Rodgers read about him being in Switzerland while sitting in Finnieston

Asked of it was slightly odd to have discontent within the Celtic support with his team sitting at the top of the league (looking down on theRangers), Brendan Rodgers stated that he’s determined to navigate his way through that to deliver the title as he want to once again experience the delight that was around the place doing his first spell in charge at the club.

And he also addressed the nonsense rumours that were swirling around last weekend – not reported on here – that the Celtic manager was unhappy and had travelled to Switzerland to have a showdown meeting with Dermot Desmond. Rodgers admitted reading about that, sitting in Finnieston!

On the angst among the support the moment being slightly odd given the league standings Rodgers said to the written media, as reported by Daily Record: “Aye it does, and that’s the thing I’m determined to try and navigate my way through that, because I know what it felt like the first time I was here, it was amazing.

“So, I want to have that feeling back in the stands and with everyone again but we’ll only do it together, that’s what is key. I always felt coming back here there was always going to be that extra bit of expectation and pressure. So I was prepared for that. It’s just navigating a way through and doing my best to pull people together.

“I’ve always said that if I was the major problem here, it’s not what I’d want for the club. When I do leave here, I’ll always support Celtic. But I now want to be there for a period of time that I can really see the benefits of that short-term and longer term.”

And on the Switzerland fiction that he read about in Finnieston, the Celtic manager explained his task on that.

“There were reports that I’m this really unhappy person and I flew out to Switzerland or somewhere after the game the other day, which I found strange when I was reading it in Finnieston! These were all the considerations I had to come back. I wasn’t going to be that person and I said that when I first came back because I only wanted the best for here. I wasn’t going to be in that place again.

“Sometimes because of how I am I might look unhappier than what I actually am, and that’s my dad’s fault because I look like my dad, and he always looked not so happy even when he was. I will always want the best but for whatever reason if that’s not available and we can’t get it, then we still have to look to progress. That’s why we’re here. I’m not going to start finger pointing at anyone. I was always told that if you start pointing fingers, you’ll get three pointing back at yourself.

“We’ve got to be really careful here. I get a sense of looking for someone to blame and that’s not what this club is about. The minute there’s a separation then it’s a difficult club. You can’t just purely label it on the recruitment team. The recruitment team clearly had a job to do like we all have a job to do. This is a collective responsibility.

“I want us to get better. You’ve seen the success we’ve had with players and you can’t have success with all of them, that’s the nature of it. But I get why supporters would have an annoyance, I totally understand it. There’s the season ticket money, they are buying things in the club shops, everything in how they follow the team, I get all that. This is the great challenge of working our way through that. But I was definitely not in Switzerland!”

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About Author

The Celtic Star founder and editor David Faulds has edited numerous Celtic books over the past decade or so including several from Lisbon Lions, Willie Wallace, Tommy Gemmell and Jim Craig. Earliest Celtic memories include a win over East Fife at Celtic Park and the 4-1 League Cup loss to Partick Thistle as a 6 year old. Best game? Easy 4-2, 1979 when Ten Men Won the League. Email editor@thecelticstar.co.uk

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