Celtic v Falkirk – Everything said at Brendan’s Media Conference

Q: And for tomorrow night’s opponents, how pleased are you to see the progress that John McGlynn has made with his team over the past couple of years?

Brendan Rodgers:  “Yeah, I’m so happy for him as a guy and his footballing. I think what John has demonstrated in his time since he’s gone back into management that talent and technique will always override power. Unless you have the resources and the money to get power and technique and talent, then it’s sometimes a difficult ask and especially when you’re trying to play football. And I look at his teams at Raith and I look at what he’s done here now at Falkirk and bringing them up, and you see how they play and you see the attitude and energy they have in the game and the technical qualities that they have in the game.

“Him and Paul, his assistant, they’ve done a brilliant job and I am just so pleased for them because at the end there was a wee bit of a nervousness last year at the end, but they got the job done and I watched the game and it was a great night for them. He deserves all the accolades he gets. He’s been absolutely fantastic and like I said, they’ve demonstrated their game idea and how they want to play and they have an inherent belief in that. And that football philosophy has led Falkirk to get promoted for the first time in years. So well done to him, his staff and his players and for us, we don’t underestimate them tomorrow night. We’ll be ready from the first whistle to be really aggressive in the game.”

Q: There’s been a bit of talk about Daizen Maeda this week. Is there any update on his contract talks, there’s been some suggestion he might be looking for a move in this window. Is there anything on him?

Brendan Rodgers:  “He’s obviously got a couple of years. There have been discussions and that going on in the background, but I don’t have any sort of updates on it. You know, he’s been here four years, he’s progressed every year he’s been here and finished off a brilliant season for him. I think what you always get with Daizen is 100%. He’s not quite up to full speed yet, but no, I don’t know of any developments on there.”

Q: Are you quite confident he’ll be here at the end of the window?

Brendan Rodgers:  “Yeah, yeah. I’m fairly confident of that, yeah. As could be.”

Q: You played Daizen through the middle last season, is that something you could revisit?

Brendan Rodgers:  “Yeah. I’ve always said that he’s a player that can play in there. We’ve had other options before in the past. And yeah, he’s always shown when he’s gone in there that he can play the role really well. So, it’s always an option for me.”

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