Q: If the squad stays as it is just now, how many signings do you envisage you will need before next Friday’s deadline?
Brendan Rodgers: “I don’t want to give you a number because you will come to me the next day and say you did not get the number. I know in my own mind and I am very clear and focused on what we need to do if we are going to improve. It’s not as of nothing is happening. There is a lot of work going on and a lot of great work from the guys upstairs and the guys who are away from here analysing all the players. The work that is going on is tireless. I can assure you of that. It is just getting the right level of quality. What I don’t want to bring in is players who just stiffen up our squad. We have already got that. We have players in here who are good players. If we are going to improve then we have to get another level of player to come in to add to that. That’s the search. Sometimes those guys aren’t always there at the beginning of the window because they have gone away with British, European or Asian teams for pre-season and then it is the latter part of the window when they get told if they are staying or going. That is sometimes why there is a delay and there is a mad rush in the last week. That’s what we are hoping we can do and exploit that moment and bring in the players that we want.”
Q: There has been talk of Matt, Kyogo and Reo Hatate moving on. How important is it that several of your top players don’t ship out next week?
Brendan Rodgers: “I don’t think it will be that. I am very aware from both times here that this is a club that has always attracted the interest of other clubs in other leagues that have more financial resources than ourselves. That will always be the case. If you look at a player that is playing for Celtic and doing really well then you know he is coping with pressure and winning every other week and he has a winning mentality. You also know he is playing at the highest level of European football. That is always a great benchmark for another team or club to see whether the player is going to be ready for their club or not. I don’t think that will ever stop, especially at a club this size. We are also clear in the club that there is not a big push for us to move lots of players. Some will go because that’s where we are at as a cub. There is no need to lose four or five players that are of real quality.”
Q: You said last week that you wanted two number-one strikers. On the back of that, I take it you would not entertain any interest in Kyogo?
Brendan Rodgers: “Not really, no. Naturally, it comes and we just deal with it. There’s been nothing from Man City. It is rumour and gossip. Most importantly for me, he is now back feeling comfortable and on the grass and he’s been brilliant in training during the last couple of days and he’ll be available for the weekend.”
Q: A link like that is pretty extraordinary. Have you spoken to Kyogo about that?
Brendan Rodgers: “I haven’t spoken to him directly on that. If I was speaking to every player about gossip and speculation then I would be working 24 hours a day. It’s of no interest to me and my focus is very much on Celtic and preparing the team for the weekend. That’s what we’ve been clear on. Gossip and speculation are normally based on players who are doing well. That will come. My focus is elsewhere.”
Q: Does next week determine whether you will be in the Champions League competing and taking you to the next level of reaching the knockout round?
Brendan Rodgers: “That’s the plan. When we won the league last season my plan was to come into this new format and see if we can break this barrier of coming through the play-off stages and into the knockout phase. That is the challenge. I knew what we needed in order to do that. That is still very much in our plan. This club for the last number of years have played very well in games and we haven’t been able to take that next step. In order to do that as a manager and coach you know the improvements that you have to make. Last year we were close in a lot of the games and we want to develop that and move forward. I know what we need in order to do that so let’s hope that we can.”
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It’s just more blarney from Brendan Rodgers. He gets very well paid for his “frustration” while the fans get short changed and lead up the garden path with feigned optimism. Brendan knows full well that little to no quality will be added to the squad by window’s end, but he cautiously tells the fans what he thinks they want to hear, always with caveats such as “hopefully we can add those players”, etc. IT’S NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!
Every day for the past 3 months fans have been scrolling through the Celtic blogs and websites looking for positive news of quality additions to the team and every day all they get is rumour and disappointment. They know the money is there in the bank and they understand that it can’t all be spent on players, but they rightfully expect a sizeable portion of it to be allocated to team improvement for Europe. They’re ambitious for the club they finance with their hard-earned cash and yet every single transfer window they’re handed the same bowl of gruel by that greedy Board while men like Brendan act as their apologists. It’s no longer acceptable for a club the size of CeltiC and Brendan Rodgers should be declaring that openly. He has to man up and tell them that unless they invest in the team to give it the tools to compete with some dignity in Europe, then there’s no point in him being there. He won’t of course because he gets paid well and the fans get zilch!
send a copy of this to the Celtic View and see if it gets published. No wonder its called Pravda and the board the Politburo,Liewell as Stalin. Excellent Martin.HH