Brendan Fraudgers!

I've always placed more importance on European progression.

@Deebo67 is probably right though, a last 8 place is possibly a fairer trade off for the treble.

 

Another good point. Man I'm feeling the love tonight.

A Scottish Cup final in the inevitable sunshine is always a welcome end to the season.

* it, last 4 of EL and the treble.

 

I'd take a treble over anything but a European final probably. Maybe a semi.

 

Nothing beats the excitement of Euro knockout football for me. Remember that Inter game was all I could think about for weeks beforehand and then afterwards given it was such a great performance and a cracker of a game.

I’d go as far as to say I’ll be more excited for this Zenit game than any of our group games this season.

The fact we’ve not won a knockout game since Barca in 2004 makes it all the bigger for me, would be huge if we knocked Zenit out and went into the last 16 in another winnable tie.

 

League and getting past Zenit would do me just fine this season. That would be progress IMO.

 

I agree with that but I think he is persisting with Armstrong to get him back in form. Personally I much prefer rogic and Ntcham with brown. Think Stuart's season might have been a flash in the pan to be honest

 

Don't get how he struggling to pick midfeild you pick the guys who have been grabbing games by the neck ntcham stood up recently Armstrong didn't greg or was immense against bayern

Sent from my GT-I9195 using Tapatalk

 

Ntcham the man to step forward. BR has prove himself in Scotland. He’s now going to take a step forward in Europe hopefully .

Europa is the ideal compitition for that until he’ gets some dosh for his own players.

 

Well, we've already won the league cup so...

 

BRENDAN RODGERS was out of work and couldn’t even get an interview.

Then Roberto Mancini phoned him with an offer of a job.

Looking back, the Celtic boss will always be grateful for the opportunity Italian coach Mancini gave him — even though he turned it down.

It was back in 2010, with Rodgers toiling to get his managerial career on track after being sacked by Reading.

Letters were written and CVs sent by Rodgers.


But it was only Zenit St Petersburg boss Mancini — in charge of Manchester City at the time — who was interested in talking to him.

Rodgers said: “Roberto’s a good man. I was out of work at the time and between jobs. I was wondering if I was going to get a manager’s job or not.

“I didn’t have anything lined up towards the end of the season. Then I got a call out of the blue from Manchester City.

“They were looking to get someone in to coach for the following season, because they were trying to develop Mancini’s style of football.

“I was invited up to one of the games, I think it was when Tottenham won 1-0 towards the end of the season.

“It was to meet the staff, and get an idea of what the Man City project was at that time.

“They were great. They flew me out to meet Mancini in Milan at the end of the season, and I spent a bit of time with him there.

“We talked through a few possibilities. It was in that period I got the chance to go to Swansea so it didn’t materialise.

“But I got to know Mancini well and I played against him plenty of times, of course, when I was at Swansea and Liverpool. I enjoyed his company.”


It’s now hard to imagine Rodgers being a No2 to anyone, but back then the record-breaking Hoops boss was willing to consider anything.

Rodgers added: “At that time I had just come out of Reading. I wanted to stay a manager, but it was always strategic for me.

“There was only a certain number of clubs where I could have gone.

“When I’d been rejected from Reading, the next job was critical for me. I had left Watford because I felt I could move quicker at Reading, so I’d had two jobs in a year.

“One went well, the other not so well, so I was at a crossroads. I didn’t know if I’d get another job or not.

“I’d applied for three jobs and never even got an interview.

“At that stage I thought I might struggle. Statistically the numbers tell you as well, especially first-time managers, don’t get another chance.

“This was me sacked from my second job, so I thought I might need to go and be a No2 somewhere.


“I was still early on in my plan. The strategy was to become a manager at 38, but I was actually one at 35.

“That was the timeline I had set when I was 30. I had set goals for the decade between 30 and 40.

“My idea was to be at a League One club by the time I was 38. That was my plan. Then obviously move to the Premier League.

“It happened quicker, when I was 35. I went into Watford, and all of a sudden it changes.


“The thinking about 38 was probably inspired by someone else who was a manager at that age around that time.

“But I was asked to speak to Man City, because of my coaching at Chelsea. I had worked with big players and communicated with big players at Stamford Bridge.

“If I couldn’t get a manager’s job, that was the next best place to go, especially as the Man City project was very exciting.

