Jahmai Simpson-Pusey of Manchester City during the Emirates FA Cup Third Round match between Manchester City and Salford City at Etihad Stadium on January 11, 2025 in Manchester. (Photo by Gareth Copley/Getty Images)
Q: What can you tell us in terms of Jahmai Simpson-Pusey?
Brendan Rodgers: “A very gifted young player, obviously coming through the system there at Manchester City. His profile fits very much what we want from a centre-half. He’s quick, he’s dominant, he’s a good defender, and of course, at Celtic, your centre-halves need to be able to progress the ball. That’s a big strength of his. So we’ve taken him on loan for a year. We always need all our centre-halves at Celtic; you play so many games, so many intense games, and he’ll join our squad. He’s obviously a little bit behind because he hasn’t played so many games over the course of pre-season, but we’ve brought him through for the rest of the season, and hopefully, we can close that one out today.”
Q: How far do you think the squad is from where you want it to be?
Brendan Rodgers: “Well, we’re still… we’ve still got a wee bit of work to do. I think that it’s a huge credit to the guys who are here and how well they’ve worked. But the squad will hopefully look different again come the end of the window. I think it’s very clear we need to improve in the front end of the pitch. The attacking department is always and always will be the strength of my teams, and we’ve lost important players in that area, and we need to replace them.”
Shin Yamada of Celtic FC in action during Como Cup match played between Al-Ahli and Celtic FCat Giuseppe Sinigaglia Stadium on July 26, 2025 in Como, Italy. (Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images)
Q: You mentioned the end of the window. With it closing a couple of weeks earlier, does that bring greater urgency to do your work and get the players you want?
Brendan Rodgers: “No, I think every coach will tell you and every manager, you would want your players in for the first day of pre-season to prepare them. That’s why you do pre-season, to prepare. But if they’re not available or you can’t get the right players that you want, then of course you have to wait. I’m experienced enough now as a manager to not get frustrated. You become quite philosophical on these types of topics now, and I just know that where we need to improve, and I’m sure by the end of the window that we will do. And of course, the quicker that can be, the better.”
Q: Would you hope to be a little bit earlier than last time around, or would you envisage business getting done late?
Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, I don’t know. I think it’s… I don’t conclude the deals. The deals are…there are always time lags on them for different reasons. But I think that, come the end of that period, of course, we would want to… we would love to get players in earlier. There’s no doubt I would have liked to have players in now, but it’s not the case. So I’m not going to kill my own joy and overthink stuff. I focus on what’s here. We know the work that we need to do, and it’s my responsibility to convince the club that we really need them. I’m not doing that job as well as maybe what I can, but I will continue to pursue that because it’s something that’s important for us.”
Marco Tilio of Celtic Sporting Lisbon v Celtic, Pre Season Friendly, Football, Estadio Algarve, Portugal – 16 July 2025 Estadio Algarve Portugal Photo Carlos Rodrigues Shutterstock
Q: Is it fair to say the attacking area is a priority for you?
Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, no shadow of a doubt. Like I said, it’s… people say, is it frustrating? It’s arithmetic for me. I’ve said it during the week. It’s just pure counting. If you count up the players that have lost in that area over the last period, who have gone, then clearly we need to replace that. It’s a key part of our team, it’s a key part of how we play, it’s a key part of what excites supporters, and that’s what we want to bring to the club.”
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This board are chasing Brendan out the door with their pathetic low-ball offers for players,who can blame him if he walks away because the board are not backing him and gambling on reaching the champions league group stages before spending any of the millions they have squirreled away.
Shame you didn’t write this 10 years ago, Peter. You could’ve cut and pasted it every year and saved yourself the typing.
We had the chance to bury sevco once and for all , but lawell has stated “we need a strong rangers” !! You think if the shoe was on the other foot the govanites would have went easy on us ? No chance !