“I understand the consequences,” Brendan Rodgers tells The Celtic Star

Conor Spence went along to Celtic Park this afternoon to represent The Celtic Star at the pre-match media conferences with Celtic defender Liam Scales and the Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers. Here’s everything that was said and we’ve flagged up the two Celtic Star questions that Conor asked…

Q: Brendan, can we start with some team news? Is Daizen Maeda back and fit for tomorrow?

Brendan Rodgers: “Daizen’s not available, no. Alistair Johnston should be okay, hopefully all being well, so that’s great news for us.”

Q: Just going back to last weekend’s game against Dundee, I know you said that the fan protests weren’t the reason that you lost that game, but Liam Scales has been in here and described it as a slight distraction. Is there a worry that if this continues, the longer it goes on, that it can affect the guys on the pitch?

Brendan Rodgers: “I’m sure there are studies throughout the world in terms of the impact, of whether it’s positive or negative, what this type of thing has on a team and a club. But all you can really do as the players and the coach and manager, of course, you’re going out fired up to start the game well and get going, and, of course, there’s the disruption, but you have to deal with it. And that’s something that, like I say, we have to be mindful of now.”

Q: There’s also been a lot made of your comments after the game about Honda Civics and Ferraris. Can you just clarify what you meant by all of that, and can you understand why some may view that as a criticism of your players?

Brendan Rodgers: “I don’t know because I haven’t seen or read or heard anything, but it was based around the speed in our team. Clearly, it’s not the same as what we had last season, and I’m pretty sure both of those cars have got a different speed, so that was the reference to that.”

Q: Brendan, do you understand the interpretation of the comment? Because I think the focus has switched to what impact that might have on the players that are here right now.

Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, I’m not really worried, to be honest. You can’t please everyone, and I’m not going to start trying to do that now. The players know that I’m with them, I’ve always been with them, and our focus is now on performing and performing to our best level.”

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Q: The narrative around recruitment seems to just keep being there all the time. Is there a way to maybe close that down, given you still have two months or so until that can be rectified in any way? And is it proving to be a bigger distraction than you imagined it may have been?

Brendan Rodgers: “Listen, I think we all knew what we needed in the summer, and for whatever reason we weren’t able to bring that level in, and timely at the right time. So yeah, I can’t afford to look back. I understand if you’re looking from the outside in, and if you’re a supporter, of course, you would do that, and that would be a real sense of frustration. But as a coach and manager, we knew what we had to do, we weren’t able to do it, and now we live with that consequence.

“But we have to find a way to win games, and I’m relentlessly looking at solutions, and because obviously the guys, when they come in, it wasn’t in pre-season, so you’re now having to look at things within games with very little coaching time. Because you’re playing over the weekend, and you get mid-week games, and you’re doing a lot of your coaching on video, and analysing that way. So yeah, I understand it, but on a personal level, I can only really focus with my coaches on the players that are here, and the team that’s here, and look to stand up and rise to the challenge.”

Q: When you say solutions, how do you go about trying to find them short-term, given what you’ve just said, and given again what you have at your disposal?

Brendan Rodgers: “Well, it’s something that we constantly look at and think about, in terms of personnel and team shape. Like you’ve seen on Sunday, we’re obviously down in the game, so we change the system, we have two strikers, two wingers on the sides, two attacking eights in midfield. So yes, that’s something that you’re having to think about, obviously, much more than if you’ve got your squad settled and in place.”

Q: Are we likely to see you experiment more, Brendan, going forward tomorrow night, in terms of formation and personnel, trying to get the team that clicks on the pitch?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, I think that’s what I have to do, but at the same time, you’re having to find some level of stability as well. I think we’ve obviously had important players injured as well, which makes a difference to our level. But yeah, it’s certainly something, stability is important, and that hopefully allows you to find the tempo and the speed in the game that you actually want, and to deliver the best performance that you can. But yeah, I will never stop. I’m so motivated to try and find the solutions to it, and find a way, and use my experience in order to help us get there.”

Q: Given what happened on Sunday, in terms of the result, your comments, Callum McGregor as well, saying that you’re too easy to play against. Have you had to speak to the players? What have you said to the players ahead of this game tomorrow night?

Brendan Rodgers: “We analyse the sections of the game for another day, but it’s purely based around principles and what our principles are, and the type of team that when we’re at our best, what it looks like. And that running mentality, because before you think of talent, you have to head the ball, you have to run, you have to press, you have to do all these things before then you’re decision making in the game. So that needs to be better. All the things that aren’t about talent is what we need to be better at, and then from that you should then show your talent, and that’s what we reinforce.”

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Q: Just considering everything you mentioned there about what you’re trying to achieve and get those solutions, doing that at a club like Celtic, at the moment when tensions are high everywhere, how tough has that been for you in terms of your managerial career and everything you’ve had to go through? Where does this point as a coach rank for you in terms of toughness?