“Then the chance came to be a No1 at Swansea, and David Platt joined Mancini at City instead.


“I knew him from meeting him and playing against his sides.”

Rodgers was at Celtic’s training ground yesterday as news filtered through from Switzerland telling him which team his side would face.

Despite the daunting draw, Rodgers’ initial reaction was a positive one.

Rodgers added: “You see some of the teams that are in the draw. Whoever we were going to get, a lot of the teams were going to be exciting, tough games for us.

“It’s brilliant. St Petersburg is a wonderful city. I really enjoyed the experience I had playing against them.

“Thankfully for us it’s a bit of time away, so it gives us a period to hopefully be a better team when we get around to playing them.”

Rodgers’ experience of Zenit was from his time at Liverpool when the Russians held out at Anfield to get through in the Champions League.

He said: “I was there in 2012 with Liverpool, and they had the likes of Hulk up front, and Luciano Spalletti was the manager.

“We were out there in the first leg and they won 2-0. We needed three to win at Anfield.

“It was probably the only mistake Jamie Carragher made when I was there. He was short with a backpass and Hulk scored.

“It meant we needed four but we got three. We had half an hour to get another one. We hit the post, everything, but we just couldn’t get another one. We went out on away goals after it finished 3-3 on aggregate.”

 

Steve McManaman speaking with Celtic TV about Brendan.

 

Steve McManaman

Well like everybody, I think it’s an incredible job to be very honest. I’ve heard people say ‘it’s only the Scottish league’, which I feel is quite arrogant really, quite ignorant.”

Whenever you’re breaking records that have stood for a long, long time in football, you’re doing something marvellous and I think it takes it away from himself, or the team in general, of what they have achieved.”

So I think personally what they’ve done is marvellous, it’s brilliant. I’m thrilled to bits for him and the players. They’re building something, really, really strong here at Celtic.”

 

Rodgers, meanwhile, insists criticism of his side for their fifth draw of the season in Sunday’s match with Hibs is unfair.

Speaking ahead of Wednesday’s clash with Hamilton Accies, he added: “We had two draws last year and we have five now. I think it tells you that last season we had the best season in Scottish football history and they don’t happen all the time.

“This year we’ve made a tremendous start and we’ve won our League Cup, we’re five clear with a game in hand.

“We’re in a great place. We can be better at seeing out games, but you have to give Hibs credit.”

Celtic jet to Dubai in January for a winter training camp with Rodgers eager to give his stars a break.

He added: “We have to utilise the squad to keep a freshness. You see some teams have played Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday and are now losing players through injury.

“But these players here have been doing that since June.

“That’s what you have to do at a big club — you have to be at your physical and mental best as often as possible.”







Brendan Rodgers is thrilled to have three top strikers in Dembele, Griffiths and Edouard.

Right now Scotland star Griff is third in the pecking order, but the Hoops boss insists there’s no major reason for that.

Rodgers said: “I can only speak about Leigh if you speak about every single player that doesn’t play.

“I respect he’s Scottish and he plays for Scotland. But if you ask me about Leigh you have to ask why Moussa Dembele or Kristoffer Ajer isn’t playing.

“Or why Erik Sviatchenko isn’t playing. If you don’t want to ask me about them . . .

“There is no story in it. I am picking what I think is the best team.

“Edouard is coming off scoring a hat-trick against Motherwell where he was brilliant. He also performed well when he came into the team in the Champions League game.

“It’s about picking players in a good moment and it’s a long season.

“Griffiths is a fantastic young striker for us, and what I have now is three players who can contribute depending on what type of game I need to play.

“Dembele and Grfiiths have their qualities, and Edouard is a combination of both, and he also did well against Hibs.”

Rodgers added: “We had a real good reflection on Monday morning with all of the players.

“It’s great because part of what we do, which allows them to move on, is we share the responsibility of it all. We take the players into their different groups and reflect on the game.

“We take the keepers and defenders, and they go in with the analysts with myself to talk about it.

“We look at where we were very good and where we could be better.

“Then the midfield players come in, then the attackers.

“We then share that responsibility to be better for the next game.

“The story for me was simple; I thought we were very good up until they scored their first goal.

“Then the game became emotional. We lost control of our game and stopped passing as crisply and cleanly as we had done. All of a sudden we conceded a second goal.

“We still had chances, but we could have lost the game too.

“But it also really focuses on how great these players have done.

