- 4 months ago
Mark Atkinson and Matt Elder discuss Brendan Rodgers' latest Celtic press conference.
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00:00Hello and welcome to the Scotsman Football Show. My name is Matthew Elder and I'm joined
00:07by our sports editor, Mark Atkinson, who's been along at Celtic Park today for a very
00:14interesting press conference with head coach Brendan Rodgers. Nothing out of the ordinary
00:20about that press conference today, so certainly worth a Scotsman Football Show to pour over
00:25some of the content of it, Mark. I think the headline from it really is what he was saying
00:33about the sort of brief that was given to another newspaper about him possibly trying
00:38to engineer his own exit and this has prompted Brendan Rodgers to brand whoever this person
00:46was within the Celtic hierarchy a cowardly action. Was your jaw hitting the floor as Brendan
00:52Rodgers was talking through his press conference this afternoon?
00:57A little bit. I think we all turned up at Celtic today expecting something because we've got
01:04the, there's so many narratives right now, you had the failed transfer window, you've got
01:08the protests that I'm sure we'll talk about for the Kilmarnock game and then you've got
01:13this leak that came out on last weekend where a club insider was claiming that the Celtic manager
01:22is trying to engineer his own exit on the back of the transfer window. So you thought, right,
01:28you've got three darts here, one of them is going to land. In actual fact, they all landed. What he said
01:34about the briefing against him was pretty strong. He's clearly very unhappy about it, as I think he should be.
01:41He didn't strike me as a man that was especially surprised by it either. I think he knows that he's got
01:47some detractors within the Celtic hierarchy. But he obviously thinks the timing is really poor,
01:57given what's happened at Celtic. And also, he was at pains to point out that factually it's not true.
02:04He claims that he is more than committed to Celtic. He reiterated once more that he plans to see out
02:11the third and final year of his contract. He actually said that he's open to staying beyond
02:15that, depending on whether the club firstly come to him and secondly, whether they're all aligned on
02:21the same page. I think the latter part of that still needs to be ironed out because Celtic obviously
02:26have not met the requests and requirements that Rogers wants for the replenishing of his squad.
02:33But yeah, in terms of the cowardly action and the briefing against him, he wants an investigation
02:41and he wants a resignation from somebody if indeed they find out who the culprit is. As we know in
02:47the media world that people talk, people talk all the time. It seemed like a very timely
02:55piece of information to be leaked, just given the fact that Celtic are in a bit of turmoil right now.
03:01And Rogers' job now is to try and put all of that behind him and move on.
03:07He certainly name-checked a couple of people within the board that he feels he's got support from and
03:11that he wants that relationship to continue. He said there's good people within Celtic. So he feels
03:18that they can become even more connected and get back to winning ways. And I think the only way that can
03:23happen now is if Celtic start winning football matches and scoring goals. They've been struggled
03:28on that front in particular. So yeah, fascinating stuff from the Celtic manager. And then I think
03:35now the reaction of his team will be fascinating too, because if they're right behind their manager,
03:40and I think they probably are, you'd expect quite a fired up Celtic team to play Kilmarnock, where
03:44they've got the quality now in the final third to do that. And the time that they're on the trading
03:49pitch, I'm not sure. But yeah, all eyes at Rugby Park on Sunday.
03:53This all seems to stem right back to his first spell, doesn't it? He actually mentioned
03:58that today in the press conference. I was reading your piece and he mentioned that it was actually
04:03one of the reasons he left the first time was that he felt he wasn't backed in the transfer window
04:07enough. There's this sort of conflict between Brendan Rodgers trying to take Celtic as far as he can,
04:13and sort of beyond where they've been before. And there's some sort of feeling of a handbrake maybe
04:22being on at Bodrum level in terms of the level of investment that's needed for that. He also said
04:28he felt empty after the transfer window there, probably having not had enough attacking reinforcements
04:37in with the departures that they've had. Like you say, fascinating stuff from him.
04:42Yeah, the word empty I felt was quite powerful because Brendan Rodgers never really feels like
04:49a human that's empty. I always quite enjoy his company in terms that he's always lively,
04:54he's always something to say. So for him to feel empty when he looked at his Celtic squad,
04:58I think is a really telling, almost an indictment actually of where Celtic are right now. I think
05:06he's obviously relating to the sale of Adamida and then the non-purchase of Kasper Dahlberg. Now,
05:12Kasper Dahlberg is a proven striker at European level. He's played in the French League, he's played
05:18in the Dutch League, he's played in the Belgian League and he's scored goals and he's a Denmark
05:22internationalist. He would have been a more than adequate replacement for Adamida. In the end,
05:28they've had to go to someone that Brendan Rodgers has worked with before, Kelechi Iheanacho,
05:32who I think has lost his way a little bit after a really promising career at Man City and Leicester.
