Final question put to Rodgers that’s missing from ‘Full’ Media Conference video

Brendan Rodgers spoke to the media ahead of the Premier Sports League Cup quarter-final tomorrow afternoon at Firhill against Partick Thistle. In what was a vastly different atmosphere to the week before, the Celtic manager didn’t want to revisit the controversies of the week before.  Here’s everything that was said including the final question that never made the cut on Celtic TV’s YouTube channel…

Q: Brendan, how’s the squad looking for this weekend?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, pretty much the same as last weekend in terms of availability. Auston (Trusty) and Tony (Ralston) are doing really well on the pitch now and should hopefully rejoin the group next week. Both of them were in boots, so they’re out of that and hopefully good news for them. Alistair is doing really well, not close yet to playing, but will hopefully be out on the pitch again soon, finding his strength in the gym, but apart from that, the squad is strong.”

Q: How much are you looking forward to this Premier Sports Cup match on Sunday?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, very much so, I think it’s a competition we’ve enjoyed throughout the years and certainly my time here, I’ve always put a real focus on that to do well in, so we’re currently the holders of it, so we want to make sure that we can not just defend it but win it, and that’s the plan.”

Q: How much does it give you for the rest of the season when you have a good run in this competition, when you go on and win this competition?

Brendan Rodgers: “Well yeah, we’ll have experienced both because obviously my first season here (after my return) we didn’t and then we went on and we still ended up having a really good season. But I think it gives you that real focus and purpose at the beginning of the season and obviously it’s an opportunity to get to Hampden. You know we want to get there. We respect Partick and Mark (Wilson) and his team. So we have to go there and play well to get to the semi-final.”

Q: Just going back to last weekend, Brendan, great result, but just a few minutes after full-time, the fans are already chanting, ‘Sack the board.’ What’s going to have to change, and what’s going to have to happen for the focus of the supporters to be fully on what’s going on in the pitch as opposed to what’s happening off it?

Brendan Rodgers: “Well, I think the supporters are focused on what’s going on the pitch. I think just by your nature of how you say what you said, we done really well but, so let’s forget what you said after but, and then just talk about the football. The football, the team is in a good place domestically. The team is strong, the spirit is strong. We were working on finding rhythm. You know I think this time last year, the team was in great rhythm. Why? Because there were lots of players who played there before, and we were just adding the likes of Nicolas Kuhn, and then we had everything in the team. Speed, dynamism, Matt O’Riley hadn’t gone. So the team is in a great place.

This year now we’ve made changes, players have gone, new players are coming in, and young players are making their debuts. So it takes a little bit of time for the rhythm. And rhythm breeds confidence, and that’s what we’re looking to find as the team and that will come because the spirit is good, the environment is good. And we will get there. But in the meantime, what is important is to win, and like the games like last week, in my opinion, we deserved to win the game. We had to really go to the very end and show that mentality to win, and when we did win, we were very happy. So everything else is the side show for you guys. For me, the focus is the football.”

Q: Is there any worry, though, if that was to happen again? It could become a bit of a distraction, not for the players, but a distraction from the good work that’s actually going on.

Brendan Rodgers: “Sorry, if what could happen again?

Q: If there was another fan protest.

Brendan Rodgers: “Well, I think whatever happens on that front, we still control how we start the game, how we press the game, how we pass the ball. That’s all within our control. So the supporters, I’m not going to tell the supporters how to feel, how to act. We want this club to be tight together. And we saw when the supporters did come in, they helped the team and that’s obviously what we want. But I can’t tell supporters how to act. But what I can say is that we can control the start of games. We can control what we do within the game, and that’s what our focus is on.”

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Q: Do you feel the way the team played showed that they’re focused on the football, you know the performance showed that what goes on off the park will not impact the way they’re playing?

Brendan Rodgers: “I don’t want to downplay it either. I think the connection here is always the supporters and the team, and we get that real lift from our supporters, which we got. But for me it’s also making it clear to the team, and having that clarity around it, because there’s obviously controlling a lot of the noise that goes on around what was going to happen. But we can, like I said, we can control that with our confidence and with our speed and our playing and our intensity. And the players started the game well.”

Q: At the end, the fans were chanting your name and clapping the players, which shows the fans are fully behind the team?

Brendan Rodgers:  “100 per cent. I see this noise around about Celtic in crisis, and this sort of thing. It absolutely is not. You know, the team is coming together again.

