Celtic FC coach Brendan Rodgers looks on before the Como Cup match between Al-Ahli and Celtic FC at Giuseppe Sinigaglia Stadium on July 26, 2025 in Como, Italy. (Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images)
Q: How is your team looking? Any injuries?
Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, no, no, I think everyone at this moment in time is okay. We’ve got one more game to go. Obviously, Jota is out, but everyone else is in a good place.”
Q: Is it too early for Jahmai?
Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, yeah, obviously the signing has to be signed first. And once that’s done, then we can measure where he’s at. He’s been training at Manchester City with not a lot of game time, so we need to just assess that, but it’s a long loan.”
Q: Would you expect any outgoings and incomings?
Brendan Rodgers: “I will speak to some of the guys this afternoon. Nothing really is on the radar as of yet, but you never know, things can move quickly.”
Q: You want another defender with Jahmai? Does he seem like the final defender?
Brendan Rodgers: “Adding him to our group makes us stronger in that department. So yeah, there are lots of links with various players, but yeah, I would see him being our… I say last defender, last central defender.”
Q: Can you see Jahmai coming in to compete for a regular starting place?
Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, I think all the players are here to compete. They’re all here to compete. There’s always the opportunity for any player to come in and play, no matter how old. I’ve put young players in front of international players before. So every player that comes in has the opportunity to start. But yeah, we’ll assess him on where he’s at and his fitness and his football when he comes in and take it from there.”
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: You mentioned the final defender. Do you think you may look to sign another left-back, or have you been very happy with Iwata and Inamura and how they’ve done in that role in pre-season?
Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, for guys who have only been playing it for a short time, I think they have done really well. I’m assessing it every day and taking a real close look at certain aspects of his game. He’s done well, and we have to make sure that by the end of the month, we’ve got it absolutely right for us going forward into certainly, into the next period. In fairness to the boy, as I said, his plan was that he’d just… he’d come in and then probably go out on loan. I mentioned that right at the very beginning. That was the plan for him. But he’s come in and coped well. But we’ll see over the coming weeks where we’re at.”
Conor Spence
David Potter at the Scottish Cup Final at Hampden, Celtic 2 Hearts 1, 25 may 2019. Photo The Celtic Star
CELTIC IN THE EIGHTIES BY DAVID POTTER, FOREWORD BY DANNY McGRAIN is published by Celtic Star Books on the fifth day of September. You can pre-order now to guarantee your copy which will be signed by Danny McGrain, with just a limited number of signed copies available.
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- Celtic in the Eighties by David Potter, personally signed by Danny McGrain
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- Alec McNair – Celtic’s Icicle by David Potter
Thank you to everyone who has already pre-ordered and don’t worry, your copy will be signed by the legendary Celtic and Scotland star who captained Celtic for the early years of the 1980s.
And from today we’ve reduced the price of an earlier David Potter book – Celtic’ Icicle – Alec McNair – to just £5, so when you order with Celtic in the Eighties you get two books and better still the postage is only charged on one. Offer available for a short period only as we have a very limited number of copies of David’s wonderful book on Alec McNair left.
So why have one brilliant David Potter book when you can enjoy two?
Celtic in the Eighties by David Potter. Foreword by Danny McGrain. Published on Celtic Star Books on 5 September 2025. Click on image to pre-order.
Help raise funds for Celtic Youth Academy by playing the Celtic Pools Weekly Lottery and you could win up to £25,000. The lottery is £1 per week. Click on image to join.
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 !