Brendan Rodgers, Manager of Celtic looks on prior to the UEFA Champions League Play-offs Round First Leg match between Celtic and Kairat Almaty at Celtic Park on August 20, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Q: Do you feel you have enough to be able to do that then? There’s enough game-changers in that team to get you through to the Champions League group phase?
Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, well listen, whether I think it or not, we have to do it. But I do believe that we’ll be better than what we were in the first half. The second half you see we dominated and arrived into a lot of good areas, but just that final ball, a little bit of finesse and that little extra bit of quality that’s needed, as you come through the levels, that allows you to break teams down. That’s something we’ll look at and analyse and hopefully correct when we get out there.”
Q: You said, Brendan, that you need to accept it and move on. Should the fans accept it? Considering the money that’s at this club, the amount of times you’ve sat here in this position at this time of the year saying that you need players, and now the playoff tie hasn’t gone the way you want. Should fans accept how the club’s been run at this point?
Brendan Rodgers: “Well listen, that’s not for me to answer. I can answer for the team and what we’re doing. I think we showed last season the hint, like I’ve said before, of what we can do. But that’s all, that will always be based around the level of players that you have. And I believe that with a level of player that we can really push forward. But if we don’t have that for whatever reason, we have to try and find a way to win here and to qualify. And up until tonight, as I said, the team have been moving along well. First half, I wasn’t happy with the first half at all, just slow and waiting on the game. And like I said, we’re the guys that can only change that future and that responsibility now is with us to do that. And for me to find a way to get us through the next leg. It was a wee bit messy towards the end, but that’s not the players’ fault. We’re playing players out of position and trying to work the team to try and stimulate a goal and players maybe playing out of position a wee bit, but that’s what we’re at. But of course, our job is always to entertain our supporters.”
Alistair Johnston of Celtic is stretchered off after sustaining an injury during the UEFA Champions League Play-offs Round First Leg match between Celtic and Kairat Almaty at Celtic Park on August 20, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Q: I appreciate it’s probably early, but in terms of Alistair Johnston, it didn’t look great. How is the player and is there any sort of prognosis as to how bad it could be?
Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, I haven’t spoken to the medical guys yet, it looks like a hamstring injury, which is disappointing. But yeah, I’ll get more in the morning.”
Q: Brendan, obviously Adam Idah got hooked at half-time, kind of struggling half the first half and maybe struggling at the start of the season as well. Is there a way to build him for him to get a wee bit of his confidence or what’s the situation with Adam at the moment?
Adam Idah of Celtic vies with Aleksandr Martynovich of Kairat during the UEFA Champions League Play-offs Round First Leg match between Celtic and Kairat Almaty at Celtic Park on August 20, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)
Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, there’s, listen, there’s no rocket science in it. It’s all hard work. It’s all preparation. That will obviously lead to confidence and then you normally succeed then as a player from that. So yeah, I didn’t quite go for him first half. I wanted a little bit more activity in and around the box because I felt that we could get up there. And yeah, so yeah, he’s, Adam’s a good boy, he’s an honest boy. Hasn’t quite started how he would have liked. But in games like these here, I can’t afford to wait. And that’s why I made the change at half time.”
