BRENDAN RODGERS has made sure that their will be no dirty tricks from Hearts today regarding the length of the grass at Murrayfield. And he has had it confirmed that the rugby pitch will be exactly the same size of the playing surface at Hampden for today’s Betfred Cup semi-final against Hearts at a sold out Murrayfield this afternoon.
Hearts boss Craig Levein has been messing with grass on Celtic’s last two visits to the Tynecastle. It was his intention to interrupt Celtic’s footballing style as much as possible – but Celtic won 3-1 the first time he tried it.
It did seem to get under Brendan Rodgers’ skin and Celtic attempted to have the SPFL clarify the situation in the summer to fall in line with other football associations but since it was Celtic asking, the proposal was rejected.
These same clubs are the reason that Celtic are playing at Murrayfield today without first having drawn the to semi-final locations from a ballot, again as Celtic asked for.
“I spoke to the groundsmen when we trained there. It would be ignorant not to talk to them, right?,” Brendan said.
“I was asking them what size they thought the pitch would be — and how long the grass would be!
“The pitch will be 105 metres long and 68 metres wide. That’s the same size as Hampden.
“The length of the grass will be 24mm which is Uefa guidelines size and happens to be the exact same as Celtic.
“Murrayfield have top ground staff, the pitch is superb.”
Brendan Rodgers though has plenty of respect for his Hearts counterpart. When Levein suffered a health scare a month or so ago, The Celtic manager was in touch straight away to check on his well-being.
“I sent him a message straight away. You understand the pressures when you’re a manager,” Brendan said.
“I think it’s only when you’re a manager, when you walk in those shoes, you know everything that you’re under.
“The most important thing is your health. He got back to us virtually straight away.
“He’s gone away and made himself better and looks great. Sometimes when things like that happen it allows you to have a bit of perspective.
“He’s probably taken a step back and is enjoying it a little bit differently to what you do when you’re right in it.
“I have a huge respect for Craig. I’d never come across him till I was up here.
“You have your little bits and pieces about lawnmowers and the size of the grass.
“He’s trying to do something there and build it the right way and use his experience to go and manage.
“He’s been a manager for a long time. He’s done a terrific job. We all understand there’s a wee bit of gamesmanship and edge along the way.
“They make the pitch however they want. He wants every advantage they can have and they have the right to do that.
“You can’t say it when you lose but you can say it when you win. That might seem a bit strange.
“It’s football. But ultimately what you base everything on is respect.
“Craig has a good knowledge of the game here and of players and you can see they’ve all responded to him.”
The Celtic manager knows that Hearts will provide a significant challenge today as they set out to kill Celtic treble treble bid stone dead.
“They’ve had a great start and they’ll be a tough opponent,” Brendan admitted.
“They brought in good players and found a way of playing and working.
“The catalyst is Steven Naismith. His professionalism, having seen him down south, meant I was surprised when he left Everton.
“I thought he was one of their key players. I’ve got no doubts — without knowing him — of his influence because of the level he’s played at.
“I always recognised him as a very good player. He scored against me at Liverpool in one of the games.
“He was always a player I was impressed with, wherever he played on the field. He had a good football brain and was technically good with a good eye for goal.
“He works very hard and when I see him play he clearly looks after himself. He was a really good signing for Craig to bring in.”
While Celtic’s European form remains poor, the team has re-gained its mojo domestically, with the last two games against St Johnstone and Hibs producing 10 gaols and seeming the woodwork rattled on so many occasions.
Rodgers will also have many stars rested from the Leipzig match back for today in a team that is likely to look like Gordon, Lustig (captain), Hendry, Benkovic, Ntcham, McGregor, Forrest, Rogic, Sinclair (or perhaps Morgan) and Edouard.
“We’re in a half-decent rhythm because we’re much more efficient,” Brendan noted.
“Our pressing is much better. Fundamentally, all of our work comes from the basics of the game. We’re shortening the pitch much better when we haven’t got the ball, we’re reading the game better when we press.
“Then when we have the ball we’re utilising the spaces more. In both functions of the game we’re much better.
“We started to create chances a number of weeks ago. We weren’t quite taking them but now we are.”
Let’s hope that we create them and take them today…COYBIG
