BRENDAN RODGERS was asked if he was concerned about the negative reaction Dedryck Boyata received from some of the Celtic supporters yesterday. Here’s what the manager said in response:
“No. Obviously I’d have preferred a different reaction but I’m not going to criticise the supporters.
“I’ll give credit to Dedryck and how he coped. When you try and redeem yourself sometimes it takes a bit of time. Naturally supporters – and the passionate supporters – look for that commitment in a player.
“It’s not always about ability, it’s about commitment when they pull on the shirt. I always knew if Dedryck put on the shirt he’d be first-class. The reaction of three quarters of the stadium plus his teammates showed we’re together.
“It’s an emotional game, football. It wouldn’t have been easy for him and it certainly wouldn’t have helped us. But the supporters live for the club and they made their feelings know. Then we just had to show we were together as a team.
“If we’re together then what we’ve shown in the last couple of years we’re very much together with the supporters.
“I think he did his talking on the pitch. He was top class. Everything he had to do he did with a real quality and of course he got the winning goal.
“It was a pretty easy decision to bring him in because we’ve been waiting for him. He cruised the game because he is a top-class player. We’re not a squad which can do without a player of that quality.
“He made his commitment to the team and was there for his teammates. It was ironic he got the goal. He’s been pivotal to a lot of our really good performances since he came into the team 18-odd months ago.
“He’s a £10 or £15 million rated World Cup centre-half playing for us. That makes a difference to a squad like ourselves.
“You see him in there, he calms everything down. He defends very well. He’s quick on the turn and he serves the ball nice and quickly.
“That gives stability to the rest of the team. Everything he did was superb and it was great to have him back.”
With the transfer window closing on Friday it remains to be seem whether Celtic can move the player out for their asking price. And there may be something in the internet rumours that the player is expected to sign a contract extension – maybe along the lines of Stuart Armstrong’s one year extension – thus allowing Boyata to play out the season at Celtic before getting his move to England next summer.
What is certain is that there are likely to be more twists and turns in this story before the window closes on Friday.