05:38That's where Rodgers worked with him before. And what Rodgers has to do now is try and reignite
05:43the flame within Iheanacho. And that was a free transfer sign, remember, not a fee spent. So he's
05:51looking at his armoury now and it is diminished, there's no question about that. And he would have
05:56wanted so much more. And while I think he's still probably got a good enough squad to get
06:01him where he wants to be domestically, there's got to be a question over how deep they can go
06:07in even in the Europa League with a squad, because there are some very strong teams in the Europa League.
06:12And what Rodgers wants is he wants Celtic to progress. He's all about someone that improves
06:18footballers, improves staff and he wants his team to improve every year. His team last season got to the
06:23the knockout phase of the Champions League and gave Bayern Munich a really good game.
06:28So already they're behind schedule. And the only way you can get that back is by going to the
06:33Europa League run. So I can understand why he feels empty. But what's interesting is that he
06:41still is committed to the Celtic cause. He still doesn't feel that he wants to leave. It's not like
06:48it was when he left first time round. He feels that he has a duty to see out the remainder of
06:55his contract. And you could almost argue that potentially the duty from the board to try and
07:00back him so that if he does have his final year, he ends on a treble. That's what Celtic now want to
07:06achieve at a treble. But yeah, I think Rodgers now, he'll be looking at that squad and going,
07:13right, I still have enough there to go and get some pretty strong results, especially against the
07:20weaker teams in the Premiership. And you'll need to integrate players like Iheanacho, Sebastian
07:26Tudetke and Michel Ones-Bellick. You work with the three main forward players they've brought in.
07:32And we'll see how they look when they take on Kilmarnock.
07:34Yeah, Rodgers feeling empty. The fans, the Celtic fans probably feeling angry, I think,
07:41is the emotion there with the planned protests. And there's been sort of heavily attended
07:48consultation meetings with hundreds of supporters' representations that I can see. And that's all
07:54culminating in this protest on Sunday, where the fans are going to be staying out of the ground until,
08:00I think it's the 12th minute. So I'm interested to see how all this unfolds. And on the back of
08:07Rodgers' comments today as well, talking about possible cowards from within, enemies from within
08:12type thing. Can you see a member of the Celtic hierarchy or more than one member of the Celtic
08:17hierarchy losing their job on the back of this or resigning like Rodgers called for?
08:23It's hard to know because there are so many powerful people within Celtic Park.
08:31I think after Rodgers' words today, there'll be elements of the fan base who want blood.
08:39But you look at the Celtic boardroom and the directors and the people in the club, they're
08:43quite, they've been there for quite a long time. There's a, I suppose some people would say there's
08:48an element of staleness in that Celtic board. It depends on what side of the fence you sit on.
08:52Others would say that they've been hugely successful in a business sense. And Rodgers
08:56actually alluded to that. He said that the club has run very well as a business. The accounts are
09:01due out, I think, potentially even as early as next week, and I suspect they'll be very,
09:04very strong once more. So once again, you've got this battle between probably some people still
09:12like the fact that Celtic are such a well-run club, but there's obviously a majority now that
09:17are wanting them to progress on the pitch. And if they feel that somebody is impeding that, then
09:21they will want, I suppose, a fall guy, a blame person. I don't think that many Celtic fans are
09:29against Brendan Rodgers. I think there's obviously frustration that the team didn't make the Champions
09:33League. And Rodgers admitted himself that that's on him for the first leg. They should have beaten
09:37Kyra Almaty at home. And I thought it was, it was the first time I've seen Rodgers really, really take
09:41responsibility for that game. He spoke about it in this press conference. And he said, we didn't do
09:47enough on that first leg, which meant that we went to Kazakhstan, dicing with death a little bit, and
09:52the kind of the whole thing unraveled with not scoring. And then the lottery penalty, penalty
09:58kicks. And I think he definitely feels some sort of responsibility for that. And potentially the
10:03board feel that too. That's what I don't back him. It's interesting that they use the word alignment,
10:07Rodgers. And I think if the board and Rodgers aren't fully aligned, then one of them is going
10:12to say, you know what, this can't continue, we are going to go our separate ways. And before that,
10:18do we see somebody else leave Celtic? Time will tell. A really fascinating chapter in the club's
10:24history. And the protest, not all fans behind this protest, I think you'll find that some will be in
10:29the stand. I think there will be a split. It's always a vocal entity that get these protests over
10:36the line. But there's definitely an element of division and anger at Celtic right now.
10:46I don't think it's going to stop at this game against Kilmarnock. I think the next home game
10:50against Hibernian on 27th September, that will be really interesting to see what's planned there.
10:56I don't think these angry fans are going to go away quietly.
11:02Just quickly, before we sign off, Mark, we'll maybe touch on some of the other things Brendan
11:06Rogers spoke about. We could be here all night, Matthew, if we do that.
