"I do not need to bite my tongue," Brendan Rodgers

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Celtic Supporters at Hampden/ Photo The Celtic Star

Q: Ultimately, does the team’s performance in the park determine the atmosphere in the stadium?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yes, it is a bit of both. It can also be determined by the opponent and what their game is. The point being is that there are two teams in a game. There are two teams and we cannot forget that. We are not playing against mannequins where it is 11 v 0 when you are just playing through them and then you score loads of goals. There is another team there that will be normally set up very well and very well organised by really good coaching staff and managers.

So that is the first challenge. The challenge then is to break through that. If you can break through it in the first 20 minutes, it is great. But you will not always do that. If you don’t, then you have to keep the penetration, keep the speed in the game until you can break that resistance. Very, very few times this season we have been able to do that. But in the main, if we don’t break through early, there is no need to fret, there is no need to panic. It is the game, it is the opponent making it really difficult or you missing chances or whatever. But yes, it is a little bit of both. There are a number of things that determine and normally it is the opposition making it really difficult for you. Or maybe sitting deeper so there is not the space. So you have to spend more time with the ball, trying to make your connections to break through.

Q: Is it also important that you are in the game and you feel able to speak your mind with these things, to say what you think?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yes, I am not going to beat about the bush when I am talking about the bush. So I am experienced enough to say what I think and what I feel. But not in a derogatory way to anyone. I am not, as I said, I would be the last person coming back to here. Everything that I put myself through to come back to here, I am so, so happy that I came back here and love my life and love my job here. But it is also important to be able to say what I think. Sometimes you pay not to say what you think, but there are moments when you have to and I am at the stage now in my career and my life where I do not need to bite my tongue.

Q: Is it quite confusing? Whether you were aware of it last season when you came back, people were saying it did not seem like quite the same man as it was the first time? And now you say what you think and it is like, oh, you cannot win in some ways?

Brendan Rodgers: “Well, you cannot because then you have got an ego or something. It is the modern world, so it is okay. We just get on with winning football games. We win games, play well and that is what is important.

Q: It illustrates how important you think the message is that you were prepared to stand up and say it. Because the easier thing for you, as you said, with the history, the recent history and all, the easier thing for you to do is to say nothing. So that perfectly illustrates how important you think this is, that you are prepared to make a stand about it?

Brendan Rodgers: “I think I have mentioned it sporadically over my time here, just because I know what the power of this club is when everything is together and that unity is there. And also what it feels like for the player to be on there and getting that amazing support. I can understand this off the back of theRangers game and not playing anywhere near what our level was. So I can understand that wee bit of fret and a bit of worry. But no, it is something that I think is very, very important.

“As I said, my priority with the players is the performance level and that comes from training and it comes from the games and creating that atmosphere that players can thrive in. So that is all I am here to do, to manage and be the best that I possibly can be for Celtic in my time here, however long that is. And of course, I will stand up for that. And then once the time is done, I can step back, wait for the next manager to come in, support him and look forward to seeing 60 games of high-intensity football for 95 minutes every week. And I will be really happy.

Q: Thoughts on Dundee United this season?

Brendan Rodgers: “Very good. You see where they sit in the league. They clearly are getting results and performances and doing very, very well. They made it very difficult for us up there. It was difficult conditions and everything else, but still we could not make the breakthrough that day. But I would like to think this will be a totally different game. Playing at home, availability of players, good performance at the weekend and now look to back it up.

Q: In terms of signings has there been any progress?

Brendan Rodgers: “A few little bits and pieces going on in the background, both ins and outs, but nothing to declare as of yet.

Stephen Welsh of Celtic before the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic FC and Dundee FC at Celtic Park on October 30, 2024 . (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: Stephen Welsh, do you expect that to go through in Belgium on loan? Does that create a vacancy for a B-list player in the Champions League squad, maybe a Dane Murray or someone?

Brendan Rodgers: “Well, we’ve brought Dane back for that purpose. He’s a young player that I really thought highly of. The bits I’ve seen of him, he obviously had horrendous spell of injuries and we sent him to Queen’s Park, where Callum and his team and the club done a brilliant job with him to ease him. After a long injury period out, where he virtually trained every day and got really good coaching and was at a fantastic club there. So the whole idea then was to bring him back. Stephen’s a player that’s pretty much been a part of the fabric of this club for so many years. He’s one of the guys that helps create the culture because they’ve come through the system. But there also comes a time when they need to look at their own career. So there’s a possibility that he’ll go out doing the loan. It’s not confirmed yet, but for him to go out and Dane come back, it’s quite an easy transition really.”