Domestically, if you look how we how we started the season. We’re not at our best, of course we’re not, but everything that’s happening now is all natural with the changes that we’ve had and players adapting and coming in late into our structure. But whilst that’s happening, our duty and our idea is to make sure we still win games and the players are absolutely doing that, and you see that togetherness. Of course, ultimately, you want that within every sector of the club. But I think that support and that’s what the supporters won’t forget. They know that they’re there to support the team and give that encouragement to the team, and I think you sense that at the end of the game.”

Q: How important has Callum McGregor been during this? We spoke last week, he was very positive and said he’d be speaking in the dressing room and make sure they’re not distracted?

Brendan Rodgers:  “No, he’s a brilliant captain, and he’s been here a long time, and he understands it, and he’s been through a few waves of turbulence in his time here. So he understands that you can’t get distracted, and he’ll be using his experience, of course, to share that message within the dressing room.

Q: Brendan, have you thought of this squad, obviously playing Sunday, Wednesday, Saturday? Will you freshen things up for the weekend or for midweek?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, we’ll have a look. I think it’s just important to have a good week’s training. See where we’re at. We’d obviously no midweek game, so we’re not having to rest and recover from for that. It’s that balance between getting the rhythm in the team, to making fresh changes, so that’s something that we’ll make clear over the coming day or so.”

Q: You mentioned Alistair’s making good progress. Is he ahead of schedule or where you expect him to be?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, I think he is. You never know. There’s always a timeline on players whenever they’re injured. But of course, it’s then individually how they react to that, and he’s been coming along really well.”

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Q: Can I ask you about Jahmai Simpson-Pusey, does he just have to be patient to get in?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, I think it was a medium to longer term we were looking at young Jahmai here. Obviously we had our center-halves in place. But he was a young player that we saw as a talent. Of course, in the Champions League games, there’s more space on our bench. You’re not really having to put two and three center halves on your bench. So he’s come in. The team have defended well in the main. But he’s here for the 12 months at least to show what he can do and it’s not easy.

“You come to a club like Celtic. You still have to earn a position in the team. You come into a new environment. You’re moving away from his club. So it just takes time again. It’s that adaptation, you know. Liam Scales and Cameron Carter-Vickers have been doing really well. Dane Murray has been great over the course of pre-season. And of course, we’ve still got Auston Trusty, who’s just coming back from injury. And so the competition is there. And like I always say, for every player you have to earn your place. But I’m really pleased with his development, how he’s been moving in the right direction, adapting to the intensity of how we work and how we play plus moving away from Manchester as well. So yeah, I’ve been pleased for him, and I’m pretty sure that over the course of the season, when that opportunity comes, he’ll show that he’s ready.”

Q: Having two right-backs out isn’t ideal, but great opportunity for Colby Donovan. He started on Sunday. How do you feel he did in what was a pretty difficult game and is this maybe a gilt-edged opportunity for him to give you a selection headache?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, I think for any young player it’s always a great opportunity. I’ve really liked Colbyfrom when he came in, just seeing him and seeing his development. There’s absolutely no doubt he has the personality to play for Celtic, and you know I can see in how he trains every day, you know people say train how you play, I always say train how you fight, you know, you go on to the pitch, you’re there to fight. And he’s that player who does that. But he also has quality as well. And I think that stepping in, it wasn’t an easy game, the conditions, the AstroTurf pitch. Yeah, some bits we misplaced passes and whatever else, but he grew into the game and at the end he’s the one that’s down the side of the pitch and making the cross. So I’m really pleased for him. Still a long, long way to go for him to be a regular player here, but he’s shown potential.”

Q: The personality is a big thing at a club like Celtic, as much as technical ability?

Brendan Rodgers: “It’s everything. Arguably, it’s the biggest trait that you need. You’ve seen it over here for many years at big clubs. And a club like Celtic, where really gifted players, really talented players come in. But they’re unable to deal with pressure. Consistency and pressure. Consistency to train. Because some clubs you’ll come into, and as a player, you come in and you can get away with maybe one or two good games a month and then being off it and then maybe not being quite there in training and turning up for the games. So many players you hear, ‘I’m not really a training player, I’m a match player.’ That doesn’t work at the biggest clubs.

“For you to even earn the right to play with a top team and a top player, you have to be able to train with them. So that means you need to be eight, nine, 10 out of 10 every time you train. So so that is a challenge for players. So in order to get over that, you need to have the personality. And you may not always have the best talent, but it can be enough. If you have sufficient ability and talent, but big personality and a mental toughness, you have an opportunity.”

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Q: Last week Sebastian Tounekti had an explosive debut, what do you make of Michel-Ange Balikwisha and his impact so far? He played left side first week and on the right last week. How will his progression go?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, to be fair, that’s on me. The boy’s a left-sided player. He’s a really technically gifted player. He has great footballing qualities. His best side is on the left side. But he’s played in other positions. He’s played on the right-hand side previously in his career. He’s played as a 10. He’s played as an eight. So he’s played across that front line. I wanted to see him on that right side. But there’s no doubt his best position is from the left.

