Killie defeat could be this season’s Red Imps moment for Rodgers

Brendan Rodgers was possibly thinking about the shock defeat to Lincoln Red Imps in an early Champions League qualifier on 12 July 2016 at Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar, when he reflected on the aftermath to last Sunday’s League Cup exit against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.

The hugely embarrassing Red Imps result was a major shock to the system for Celtic and although comfortably sorted out in the second leg at Celtic Park, that game appears to have made a long term impact on the Celtic manager.

When he returned to the club in June and spoke to the Celtic fan media, The Celtic Star asked him about the memorable 2016-17 season where Celtic ended the campaign as treble winning Invincibles – the one and only time that has happened in Scottish football. Yet after listening to the question Brendan Rodgers’ immediately spoke about the Red Imps game rather than the two 5-1 wins over theRangers of the Cup Final victories over Aberdeen. That tells you something does it not?

And last weekend’s cup defeat – his first ever as Celtic manager – could be this season’s Red Imp moment for Brendan Rodgers. Here’s what he had to say about the 1-0 defeat at Rugby Park.

“I think what’s important to understand when you’re trying to be successful is that losing and failing in a game is integral to becoming successful,” Rodgers explained yesterday afternoon at his media conference at Lennoxtown, ahead of tomorrow’s Scottish Premiership match against St Johnstone at Celtic Park.

“Yeah, it was a disappointing result and we didn’t do enough to win the game, but it’s also something you have to have at a club this size, you have to have that mental strength and toughness to cope with disappointing results, and then be ready to go again,” Rodgers said.

“That’s what the players have been, they’ve been outstanding this week in training, and we’ll look to take that into the game,” the Celtic manager added.

Asked if the defeat at Rugby Park would serve as a wake up call to make sure that there is no repeat, the experienced coach understands football well enough to know that that is never the case with any defeat.

“It will happen again,” he explained. “There’s no doubt about that. You lose games of football. For us, it’s very early stages of our process that we’re in. We’re obviously not helped by the number of injuries and whatever we have, but we’re in a process where the players will get better, and the game idea will look better.

“It’s just at the beginning of that process, but whilst you’re finding your rhythm and the quality of your game, clearly you have to get results, and that’s why we’re here.”

Asked if the right phrase “looking for a reaction?” or is it just moving on to the next game, the Celtic manager opted for the latter. “Moving on, yeah, but of course, you always have to respond to losing games, but you understand that. The victories you want of course and especially after you lose a game.”

St Johnstone might see a very different Celtic tomorrow in terms of performance as league leaders Celtic look to maintain their 100% record in the Scottish Premiership.

If Red Imps was the wake up call in 2016 then it’s Kilmarnock this time around. Hopefully Brendan Rodgers will get this side to respond in exactly the same way.