available for a few weeks. Light strains so it’s unfortunate for us and @ScottishFA."

BR: "We don't think it’s overly serious but obviously it puts them out the game tomorrow and of course the international games."


BR on #UCL: "We’ve came off the back of a very busy period so as you can imagine it was a great victory for us."

BR: "Winning keeps the spirit and confidence of the team and gets us ready now for the final game of the month."

BR: "You cant take anything away from the players. What they've shown consistently is the level of courage they have."

BR: "They put so much into the game physically, but they're able to show now the technical qualities they have & that’s going to improve."

BR on Neil Lennon: "He's a brilliant manager, I have a lot of time and respect for Neil. He had a great playing career here at Celtic.

BR: "He’s reinvigorated @HibsOfficial, he’s got a winning mentality and he loves football. He’ll want to come and get a good result."

BR: "Happy we're playing at home in front of sell out crowd. We’ll look to impose our game and hopefully get a result."


CELTIC are aiming to make it 58 games unbeaten domestically when they take on Hibernian at home this Saturday. And they go into the game full of confidence following a comfortable derby win at Ibrox last weekend and an impressive victory over Anderlecht in Belgium on Wednesday night.

Brendan Rodgers' side will have to do so without Scott Brown, however. The Hoops skipper limped off after feeling tightness during the Champions League game, and the Hoops boss confirmed that the captain will not be playing on Saturday.

“We’ve come off the back of a very busy period, three games away from home and a bit of travel for three different competitions and three tough games," the manager said. "It was a great victory for us. Winning keeps the spirit and confidence of the team and gets us ready now for the final game of this month.

“It’s always nice for a coach when you see that relationship between training and the games, and obviously we show and demonstrate a lot of that domestically. It’s always okay doing it at home in front of your supporters but there’s now been a sequence of games showing that courage and bravery to impose a way of working.

“That’s all you can ask your players to do. Then, seeing that and the result makes me pleased. There’s still a long way to go. Technically we could have been better at times but you can’t take anything away from the players.

“What they've shown consistently is the level of courage they have. They put so much into the game physically, but they're able to show now the technical qualities they have and that’s going to improve over the coming seasons.”

He added: “Everyone recognised before the game it was an important tie for us. We were under pressure to perform and we showed that calmness again. It certainly gives us a decent start in the group.

“We have picked up one win and one loss in a really tough group. The confidence and belief the players will pick up from it is huge.”

Scott Brown’s injury means he will also miss Scotland’s upcoming games against Slovakia and Slovenia and the manager added: “He’s had a scan so him and Stuart Armstrong won’t be available for a few weeks as they have light strains on their calf and hamstring.

“It’s one of those things. He’s had it before. It’s not so serious but it’s the timing of it that’s unfortunate for us and Scotland.”

 

There is something about what he's building that feels like the MON era.

I can't place it but things just seem to be developing under Rodgers quite nicely, European football seems to finally be coming together, still undefeated in the league etc...

Even the the attachment to the squad, I loved Lenny and his players like Hooper, wanyama, VVD, forster, Commons and few others but under Rodgers I feel like this squad is starting to be loved more then any squad since the days of larsson and Co.

I just hope it continues long enough for this team to really cement home a legendary status

 

I’d cover myself in petrol, walk through a forrest fire, cut my baws with razor blades & rub salt into the open wounds just to be in the audience at a game show that his maw used to enjoy watching on Sunday evenings.​

 

https://mobile.twitter.com/celticfc/status/914121649607380992/video/1

 

The Messiah.

 

BR when asked if @HibsOfficial were the toughest test he’s had in domestic competition: “It’s the toughest. No question about that.”

BR: “I was impressed by them as a collective, good energy in the team and good physicality. That was a real test for us today.”


BR: “Big credit to my players. I thought that mentality and strength of character came through at the end.”

BR: “Young Callum with two great finishes today, pleased for him.”

BR: “Thought we should have had a penalty. Everyone could see that the player’s hand was up.”

BR: “It was a terrific game, a great advert for Scottish football.”

BRENDAN Rodgers praised Callum McGregor’s mentality after the Celtic midfielder scored two crucial goals against Hibernian to secure a hard-fought point at Paradise and extend the Hoops' unbeaten run to 58 games.

McGregor opened the scoring against Neil Lennon’s side early in the first-half with a wonderful finish, but Hibernian responded and found themselves ahead with just over 10 minutes remaining in the game. Celtic responded immediately after conceding a second goal and drew level thanks to a second goal from McGregor.

Speaking to the media immediately following the match, Brendan Rodgers singled McGregor out for his impressive performance.

“He’s a wonderful player,” said the manager. “He can keep the ball and is getting big-game experience. You see that with his goals today - two different types, making a late run into the box with a good touch and for his second he showed remarkable composure with the finish. Lots of players would just smash that but he’s just guided it in and got us back into the game.

“Callum has technique and a good technical understanding. One of his biggest attributes is his temperament. It doesn’t matter what the occasion or the game, his temperament is clear and at this level you need players with that kind of mentality.”

The manager also admitted that the Premiership tie had been Celtic’s “toughest test” so far this season and touched on his team’s performance overall.

"Big credit to the Celtic players," he said. "I thought that mentality and that strength and character came through in the end. We’ve shown why this run of 58 games that we're on is so tough to do when you’re in lots of big competitions and playing lots of big games.

"It’s a massive credit to the players that they can show that mentality to keep going and get a result.”