Brendan Rodgers was in good form in his post match media conference in Dingwall yesterday afternoon…
His side fought back in the second half to win all three points with a 2-1 victory with goals from Alistair Johnston and Nicolas Kuhn after the young Celtic supporting Irish striker Ronan Hale had giving Ross County a 1-0 lead at the interval, converting a penalty at the second attempt.
Conceding that goal ended Kasper Schmeichel’s attempt at breaking a club record by achieving seven consecutive clean sheets at the start of a season. There’s always next year Big Man! Here’s everything that the Celtic manager had to say yesterday afternoon at his post match media conference…
Q: What was your assessment of that match?
Brendan Rodgers: “We deserved to win the game but in the first half, we were too slow and too passive. It wasn’t very good in the first half and you give a big credit to Ross County and their organisation. I don’t think a lot was happening either way in the game but certainly the onus was on us with the team that has the ball to do more with it. It was too slow and we said that at half-time. We’re a team that can never look for an easy game and it just looked a little bit ponderous and a bit slow and then we didn’t create enough.
“So the second half, especially when the subs come on, we bring a new energy to the game and like I say we get what we deserved in the end. The thing I said in the aftermath of the midweek game was that I’ve got absolutely 100% confidence in the resilience of this team. Resilience, whatever way you dress it up, is all about grit, determination and fighting. We had that in the bucket loads. Today we had to show that and the players did that.
“So it’s been a really, really busy spell for us. We played seven games now over the course of three competitions in 23 days and the players have won six of those and the loss was against the Champions League finalists. So I tip my hat to them. It’s been a really, really good period for us and we’ll learn from a game today because the new guys coming in will see that there’s no easy game and you can’t look for it either. You’ve got to do the work and over the course of the 90 minutes, we did the work and got the result.”
Q: With Ross County sitting so deep and being so compact, it was always going to take something special to open them up and it ended up being your right back who provided it with that pass?
Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, well we got a bit of luck on the first one but we’ve had sustained pressure in there. The corner comes out, Cal (McGregor) gets the strike and it comes up. Sometimes you need those breaks. You can’t score the perfect goals all the time. But that was then down to the intent that we had in the second half.
“We were starting to break through more, make more runs, and sacrifice ourselves more to get into good areas. And then naturally when you play that way, you’re looking at Ross County going to tire a little bit so the gaps start to open up. That just comes from the speed of the ball and the ball moving much quicker.
“The second goal was a fantastic breakout on that side. What Nicholas does well, is that we encourage a lot of square balls for low finishes in the centre of the goal but if he plays it to Kyogo, he’s offside. So he stays on it, makes the right decision, has another touch and then finishes it so well. So yeah, I felt we deserved that. We’re under no pressure in the second half. We still have to do the work to break through.”
Q: Do you think that a few of the new boys were lacking the intensity that you need in a game like this?
Brendan Rodgers: “No, I just think it’s the collective. We were just slow all round, progressing the game through, any midfield, too slow, not enough runs into the areas that we wanted to get into. So then everything’s in front of Ross County.
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“Once you then start to run, we’re a running team, it’s a running game that we play. Once we start to do that, then the game looks different. But like I said, it was a fantastic win for us. Ross County has done well, started the season really well, and made it difficult for teams, some draws, some wins. So for us, we knew we had to work really hard to get through. So it’s a great start for us, seven wins out of seven and we can now reset over this period. There’s no time to stop. By accident, there’s no design.”
Q: These things don’t happen by accident it is by design and you drum it into these players that even when it’s not going for you, you’ve got to go right to the end?
Brendan Rodgers: “You have to. It’s a Celtic tradition, isn’t it? It’s how the game is played at this club. Because if you look over the course of this week, we had thousands of fans turn up in Dortmund. They’ve seen what they’ve seen, which wasn’t great, but they gave us great support at the end of the game. Now they’re having to come up here for a 12 o’clock kick-off, so the very least you can do is run your heart out right to the very end. That’s what this club’s about. It’s the fabric of this club. You keep going to the end.”
