Q: This time last year, you said very much the same thing that a club like Celtic cannot be going into the final weekend of the transfer window when they do business. Was there a discussion about this last year? Did you sit down and talk to people about this last year? Does that have to be revisited because lessons haven’t been learned?
Brendan Rodgers: “Probably if you if you look at what Ange has said, what Neil Lennon’s said, what someone else said, it would be around about the same. So that’s what I’m saying, it’s a trend. So we need to understand that. We need to understand that from a football context. Because you want to be as well-equipped as you possibly can. And like I said, it’s not about investment. The club will invest. But it’s all about timely investment, and I think that it’s most definitely what we need to look at.”
Brendan Rodgers manager of Celtic talks with their players before being substituted on Kairat Almaty v Celtic, UEFA Champions League, Play-Off Round, Second Leg, Football, Almaty Central Stadium, Almaty, Kazakhstan – 26 Aug 2025Almaty Almaty Central Stadium Kazakhstan Photo Nikita Bassov/Shutterstock
Q: Brendan, what happened on Tuesday night had an impact on how much you can invest between now and the window?
Brendan Rodgers: “I don’t think it will. I don’t think it will, because I don’t think we were qualifying for the Champions League and going to spend buying four players for 10 million quid. That was never going to happen, you know? And the guys coming in, I think we’ll look to make good signings. So, I don’t think it would have any impact.”
Q: Is there a sense of frustration that you’re getting players in now after the Champions League play off games? Is there a sense of frustration there?
Brendan Rodgers: “Listen, I don’t want to feed anyone any negativity around the club because it’s been enough of that. The job now is for us all to connect, the team, the supporters and everyone push forward in the same direction, knowing that, yeah, this here behind the scenes, we have to look at. There’s absolutely no doubt about that. But in the meantime, we can’t be frustrated and look backwards. You know, we have to understand that. We will definitely have to improve that if we’re going to continue moving forward. But in the meantime, I have to drive the team and look to get the team forward in the best possible mindset and and look forward to the challenges ahead.”
Adam Idah of Celtic appears dejected after missing a penalty during the shootout Kairat Almaty v Celtic, UEFA Champions League, Play-Off Round, Second Leg, Football, Almaty Central Stadium, Almaty, Kazakhstan – 26 August 2025. Photo Nikita Bassov/Shutterstock
Q: Just on the stance on Adam, not going until you get somebody else, is that going to be a sign that the lessons have been learned from January, when obviously Kyogo left and wasn’t replaced?
Brendan Rodgers: “I just think it’s logical and it’s common sense. You know, we’re really light in that area of the field. And I’m pretty sure there’ll be a number of clubs that want some of our players. But there’s absolutely no way we can move anyone out unless we have absolute guarantees that there’s going to be people to come in to replace.”
Q: When you sold Nicolas Kuhn, there was an expectation that he would be replaced in time for the Champions League qualifiers.
Brendan Rodgers: “I think we all thought that would have been the case, yeah.”
