Brendan Rodgers Discussion Thread

It has already been a successful UEFA Champions League campaign for Celtic, with Brendan Rodgers’ side having secured a place in the play-off round of the prestigious tournament with a game to spare.

With three wins, three draws and just one defeat, the Hoops cemented their place in the top 24, and they will find out their play-off opponents following Wednesday night’s round of fixtures.

For Celtic, that eighth game is an away tie against Aston Villa, and it’s a contest that the Hoops boss and his team are looking forward to.

And Brendan Rodgers enphasised that, despite having achieved the goal of progressing from the league phase of the competition, the target for Celtic is a positive result at Villa Park.

Speaking ahead of the UEFA Champions League clash, the Celtic manager said: “For us, it’s a great achievement to be in the top 24. I think if you look at the economics of it all and at this level, the players have been fantastic.

'They’ve stayed with the idea, they’ve worked very hard and what we set out to do, which was to, firstly, arrive in the play-offs, and the players have done that, so it’s great.'

“But our job’s not complete in this series of eight games. We come here to a great venue against a fantastic team, but we want to come and play to the level that we know we can do. So we’re really looking forward to it.

“I think Unai Emery’s done a brilliant job here. His body of work over many years has been top-class but you can see that here he feels wanted and appreciated, and you can see what he’s doing with the players in the league and what they’ve done in the Champions League this season.

“So we know that we’re playing against his team, which is a very good side, very strong in counter-attack, they defend very well and they’ve got some brilliant players, but it’s a challenge that we’re looking forward to.”


One player that the Hoops could be facing is someone that the Celtic manager is very familiar with.

Belgian midfielder, Youri Tielemans is a key figure in the Aston Villa midfield, and it was Brendan Rodgers who brought the player to England when he signed him for Leicester City back in 2019.

“Youri was absolutely brilliant for me,” explained the Hoops boss. “He was a young player that we spent a lot of money on, bringing him to Leicester, and I’m so pleased to see how he’s done here.

“You have certain players in your squad, and he’d be very much like Callum for me, where he was a coach on the pitch for me. His view of the game was absolutely first-class, even as a really young player.

“He’s just a really top player in his mentality and attitude, and then we were really lucky to share a special moment in winning the FA Cup for Leicester for the first time, when he scored a brilliant goal.

“When I see him now he’s very much a leader on the pitch for Aston Villa, how he plays the game, how he organises the players around him. He’s a really good guy who’s a top professional.”

The current league phase standings in the UEFA Champions League, sees Celtic in 18th, facing an Aston Villa side currently ninth in the table.

And regardless of the fact that both teams will be progressing to the next stage of the competition, the only focus for Brendan Rodgers and his counterpart will be on winning the match on Wednesday night.

“We set out to win the game,” the Hoops boss said. “There will be moments when we have to adapt in the game to their qualities in how we defend.

“But certainly, when we have the ball we want to be able to play well because the better we are in attack, the less you have to defend in the game.

'So, for us, it’s always about the balance in our game. We set out to go out and win the game and we’ll look to attack the game.'

“As I said, our job is done in terms of getting into the top 24 but it’s certainly not complete and this is the last of the group-stage games and we come here – it’s a beautiful pitch, it’s a great arena, so we want to come and play to the best level that we can.”

Brendan Rodgers explained that Cameron Carter-Vickers will miss the game against Aston Villa, although he is set to return for the weekend, while Daizen Maeda is suspended.

The Celtic manager also confirmed that Alex Valle’s loan spell at the club has come to an end, with the defender returning to Barcelona

 

Love the straight talking. None of this pretending to fans the obvious isn’t about to happen. A lot would give it the KT is an Arsenal player and I won’t speak on other clubs players blah blah blah.

 

Brendan Rodgers reckons it’s incredible that Unai Emery was mocked and made a figure of fun.

The Celtic boss is excited for another joust with the Spaniard as his team tackle Aston Villa. Emery has worked wonders in the Midlands to have his club punching in the Champions League. Rodgers could barely believe the attitude taken to his opposite number during a difficult period at Arsenal. Emery has responded brilliantly by turning Aston Villa into serious contenders at the top end of the English Premier League and leading them into the Champions League

It’s a job that hasn’t gone unnoticed by Rodgers, who has squared up with the Spaniard numerous times over the years. Rodgers was Parkhead manager when Emery’s PSG scored 12 goals in two games against Celtic in 2017 and he smiled: “Yeah, the PSG challenge was difficult.”

But as he assessed Emery’s overall work, he said: “His teams are super-organised. I can’t praise him enough because he’s a top-class manager. Managed over 1,000 games already in his career. Came obviously to England to Arsenal and it was a difficult moment for him. People may be questioning him, but you only need to look at his body of work to see he was a top-class coach.



And the club has really grown in his time here. The teams themselves, they’re super organised. Tactical, always in good discipline. Will press the game at the right moments will sit off on a block




And then what they have is really good players in counter-attack that can get through the lines very quickly. So, to see him evolve here and see the growth and what he’s given has been so, so impressive. So, yeah, I look forward to seeing him.

