Brendan Fraudgers!

ball rebounds out, the player makes an attempt to get the ball, Callum steps in front, gets his body there and he knocks him over.


Yep I believe you Brendan and if someone told me you walked on water I would believe that too

 

As much as I like Brendan he can’t honestly believe they were both penalty’s?

He’d be * slaughtering the ref it they were given against us, and rightly so.

 

That one last night was a nailed on penalty, don’t even know why it’s being debated. Seen people saying it was because he was heading away from goal? The * does that matter?

Sunday was never in a million years though

 

BR on coins thrown at away games: “If it’s happening, nobody likes to see it. It’s not something we want in the game.”

BR on Fir Park penalty decision: “It was a penalty. You have empathy for the opponent and you analyse the game objectively. We dominated and missed chances. Motherwell gave everything and we didn’t take our chances

BR: “We lost a soft goal but what I marveled at was the composure of our players. We could have gone direct and lost our composure but we were patient and brought rash challenges out of the opposition."

BR: “It’s unfortunate, a clumsy challenge on Callum. Motherwell have complained about quite a lot. I had a good chat with Stephen [Robinson], he’s doing an excellent job. We go into Saturday’s game looking for a win to mark a good week for us."

BR on diving allegations: “I don’t have any instructions. We won the fair play award last year. We have values here as a club and a team. This is a group of players who are very honest. We’ve got our first two penalties of the season and my opinion is that they are penalties."

BR on 66 game unbeaten run: “It’s a mind-set we’ve fostered from day 1. I’m so proud of the team. Over the course of this run, in every game we’ve scored goals. We have the belief we can score and get a result.”


BR on injuries: "@MDembele_10 was back outside today so we’ll see over the next 48 hours. I expect @patrick7roberts to be out, awaiting results. Nir Bitton has been running the last few days so we’ll see with him."

 

Young lad from the Ivory Coast on trial.

 

Kolo?

 

Apparently the love child of sweet Kolo and James Forrest.

 

As a man who has tamed his inner chimp – dip into Professor Steve Peters’ self-help tome ‘The Chimp Paradox’ which is so favoured by Olympic athletes and the like for an explanation – Brendan Rodgers, the Celtic manager, tends to shy away from the hyperbolic.

As Motherwell have banged on the cage this week, Rodgers has, well, not given much of a monkey’s for the white noise that has provided the backdrop for this final part of a controversial trilogy.

“There are always emotions after games, especially when you lose a cup final, and that’s why I never go too strongly about what people are saying,” said Rodgers. “When the chimp calms down and you get the human side, it’s all OK. I try never to provoke the chimp. It’s all raging inside you!”

In contrast to Rodgers’ measured responses, Motherwell have gone a little ape in response to what they see as two miscarriages of justice.

It has been a week of recrimination and finger pointing with the Fir Park side seeking explanations from Tony McGlennan, the SFA compliance officer, for the decisions made by officials although one has to wonder whether their own hand is undermined by the fact they did not appeal the dismissal of defender Cedric Kipre in Sunday’s Betfred League Cup final.

Celtic captain Scott Brown chipped in with his own take this week as he accused Motherwell of hyprocrisy given his view that Louis Moult dived in the build-up to the Fir Park side’s goal on Wednesday evening, while he was also furious at the coins and missiles directed towards the Celtic players.

Perhaps some light reading this weekend could brighten the mood.

Rodgers, though, has maintained that relations between himself and the Fir Park management team remain cordial and he is unperturbed by the column inches and back pages that have dominated the domestic landscape this week. As such, he sees no reason to view this afternoon’s game any differently than a run of the mill league outing on home soil.

“There is edge and pressure around every game that we play,” said Rodgers.

“There is no more and no less - we play to win, we want to play well and we want to get three points.

“I don’t know what they expect but for me there’s nothing in it.

“To me, I haven’t seen any big reaction. There were only 9000 supporters there so they make their noise, it’s a nice little atmosphere but there’s no drama for us.

“Obviously Motherwell feel hard done by and they are enthusiastic on the sides where they kick every ball and challenge every decision.

“We want intensity in our game but we have to play with a calmness and I need to be calm on the side to ensure the messages are right. But there’s nothing to take out of the game, we want to be competitive.

“We had a good chat with the staff after the game and there was no issue. I’ll repeat that I think Stephen [Robinson] has done an excellent job there, got them highly motivated and committed. Yeah, they play totally different to us but the players, having seen them closely over the last two games, seem a good bunch of guys who want to work.

“They are no different to us in that they are a really good honest group of players who are playing in big pressure games every single time they play - and their behaviour and how they cope with that is excellent.”

There is an argument to suggest that Rodgers will have other things on his mind this weekend as Celtic also cast an eye towards Tuesday’s conclusive UEFA Champions League game against Anderlecht.

With a 3-0 win over in Brussels, the door to the Europa League is ajar for the Parkhead side and although Rodgers has that game in his mind, he is wary of disrupting the fluency of his side.

Patrick Roberts will miss the game after a hamstring strain sustained on Wednesday night while Moussa Dembele is still carrying a knock from the Betfred League Cup final at Hampden.

Avoiding defeat would stretch Celtic’s unbeaten run to an iconic 67 game sequence, with an interesting footnote being that the Parkhead side have scored in every one of those games.

There will be little element of surprise this afternoon given the regularity of the games this week and Rodgers is keen to maintain a level of performance, regardless of personnel.

“We have to look at it, for sure,” he said, in terms of also thinking about Anderlecht. “It’s important for us to win but I’m also conscious that over the course of the season we’ve won all of our games away from home, apart from Wednesday when we drew in Motherwell.