Brendan Rodgers: “It’s clearly a huge challenge, because it’s not just on the field, it’s off the field. I want this club, I love this club, I want this to be the best it possibly can be. It’s not the face I want us to show what we’ve seen at the weekend, both off the pitch and on the pitch. That isn’t what Celtic is about for me. But whilst we’re trying to find it, as a coach, that’s the constant challenge. It’s not meant to be easy. It’s not all about winning trebles and doubles and all. You have to stand up and fight, or else it’s over. That’s not clearly what we want. We’re a club that’s a huge institution. We’ve got a remarkable history, and I’m very privileged to manage it in this tough moment. It is tough, absolutely. I need to stand up and really lead and see where we can improve.”

Q: The players being professional will get on with the job and try not to get distracted, but for everyone at the club, you’re obviously the face of it to us. Is there that feeling around the club that everything that’s going on is harmful, it is tough, it is changing the image of the club that you don’t want to present? Is there that feeling amongst, not just within the playing squad, but everyone affected with the club?

Brendan Rodgers: “As I said, I’m sure there are studies out there on the impact on a club or institution when you do have these types of protests and whatever else, or lack of harmony, is what we can safely say. That will be out there somewhere on what that brings, but listen, we on the football side, we have to get on with it. We have to get on with it. We have to produce the best performances. You can always lose a game. A defeat, of course, for 24 hours, it’s a real, real sore one. Especially at the weekend, that’s something I never envisaged at all. But you have to stand up and you have to focus on that and focus on the performance because if you perform well, then you normally get what you deserve.”

Q: Can I just ask, is there a time scale for Daizen Maeda’s return? Is that a serious injury?

Brendan Rodgers: “He’s suffering stiffness in his lower back and his hamstrings. I think in the last game against Motherwell before the international break, he just felt his hamstrings. So we’ve had some positive news on it, but there’s no timeline on it. He certainly won’t be ready for tomorrow, and then we’ll see where he’s at for the weekend.”

Q: Brendan, just to be sure, do you stand by the Honda Civic comment, no regrets over it?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, listen, it’s something that I said at the time, and I said it because I felt it. So I’ve got no regret now.”

Q: From Sunday, do you get a sense that the players are stung, that they’re ready to come out and show what you would regard as their proper selves as players?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, well, we have to. I think that when you lose a game and you lose like we did away at Dundee, then the next game is the next opportunity, and that’s what we have to stand up and fight now. We need to get a level of performance and I need to get a level of performance out of the squad that allows us to be consistent and be creative and that’s what we’re looking at doing.”

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Q: Brendan, with regards to your unhappiness at the lack of speed that was in your team’s play on Sunday, do you feel you have the players with the pace that you need in the squad just now? Do you feel that there is that capability there with the players you have at your disposal just now?

Brendan Rodgers: “I think this was part of my explanation to the first question. No, we don’t. It’s a different profile of player. If you think of what we had, the football is going to look different. Kyogo Furuhashi and Daizen when he’s playing and Nicholas Kuhn, it’s a different level of speed, so we don’t have that. The game will look different, but we can still be better and faster and more dynamic in our actions, and that’s the challenge.”

Q: Is that something that Alistair Johnston can possibly help you with? That’s a good part of his game, Daizen Maeda being out exacerbating it as well?

Brendan Rodgers: “I think that’s their strength, their physicality. Obviously he’s been out for a while, but he gets into the areas that we want to arrive into and creates goals as well as giving the balance defensively. Daizen, like you say, wherever he’s played, if you think of the Motherwell game, I used him on the right, on the left and he ends up going through the middle so his importance is hugely missed. But we also need more from everyone and I know the squad are very determined to deliver that.”

Q: “Brendan, I don’t know if you’re aware of a Glasgow phrase, the word scunnered. Some people may be suggesting that you’re seeming a bit scunnered given all the things around the club in the summer and protests and all that kind of stuff and even injuries and form and all that stuff. Is that the case, and who motivates the motivator? You mentioned intensity and all these things.  How is that from your perspective in terms of the job and what’s ahead of you in the next few weeks and months?”

Brendan Rodgers:  “I think that I’ve never been more motivated in my time at Celtic. If I look at my own style as a coach, I would say I’m a transformational; it’s a transformational style, so I think I can come into a club and teach and inspire and motivate players. At this point in time, I can’t be any more motivated to turn it around because it’s okay when you’re winning trophies and playing great football and everything else.

The challenge is, and we all have seen the challenges from the summer through to now and the continuation of that. I’m so determined to try and turn the feeling around, the feeling on and off the pitch, because for me it’s not what Celtic is about or not what Celtic should be about. This is an amazing club, and yeah, you will get frustrated at times. We’re only human, and you will get disappointed like you are at the weekend because I can never, with the greatest respect to Dundee, I would never expect a Celtic team to go and lose. That’s what I’ve always felt about here.

