Adam Idah of Celtic celebrates scoring to give Celtic a 2-1 lead. Celtic v Hibernian, Scottish Premiership, 10 May 2025 Photo Stuart Wallace/Shutterstock
Q: Were you especially pleased for Adam (Idah) to get another goal? There were a few groans at a couple of early chances that went begging for him, but he still scores, I think it’s what, 19th of the season now?
Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, Adam’s been fantastic for us, and in his first season, he’s only going to get better and better. I think the thing with Adam is that what probably the crowd and people see is when we play these strikers, like Kyogo and Daizen, they’re so explosive, so they’re so off the mark, their acceleration is incredible. He has power and he has speed also, and you see his movement to get in, but he’s a different type of striker. His contribution over the course of the season has been so, so important for us, not just domestically, but at the highest level. One striker cannot play all the games that we play, but I’ve been really pleased with him.
“Arne Engels doesn’t score so many goals, but again, a young player that’s coming in, 21 years of age, you see his work rate today, you see his running, you see his authority in the game. He’s not going to be a player that’s going to get 20, 25 goals – that’s not why we brought him in. We brought him in to develop him, improve him, but that physicality is so important, especially at the highest level. So yeah, Auston Trusty coming in, playing off the wrong side, hadn’t been playing for a wee while, was good in the game. So yeah, overall I think it was a real, real collective high-level performance.”
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers arrives prior to the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic FC and Hibernian FC at Celtic Park on May 10, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Q: In terms of midweek, is that a case of obviously not showing your hand as well, in case Aberdeen mix it up before the game, rather than rolling out the big guns?
Brendan Rodgers: “No, let’s trust all the players. The players I’ll bring in will be equipped and ready to go there and win the game. It’s just that on the back of such a long, long season, and having the freshness, and obviously we’ll have Alistair Johnson, he’ll be back then for Wednesday as well. So yeah, I just think it’s keeping the freshness in the team. I want the target to arrive at the Scottish Cup final with as many of the players, got minutes in their legs, and then that gives us an opportunity to choose the team and a bench to win.”
Q: You spoke yesterday about some of the young players, that was a nice moment for Sean McArdle being on there.
Brendan Rodgers: “Aye, he’s done really well in the B team, 17 years of age, obviously giving him that feeling. I want him to be a personality, even though he’s only on 10, 12 minutes, whatever it was, and he showed that. I like him, he’s got decent legs, he’s got a nice football brain, left-sided, he’s got culture when he plays, and now he’s got the best role models you can have in some of the players that we have here, like Callum (McGregor) and these guys, to learn from. It gives him a little reward for the good work that he’s done, now he’s got to continue learning and see what comes from it.”
Here’s Brendan’s post-match media conference…
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