“It shows in the run of 68 games what can happen that could allow us to lose a game in the last minute.

“So for them to have the resilience they have had is great.”

 

BR: "The first thank you tonight goes to the supporters. It was probably a hard decision to not stay in when the kettle is on, the house roasting and football on the telly."

BR: "We thank the supporters who came here because it was absolutely freezing but it was great to have them here and to get the win for them.

BR: "We made some changes for this game. We tried something slightly different tonight. I thought the players worked it very well and it was a good win for us."

BR: "They’ve gone to Ibrox and won, gone to Easter Road and won. They’ve had some very good victories this season so we knew it was going to be a real test for us."

BR: "We created a mentality that whatever happens in the game, you don’t get down on it. You just go again. The three goals were very good finishes."

BR on @OlivierNtcham: "I think he’s doing really well, as I would expect. He’s a highly gifted player. He has really good technique, pace and awareness. He's getting that consistency and you see his quality tonight was very good."

 

Brendan post match interview last night

 

His recent comments have been spot on. Griffiths has had some games where he hasn't been as effective, then Edouard comes in and plays well, therefore keeps his place. It's good management.

 

CELTIC is delighted to announce that the recently released book, which was published by the club, Brendan Rodgers: The Road to Paradise, has become the biggest-selling book we have ever launched.

Supporters flocked to two major launch events in Glasgow and Belfast and have supported the book brilliantly. The book charts Brendan Rodgers’ life and career in football and his journey to the position of Celtic manager.

From a small village on the north-east coast of Ireland to the treble-winning manager of Celtic, Brendan Rodgers’ football journey has been a remarkable one of dedication, hard work, a desire to always keep improving and a determination to succeed at the highest level of the sport…and throughout his life there has always been a love of his team, Celtic Football Club.

Now, for the first time, he tells this inspiring story in his official autobiography, The Road To Paradise.

While the opportunity to pull on the green and white Hoops as a player did not arise, he is now manager of his club, the leader who drives his players to deliver success to his fellow supporters

In a momentous first season in charge at Celtic Park, Brendan Rodgers delivered the treble to Paradise – only the third Celtic manager to do so – while also going through the whole season unbeaten domestically – a monumental and historic achievement – as well as reaching the group stages of the UEFA Champions League for the first time in three years.

In his own words, Brendan Rodgers tells his story – from a promising young footballer growing up in Carnlough and dreaming of playing for Celtic one day through to his professional career – as a player, a coach and now as one of football’s top managers.

At Brendan Rodgers’ request, Celtic Football Club has made a donation to each of Northern Ireland Hospice and Children’s Hospices Across Scotland in relation to the publication of this book and a further donation will be made by the club to each charity for every copy of the book sold.

Already, as the club has just announced, £30,000 has been donated to these charities to support their magnificent work, with this figure set to rise.

The club would sincerely like to thank all our fans for the magnificent support they have given to the book and the associated charities.

 

BR on squad fitness: "It is more or less what we had the other night. @Tom_Rogic is out until the New Year. @patrick7roberts is obviously out. Dedryck [Boyata] came off but he’ll be fine for the weekend."

BR: "It’s a historical ground with great tradition. The new stand looks very nice. Hearts v Celtic at Tynecastle are good games."

BR: "We’ve had to manage the squad since July and the players have coped brilliantly. We've rotated without losing the rhythm in the team. It's a very busy schedule for everyone in December and that’s when the squad comes into it."


BR on #SPFL winter break: "I think it works very well up here. If I was in charge of the English league, I’d look at changing it. It would give the teams after Christmas a break and also the supporters in a tough time financially. The winter break is very important."

BR: "Hearts were very sensible employing someone with Craig’s [Levein] experience. There was probably no one better suited to the job. The young guys coming in have impressed me. It has to be applauded, the faith they’ve shown in youth."

BR on players taking on @ScottBrown8: "It was the same with Steven Gerrard at Liverpool, everyone who comes up against Scott Brown here looks forward to taking him on and proving themselves but he invites that and enjoys it."

BR: "We’ve conceded less goals at this point than we did last season but there's still areas we can be more synchronized in certain situations. We've got lots of goal threats in the team and our goal-scoring is something we are proud of."

BR: "The league is competitive. We know it will be a tough game. The last time we visited Hearts we played very well and wrapped up the league."