We were talking six months ago about challenging at the latter stages of Champions League and now we’re losing these types of games. So I’m super motivated to do the very best that I can for this club, and that motivation is burning inside to be able to do that.”

Q: The next fortnight feels particularly important in terms of how the season is going to look. If you say that to the players, if you can come through the next couple of weeks unscathed, it could be a liftoff for them?

Brendan Rodgers:  “I haven’t touched on that purely because it’s always about the next game. I think beyond and outside of coaching and managing, you look at the fixtures and you tend to look at how it maybe can look. But as a coach and manager in the modern game you can look no further than the next game, and that’s been our sole focus. We need to get our performance level to a higher level, and if we do that we’ll hopefully be in a better position.

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Q: Some people think that Sunday vs Hearts should be a priority this week. Is that anywhere in your thinking at this point in time?

Brendan Rodgers:  “No, I think tomorrow night is the next game, and it’s a game where we had two home games on the spin in this competition and we wanted to take the points in those. We haven’t done that. We’ve now come up against a really good team tomorrow night. Another big challenge for us and we’re going to be ready for that.”

Q: Would you be astonished that we in Austria think that Celtic is still the clear favourite in this game, obviously also because of the special atmosphere of Celtic Park?

Brendan Rodgers:  “We would always feel, no matter what team we’re playing, whether it was Sturm Graz or Bayern Munich, we would always feel here at Celtic Park that with the connection on the pitch and off the pitch that we have a very big chance of winning. Whatever competition that is in. I’m looking forward to the game tomorrow.

We know we’ve studied Sturm Graz and they’re a really good side and score lots of goals, very direct, good speed. And changed the system slightly in terms of being in Europe to where they play more of a diamond at home domestically, and changed a little bit to 4-2-3-1 in the opening games of this competition. But no, Jurgen’s done a really good job with the team. They’ll come here and want to do well. But of course, we’re at home, we want to get a first win in the competition and hope that it can provide the liftoff for our season.”

Q: Is it a question of determination in the game? Because both have good quality to play football. They also have moments where they probably struggle, both teams. Do you think it’s a determination tomorrow to win?

Brendan Rodgers:  “Well, that is always a factor in any game. The mentality and the commitment to your pressing, your running, all those little details in the game. There’s no doubt that the two teams have quality players, and you hope that your quality comes through. But you know it’s going to be a challenge always against a good team. But for us, our determination is very much there to hopefully get the win.”

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The Celtic Star: Brendan, what would you say to supporters who believe, from the boardroom, to the players, to yourself in the dugout, that things have become stale and that the club is in a crisis?

Brendan Rodgers:  “Well, there’s no doubt that it’s in a difficult moment, and I think it goes hand in hand. If I’m honest, I think that it is difficult. We understood what we wanted to be as a football team in the summer and we never quite managed to get there. So of course we now have to live with that. So that’s something that every day we’re trying to improve and make better. But there’s absolutely no doubt that we’re in a difficult moment and we have to stand together and come through, and that’s what’s going to be important if we’re going to progress.”

The Celtic Star: Just going back to Callum’s comments about being too easy to play against, is that perhaps the worst criticism you can level against your side just now and is tomorrow night a must-win game for the players and yourself?

Brendan Rodgers:  “I think every game is to win. When we go out, we want to win every single game. We’ll do our very, very best to do that. It’s one of the things that I’ve always said, coming in here, that you want to be a team that’s very hard to play against. When this team’s at its best and when the club is, then of course it is very difficult.

We’ve seen it in pre-season. When Eddie Howe was here with Newcastle and thinking that this was going to be a real challenge in place for any team to come in the Champions League to play. I think he mentioned that afterwards. So that’s the type of team that you always want to be. But of course, circumstances and how it’s dropped for us after the window has made that much more difficult for us. But for me, it’s to win every single game. And if you don’t, I understand the consequences. Especially at a club like this here.

“So for me, it’s a must-win game tomorrow night in whichever way you want to look at it. For us to compete in the Europa League, we want to get up and running. We want to get a performance level that can inspire that confidence. And in every which way, to give a better feeling to supporters off the pitch. That’s what we want to do.”

Q: Brendan, I know your full focus is on Sturm Graz, but could I ask for your reaction to Rangers’ appointment of Danny Rohl? Is he a guy that you’ve come across before? Are you aware of him and the Sheffield Wednesday teams?

Brendan Rodgers:  “No, I’ve not come across Danny before, no. It obviously looked like it was going to be Kevin Muscat that was coming in from the little bits and pieces I heard, but no, I haven’t come across Danny. I think he’s obviously worked at Southampton before and maybe came across, he was coaching there I believe, but no, I haven’t come across him.”

Here’s the Brendan Rodgers Media Conference from Celtic Park this afternoon….

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