Q: You can’t just feel sorry for yourself and think it’s not happening and chuck it, can you?
Brendan Rodgers: “Aye, well that’s it. I said that I have to. Either looking for an easy game or you’re feeling sorry for yourself. But whatever it is, it’s not enough. We have to go and impose our way of playing and get the energy back into the game again. And then obviously the second half we were much better.”
Q: Were you worried that Kuhn could then get sent off at second yellow when he went to the ground to celebrate?
Brendan Rodgers: “No. Not at all. I don’t know. I never noticed it.”
Q: That’s 14-goal contributions this season for Nicolas Kuhn. Did you expect him to have this good a start to the season? I know he came in in January, but he’s had an electric start this season.
Brendan Rodgers: “He’s been absolutely brilliant. I think his fitness, he’s looking more robust now, which is important. Churning out the games, he looks like a real threat for us. So you always hope and you want them to settle. He’s contributing in a big way. That’s what you need your wingers to do. They need to create goals and score goals but also do the dirty side of the game and he’s doing it really, really well.”
Q: Is the break coming at a good time for some of the players? CCV, Johnston and Taylor? How will they all be in the mix in a fortnight?
Brendan Rodgers: “Hopefully, they’ll be back. Ali won’t go with the international team, so that gives us a chance to recover him because he’s been working very well. Cam will be joining training later on in this week and then have a good week leading into Aberdeen. So that’s good. Greg will just have to wait and see. On that, I thought young Alex Valle had done well today. Especially in the second half, his positioning was a little bit better. But Greg, we hope he’ll be back. If he’s not for Aberdeen, then not long after that.”
Q: Was Kasper Schmeichel sick of not getting that record after saving the penalty initially?
Brendan Rodgers: “Aye, aye, aye. I’ve seen it back. I think sometimes, even if it’s a slow run-up, like that, then sometimes you want to get forward. There’s no doubt. Whenever young Ronan took his shot he was off his line. So I was just more surprised that Ronan scored against Celtic. I said to him, I just said to him, ‘What are you doing scoring against Celtic?’ He’s a Celtic boy.’
“But no, he’s made a great start to his life in Scotland. I think he’s scored four goals now in eight games. He’s been a really good reference for the team. I think overall, Don’s had a really, really good start this season to his career in management. Thankfully we produced a really good second half to get the result.”
Q: No complaints about the penalty?
Brendan Rodgers: “No, no, no. It was a clear penalty. Hands are up. It’s a penalty.”
Q: Ronan’s pledged for Northern Ireland. Are you quite happy about that?
Brendan Rodgers: “I’m glad they’ve got a boy from Belfast who Michael can call upon. Normally he can’t. It’s great for him. He’s obviously done great back home at Cliftonville. He’s come over at a good age with good experience.
“He’s shown here like we’ve seen his goal against Hearts, which is a brilliant finish. So he shows he can score goals. And games like today will help him in his career. But delighted for him and Michael that, as I said, he can call him up. And if you’ve got a finisher at an international level like him, then hopefully he can do really well.”
Q: You’ve obviously got a game over in Sligo midweek. What team are you going to send over? Are you going to be yourself? You’ve got a few days break.
Brendan Rodgers: “I’ll be there. I’ll be taking the team. That plan was in place a few months back. We’ll need to recover some players. But there’s going to be a number of players that need games. So it’ll be a mixture of our first team players in the squad and also some of our young players, because it’s my chance to see them. But yes, we’ll go over there. Always great to go back home. And then we’ll prepare them for Aberdeen.”
'We've had seven games in 23 days. We've won six of them playing absolutely fantastic.'
After a busy month, Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers reflects on a late victory away to Ross County.#BBCFootball pic.twitter.com/6N3xm2qElM
— BBC Sport Scotland (@BBCSportScot) October 6, 2024