11:09We could indeed. We could indeed. But I think one of the major talking points away from that would
11:15have been Dyson Maeda and his comments in the Japanese media over the national break about how he
11:21wanted away from Celtic in the summer window and felt that that was a move that was going to
11:26happen. And obviously didn't. He was disappointed. And Brendan Rogers is now
11:32poor enough to have sort of clear their talks with Dyson. Was there any chat around that?
11:38Yeah, he was asked about Dyson Maeda. He was very honest about it. He said that he's known since
11:43February that the player wants to leave Celtic. And that he was given some offers that would have been
11:50life changing. I think the word is used for him and his family. But the club just weren't in a position
11:55to let him go. They'd already sanctioned exits for Nicholas Coonan. And at that point, Adam Ida was
12:02well on his way to Swansea. And they didn't have the replacements in. So they couldn't let him go.
12:08Now, Rogers was also asked about whether the Maeda situation is similar to Coonan Kyoglu. Kyoglu of course
12:15left in January. And Rogers at that point said that if a player doesn't want to be at Celtic,
12:20I'm happy to let him go. But I think on Maeda he feels it's different. And I think that's because of
12:24Maeda's personality. He's a very diligent football player. He works hard all the time. He shows up.
12:32This is the guy that played for Celtic while his latest child was coming in Japan. He has given
12:39so much to this club. And I think Rogers felt that, OK, if I deny him a move for another six months,
12:44I'm still going to get a good turnout of this player. I think we could all see that Maeda's
12:49levels of form have dropped off. Quality, that is. I think effort's still there. He's still
12:56committed to Celtic. I just don't think he's really performed very well in the season. One goal
13:02goal so far this season. However, maybe with the character going right. I know I've only got four
13:07months left at Celtic. I can really push on and get even better suitors in January. And that's what
13:13will happen. He was also asked Rogers if the club would sell them in January, if you've got to cash
13:19it in January. And I thought it looked like his response. He pleaded with the reporter who asked
13:23the question and said, look, please don't darken my door with January. We're a week into the window
13:28closure. I just want some time to essentially forget about transfers. He will look forward
13:35to working with the players he's got now. He's a coach. And I think the window gives him an element
13:39of closure. You can't blame him for thinking like that. And just quickly as well, there's obviously
13:48Scotland withdrawals. Last week came Tierney and Anthony Ralston. What's the latest on the injury
13:54front there? Yeah. So I think you're in Tierney's touch and go for the game against Kilmarnock.
13:58I don't think his injury is that serious. He was due to train today. Whether you risk him on an
14:04artificial surface, I'm not sure. But I think you'll see Tierney play, if not some part or rugby
14:10part, the following week when they play Partick in the Premier Sports Cup. Tony Ralston, I think,
14:15is more of an issue. He's got a moon boot on at the moment, which suggests to me that he
14:20won't play for at least a few more weeks. Why that's an issue is that Alistair Johnson,
14:24who is clearly Celtic's best right back, is also injured. He's got a hamstring tear. We're
14:29not going to see him until November at the earliest, which means that Celtic's main two
14:35right backs are not going to be able to play probably in September. And some might say that
14:40that's an opportunity for Colby Donovan, the 18-year-old who came on in some big games for Celtic last
14:47month. And he's a Scotland under-21 internationalist. I watched them play in Czechia last week. I
14:52thought he played pretty well. So he will probably get his chance at right back and he may well
14:56flourish. But Celtic are a little bit light in that department. And if Tierney doesn't make it,
15:02then you'll probably see Marcelo Serracci play for his first start in the Celtic shirt. So there are
15:07still some problems for Celtic in team selection, especially on the fullback areas.
15:11I know Rio Hatati's played right back for Celtic before, but I don't know if Rogers would want
15:17to take one of his more creative players out of the middle of the park. And I'd like to look
15:21of Donovan when he's played as well. I thought he gave them a spark over in Kazakhstan when he came
15:24on for an extra time period, to be honest. More so than some of the other players have done so.
15:29Well, that's it. I mean, I think also sometimes you see young players get thrusted and they do really
15:34well. And I think there's a lot to like about Colby Donovan. He's a good size as well for a fullback. And
15:39the fact that Brendan Rodgers didn't push for another right back, he came out publicly and said
15:46he was quite happy with what he had at right back, suggesting that he's okay. Hatati at right back,
15:52that feels like a real emergency situation. But one thing I would say is Celtic have got options
15:57in midfield. They've got plenty of reserve midfielders. Luke McCowan, Arna Engels and
16:02Paulo Bernardo have all struggled to get into the team. So you would not weaken yourself significantly,
16:08if you put Hatati there. But I do remember when Hatati did play there, Celtic did concede a couple of
16:14goals. So he's probably not the fail safe option. But not an easy game for them on Sunday. It's an
16:20awkward place for Celtic to go. Kilmarnock, they've had some bad results there in the past. So they know
16:25they need to be up their A game to get a win. Yep, fascinating times around Celtic Football Club.
16:31Mark, thanks for joining me on the Scotsman Football Show. I'm sure we'll catch up against it. Thank you.
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