And even if Sebastian is to play there and he sits out a game or whatever else, we still need two really impactful wingers that can play. You know, we thought Daizen Maeda was going. So we needed to make sure we were covered. Obviously, we’re not able to get what we want on the right side. So I wanted to try him, and like I say, we’re in this process of finding out for players because they’re just in the door. But there’s no doubt he’s much more comfortable on the left side.”

Q: Daizen Maeda showed you can’t question his commitment for his performance on Sunday. If there was any chat about, you know, his mind being elsewhere, you could put that to bed?

Brendan Rodgers: “I think it’s probably been a difficult period for him. He doesn’t let out a lot of emotion, but I think you see in Daizen the integrity of what he brings to the team and his own game and what it brings. So that was a brilliant goal. You know, the movement, any former strikers or strikers watching that will have seen his movement. There’s other areas of his game that are different to other strikers. But he scores goals, and his movement and the cross in was was very, very good and he gets his goals. So I just think that whilst he’s here, he’s a type of player, especially as we move through the season. He’s very honest to the game, and I think he’s that type of player that it will be very hard for him not to give 100%.”

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Q: And you know what the scrutiny is like, Russell Martin is going through that just now, how does someone get through something like that?

Brendan Rodgers: “I think being a manager in this modern game, and especially at the high-end clubs and the big pressure clubs, it’s a big challenge. Because all the eyes are on you. It can be a lonely place. The voices of safety are even fewer. There’s hardly any time to breathe. But you have to find a way. You know, I see some of the stuff from during the week when the team went on a team-building exercise. Yeah, every team does that. Like anything in life, it’s timing. You know, in another time if if Russell did that and they had won few games, everyone would be saying what a great idea. You know, you look as a manager for blocks of time where you can. So we had a team-building exercise during the week with the players and the partners and wives and girlfriends. And it was really nice. Thankfully, you guys didn’t get to hear about it. But it happens.

“I see the scrutiny that’s on Russell and whatever happens for him, he will be better for it. I have some issues around the moral aspect when I see people commenting on how he’s doing and and not that long ago, they were stood in his shoes or sat on the bench. So I don’t like that when I see a manager being pulled up on certain parts of the game, certain tactics of the game that not so long ago other people couldn’t work that out either. Everything is on him.

“He will be stronger for it. He’s got a bit of experience behind him at 39. I was 39 when I managed Liverpool. So I know exactly what it’s like. You come into the bigger arenas and everything else. But this will make him stronger, and you just have to have that inherent belief in what you’re doing, believe in it and and hopefully then you get the opportunity to come through that.”

Q: Is it a bit unfair when guys who have previously been there are commenting?

Brendan Rodgers: “I’ve over 800 games now as a manager, and so I’m always aware and I look to see what other managers will be saying, people who have been in that position, who should know better. And some will say, ‘Well, I’ve got to comment.’ Yeah, but you’ve walked in the shoes. You know, there’s nobody unless you’ve been in the shoes of a manager or a coach, do you really, really understand what that person’s gone through. And if you have been in that position, then you should respect more. You know how tough it is. You know how challenging it is. You know certain things you can’t change that you can’t bring out into the open. So for me, I’ve always found that interesting when managers who are currently in a job are taking a bit of stick from people who, like I say, weren’t that long ago in the job and found it challenging.”

Q: I know it’s such an intense rivalry but would you reach out to Russell at all or wish him all the best or give him encouragement?

Brendan Rodgers: “I spoke to Russell after our game when we played at Ibrox. He’s a good guy. He’s a good man. He was a really good servant for Scotland when he played. He had a fantastic career built around will and desire and and had a really good career, stepped into management, has done well with the clubs that he’s been at and has now taken on, obviously, of course, an opportunity up here to try and transform Rangers. So give him room to breathe. Of course, there’s always a demand. There always will be, at Celtic and Rangers, of course. But there are other people that I struggle to see how they can say the things that they say against a young manager who is trying to make his way in.”

AND HERE’S THE FINAL QUESTION THAT WAS CUT FROM THE MEDIA CONFERENCE VIDEO RELEASED BY CELTIC…

Q: Brendan, picking up on one thing you said in last week’s media conference about the briefing in the media was a cowardly act against you… Have you received any indication of that?

Brendan Rodgers: “It’s done. It’s done.”

CELTIC IN THE EIGHTIES by DAVID POTTER – OUT NOW! 

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