“I obviously met him in the PSG days and obviously with Arsenal towards the end of his time there and then obviously here at Aston Villa. So, yeah, a good guy who’s done some great work at all the clubs he’s been at.”

It’s not just Emery Rodgers admires at Villa. His old Leicester City charge Youri Tielemans is one of the main men in the Midlands and John McGinn, of course, will forever be the one that got away for the Celtic boss.


Rodgers said: “Youri was absolutely brilliant for me. Youri was a young player that we spent a lot of money on, bringing him to Leicester. And I’m so pleased to see how he’s done here. I thin you have certain players in your squads. He’d be very much like Callum (McGregor) for me, where he was a coach on the pitch.

“His view of the game was absolutely first-class. And even as a really, really young player he was just a real top player in his mentality and his attitude. And then we were lucky to share a really special moment, winning the FA Cup for Leicester for the first time and he scored a brilliant goal.

“So, I’m so pleased to see him here now and seeing his influence. Because obviously, when he first came in, there were other good players and he’s obviously trying to work his way into a new club.

But when I see him now play, he’s very much a leader on the pitch for Aston Villa. Just how he plays the game, how he organises the players around him. Yeah, a really, really good guy. He’s a top professional.”

There’s no hard feelings over McGinn either. Rodgers said: “I was very keen in taking John to Celtic. But listen, the move has worked out brilliant for him. Obviously, Steve (Bruce) was in charge at the time, they were in the Championship, but he was coming to a massive club, a great club

And they then got themselves out of the Championship. And he’s really thrived in the environment here. I’m so pleased for him, because like I said, the Celtic move was nearly there.

"But he’s come down to England and he’s been absolutely brilliant for Aston Villa. So, I see he’s just back fit, so he may play a part in the game tomorrow. But no, he’s been a real instrumental player from what I see on the pitch. And obviously off the pitch, he’s got some strong character and I’m sure he’s really influenced the club.”


Things won't be so chummy this evening as Rodgers is here on business. He's out to win on English soil and he won't be paying much attention to what is going on elsewhere.

Rodgers said: “No, it will be very, very, very difficult to do anything other than concentrating on the game. I won’t have a telly in my pocket or anything. I think if you’re at home watching all the games and scores, it’ll be great for you



And all the teams playing at the same time and all the various permutations. But us as football managers and coaches will be focused on the game.”

Rodgers won't be simply shutting up shop. He'd love nothing more than claiming an EPL scalp as Hoops boss. He said: “It’s like we’ve seen from this season, a point can go a long way as well. It’s like what we’ve done in a lot of our games.

"We set out to win the game. “There will be moments when we have to adapt in the game to the qualities and how we defend. As I said, our job is done in terms of getting into the 24, but it’s certainly not complete.”

 

With the huge input he's had in getting Jota back here and the undoubted input he's had in KT coming back again I'd be surprised if he didn't sign an extension. I think part of their conversations & partly what has helped convince them that their future lies here will have been about a long term vision he has. I think he's setting up the building blocks for that and this time around the board appears to be backing him with higher calibre players.

 

Surely we are not in a 'million wingers' situation again - cant imagine Lawell has gone back to signing players without BR say so or being on list of targets that he pre-agreed with Lawell/Nicholson.
Lets feckin hope not.

 

Quite disappointing that he wasn’t asked at the press conference whether we’re allowed to sing about Tierney yet. Such a grey area.

 

Obviously we'll be signing jota on the wing for 90 mins. Might upset yang though, but we can't switch to the Tierney song incase taylors upset. We need clarification of what's allowed.

 

Jota’s not registered in the champions league squad though, so I’m not sure we’re allowed to sing about him.

Just to be safe, we’re probably best sticking to the Rebs, the royal family and generally hating the English.

 

Aye seems the safest choice. I agree.

 

The decision to bring on Murray when we're one behind was idiotic in the extreme. It's like asking to concede a goal. One of the worst substitutions I've seen him make.

 

Could see at that stage of the game he was just trying to give the young lads top level experience. Don’t mind it too much. Felt we could’ve got a point though without that change

 

Some experience for Murray. I think he did it to make a point tbh.

 

Wouldn't blame the young lad for the 4th goal. WHY do we constantly always play backwards? The throw in should be going up the line. I'm really fooked off with the constant tippy tappy shiote out from the back. It does us more than good. Rodgers needs to change that sooner rather than later.

 

He took Scales off because of injury didn't he? Scales went down holding his hammy just before.

 

What point lol? We were through, Scales went of injured, got the young lad some minutes.

 

Geez peace!!!!! We have qualified with a brilliant CL campaign. Some folk definitely need their heads looked .

 

We were alright but the suicidal play at the back when we don’t have the personnel to do it has to stop.

Could have cost us multiple times today.

 

He stuck those lads on to make a point about the state of the bench. That or he's clueless.

 

Your missing the point bigtime. This is about certain aspects of the game that we can change. Qualifying doesn't come in to it. Eradicate the stupid mistakes at the back and we will be much better moving forward