Motherwell v Celtic, 2nd February 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)
Q: You touched on it on Sunday about not falling out with yourself. Is that something you’re consciously trying to take a step back and show how you enjoy being a Celtic manager and not create waves?
Brendan Rodgers: “Obviously, I know the demands of here. I know the ambition I have for here. I think what’s very, very important is that what you learn through experience is the emotional transfer. Because if you have the hump, with the greatest respect, then as the coach and the leader, my leadership style is very much a motivational style where I like to teach, I like to inspire and I like to motivate. Now, you’ve got to be in a good mood for that, in the main. As I said repeatedly, with experience you learn not to kill your joy over things you can’t actually control. As we’re sat here now, we can do absolutely nothing about it.
Celtic Manager Brendan Rodgers hugs his former player, Aston Villa midfielder Youri Tielemans after the Champions League match between Aston Villa and Celtic at Villa Park on 29 January 2025. Photo Manjit Narotra PSI
“So I go out that door and I’ve still got the same group of players, which I’m really happy with. Players that tomorrow night if we win our game in hand we go 13 points clear with 13 games to go. We’ve won a trophy, we’re in a playoff stage of the Champions League. We’ve had a fantastic season until this point. So I don’t want to put any clouds over that there and take a narrative which is negative. There can still be a really, really positive season for us until this point. It’s been outstanding. So I want to continue with that and like I say, we can then go away and see what can we do better, how can we deal better with that window. And then once we do that, we’ve got many games to play and exciting games to play.”
Jota with Brendan Rodgers. Motherwell v Celtic, 2nd February 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)
Q: You’re keeping in a good mood about the situation, but can you understand how fans might look at the bigger picture and think you’ve got yourself in charge, money the bank?
Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah 100 per cent. I said it myself, we wanted another striker, so we’re not hiding behind anything. And absolutely, the supporters will look and see what top strikers have gone out, legendary striker, and we haven’t replaced it. So I understand that. But all I can do is affect what we have now and look to teach and work and work very, very hard and finish off what has been, until now, a great season for us.”
Aston Villa v Celtic Champions League 29/01/2025. GOAL scores 2-1 Celtic forward Adam Idah 9 scores and celebrates with Celtic defender Liam Scales 5 during the Champions League match between Aston Villa and Celtic at Villa Park on 29 January 2025. Photo Manjit Narotra
Q: How are you going to handle Adam Idah now? Do you get the metaphorical cotton wool out?
Brendan Rodgers: “No, no, you’ve got to be robust. You can’t want to play every game and then look for a rest. No, no, listen, we’ve got to put in the work, as I said. I was just conscious that we’ve got 16 goals on either side of the field and the idea was to bring someone else in to support Adam, rather than having to sacrifice those 16 goals to bring back inside. Then you’ve got to find another winger that can score 16 goals. But either way, we’ll be strong mentally, physically, going into our remaining games, whatever team is out there. As I said, there’s still a lot for this group to achieve and I’m looking forward to seeing that over the coming months.”
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