Brendan Rodgers Discussion Thread

He got the team right, the subs right and you could see the players played for him. This years champions league campaign isn’t the time to be judging him regardless.

 

Totally disagree. I think we would have got something from that game with last season’s team.

 

Well, first of all, he was clearly lying about watching almost all our games. It made me laugh when he said it; but if anyone needed convincing, surely "Yoto" put paid to any idea that he was telling the truth. How can you watch nearly every game and not know the name of arguably our best player?

Still, I want to give him a pass on this. I think he said enough during the summer to show that he knew we needed more and better. I don't really see what he could have said or done to put pressure on the recruitment department to deliver.

I also saw signs tonight that we are improving and (assuming we don't keep getting these injuries) we will get stronger as the competition goes on. This was genuinely a better performance than I expected and I credit Rodgers with that.

 

Two of the teams they have smashed have lost 4 of their opening 5 games, Almere and Utrecht. The other is Heerenveen. Good Dutch sides is a bit of a stretch. They were also missing their first and second choice strikers tonight.

 

I mean we were missing our 1st, 2nd and argueably 3rd choice centre half, so kinda evens out eh?

 

Brendan Rodgers felt Celtic’s discipline cost them as they suffered defeat against Feyenoord in their Champions League group stage opener.

The Scottish champions lost 2-0 in the Netherlands with Calvin Stengs and Alireza Jahanbakhsh grabbing the goals for their Dutch opponents.

Celtic competed well in the first half, but they shot themselves in the foot in the second with Gustaf Lagerbielke and Odin Thiago Holm both landing red cards in two separate instances.

Rodgers had no complaints over the decisions and he feels inexperience in his squad was to blame.

He explained: The first one you just have to shepherd it through to the goalkeeper.

“You don’t have to get into the fight. It is going to go through to Joe Hart anyway. It is just inexperience from Gustaf.

“Odin is a fantastic young player and he will learn from that. He is very committed. At any level, but in particular European football, you can’t go to ground like that.

“You make it easy for the referee. I am really disappointed with the two sending-offs.

“When you go down to nine men it becomes very difficult, but what I will say is the spirit of the players was brilliant.”

Rodgers is still confident that Celtic can be competitive in Group E, despite the defeat on matchday one.

He added: “We kept fighting, we kept working. We get to the last game of the group and play Feyenoord at home then we will be in with a fantastic chance.

“I feel for the players. The first 60 minutes was a very even game. We were playing against a team that have been doing very well.

“We more than matched them. We were disappointed with the first goal, we made a decision in game to adjust the wall at the free-kick and it cost us.

“We have to take that. I don’t mind players making decisions in game if it can work. Other than that we were well in the game.”

 

Let me tell you a little story about our center backs...

 

I get that. The post was about Feyenoord though.

 

As I’ve said to the other poster mate. I get we have a lot of injury worries. The post was about Feyenoord though.

 

He simply must have identified LB as as a weakness, its glaring, if not before but working with Taylor day in day out would surely highlight his flaws..

Even if he rated Taylor he clearly doesn't rate Bernabei as he was omitted from the CL squad...

Not being strong enough around that is on him for me..

 

I think his ego is a more normal size now and he seems more vulnerable (I mean that as praise not criticism). Even his bullshit is different. We're still getting nonsense about having watched all our games and him not being able to understand why anyone would ever leave Celtic (still can't believe he said that with a straight face), but less (AFAIK so far none!) of the ego nonsense.

I'm starting to like him again (although this time round, I'm not buying his lies).

 

You can't really say they were missing their first and second choice striker and claim that they are weaker for it when we are playing with center backs that wouldn't be playing if the four in front of them in the pecking order were fit.

 

The other hypothetical in that comparison is whether the team and squad would have been improved more across the Summer if Ange had stayed.

I'd suggest it would have been significantly better. I do think some of the issues with our targets involved Rodgers too, so don't think it's all down to the board at all.

 

I think you can. Of course they are weaker. The post I replied to was focusing on how Feyenoord have been smashing teams. They have, but 7 of the goals in the last 3 games have involved the two strikers who were out tonight.

 

I'm sure he identified it; but once he signed the contract, he wasn't in a position of strength. Ange had enough credit in the bank to publically stand up to the board; if Rodgers had tried that with the support so split about him being back, I don't think it would have gone well for him.

I can't believe he would have come back if he had known how the recruitment would go. The last thing he needs right now is to do badly in Europe up here. People down the road will judge him on how he does in Europe and if he does badly, they'll think he's finished at the elite level and they won't care what domestic trophies he wins.

 

This season results would suggest they aren’t great/good by any means.

I’ve said we have a lot of players out. That’s nothing to do with Feyenoord smashing teams domestically though. They have been smashing teams with two other striker available to them. So having them out would have also made them weaker tonight. Just as having CCV out made us weaker.