“At the times I have made changes a lot of them have been when we’re at home and we’ve drawn games there. So I’m conscious that we have 60,000 odd supporters, the majority of which is ours, so I want to entertain them. I don’t want to use the home games as the one where there’s a comfort and we can make too many changes because we have an obligation to entertain the supporters.”

 

He doesn't get ruffled.......shows that he is unperturbed in troubled waters and keeps the good ship Celtic on course.
So to all those heathens out there who are trying to unsettle him...... GIRUY

 

B Rodgers not impressed with Motherwell this wk: “These are players who have got to this level because of their professionalism, because of their honest & how they work. Some of the nonsense that came out of there was absolutely incredible...”

B Rodgers getting a few things off his chest: “after a game on Wed we have a Chief Exec of Motherwell walking about with a laptop trying to demonstrate to media it wasn’t a penalty & then tweets about retaining class & dignity, that’s not behaviour that defines & fits that”


https://mobile.twitter.com/AlisonGConroy

 

Brendan with the headshot.

 

love brendan mer than ma burd noo and gave they * on clyde what they deserve.

 

BR: On @Oedouard22 "He’s been very good in training and I just felt today, we need more mobility at the top of the field."

BR: "Our general play in our games, in particular the Wednesday game, was very good but to play against their centre halves, I felt we needed more movement in front and in behind them, so we decided to go with @Oedouard22 , and it was as a good performance as you will see."


BR: "For a young player of that age, he had everything in his game. For the first goal, if you watch the goal in the build-up - the constant mobility he has to show for it, set it, run across the line and then his movement to get in the box and finish,"

BR: "And this is something we have spoken to him on: he needs to become a real a real killer in the box and be in that area to score, and it was a great finish."

BR: "“His other goal, he anticipates it, and we win the first header and the second ball, and then he is away in a one-v-one. His pace was always going to take him away from people, and he finished it really well."


BR: "And the third one was about his anticipation. If you watch it again, he is on his way as the ball is going to the keeper. He reads it, gets it and finishes it quickly."

BR: "He has great movement to create James Forrest’s goal. He runs across the line and his movement takes away the defenders."

BR: "It was as real complete performance by a big talent who has been unfortunate not to have had more game-time. He has really settled in now and he’s enjoying and loving being at the club.”


BR: "For me, it’s about the form of the players, and you have to be performing in training and in the games, and he has taken his chance today and was absolutely outstanding."

BR: "Bringing him in was always going to put a focus on the other two. He has the ability to start in every game, there is no question about that, and it’s why we brought him here."

BR: "He is one of the top young players in world football for his age. He has just had to bide his time, settle in to the country and our way of working, but you can see today that quality he has.





BR on @patrick7roberts injury: "It's a big blow so it's not ideal for us. He has gone back to @ManCity for a scan on it


BR on @Scotty_Sinclair coming off: "Once we got the third goal, I thought there was no point in taking any more risks. It was clumsy tackle. We felt it was precautionary in taking him off and hopefully he should be fine."


BRENDAN Rodgers has launched a passionate defence of his players’ honesty, professionalism and work ethic after they extended their domestic unbeaten run to a staggering 67 games with today’s 5-1 victory over Motherwell.

It was the third time the Hoops have played the Steelmen in the space of a week. Last Sunday, the Bhoys triumphed in the League Cup final with a 2-0 victory, with Moussa Dembele sealing the victory from the penalty spot after Scott Sinclair was felled in the box.

On Wednesday night, Sinclair netted from the spot late in game to secure a share of the spoils for the Scottish treble-winners at Fir Park following a foul on Callum McGregor in the box.

Speaking after today’s game in Paradise, the manager said: “This week, there was a debate about the honesty and professionalism of the Celtic players, and questions asked about the supporters. This is not a debate. These are players who have got to this level of 67 games unbeaten because of their professionalism and their honesty. in how they work and how they devote their life to their profession and. along with the supporters, they have been absolutely brilliant.

“I understand Motherwell were probably hurt after the game on Sunday and that probably spills into Wednesday, but some of the nonsense that came out of there this week was absolutely incredible. I just want to make the point on behalf of the players and the supporters of this club, and the humility they have shown.

“After the game on Wednesday, we have a chief executive of Motherwell, a guy in senior authority, walking around with a laptop trying to show and demonstrate to the media that it wasn’t a penalty.

“He was also in the media room, trying to show members of the media that it wasn’t a penalty and then tweets later on that evening, talking about retaining class and dignity. That’s not behaviour that defines and fits that.

“For us, Motherwell have been three really good games. I have nothing with the manager as Stevie is a great guy and done brilliantly with his team. and all the games were competitive in different ways. But for senior members of the club to do that, I find very disappointing.

“Three good games, three tough games and I respect the emotions of them, but we have done our talking on the football field, and that’s where it should take place.

“Nothing should be written against our supporters and players about honesty. These guys have this record because of their honesty, because of how hard they work, because they never have a lazy day, because every time they play home and away, they are up for every game and not doing daft or lazy things. Their professionalism has been exemplary.

“The two officials involved have been questioned. Craig Thomson, he was there – ok, it was a bit soft but it was a foul. On Wednesday night, it was a bit soft but the motion of the player, he puts his hands on the player, and Willie Collum was there, so there is support for the two officials as well as they have got hammered for giving penalties – they were soft penalties, but they were penalties. It’s done, three games are done and we move on."

 

Good on him for calling out motherwell as some of the moaning from the club (rather than its manager) over the last few days has been embarrassing.

 

Thing is. They were all falling over themselves to say it was a terrible decision when the only angle at the time was inconclusive at best, and without doubt clumsy at the very least..

Tom English was pulling up the penalty at Dens Park for Sinclair which was stonewall, as some sorta pattern for him diving..

 

Well said Brendan. * Motherwell and their moaning. About time we had a few decisions go our way.