Brendan Rodgers, speaking to Sky Sports today as the build-up to Sunday’s lunchtime encounter with St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park, talked about Celtic’s European failures over the last decade or so.
On this season’s campaign once again pointed to his inability to field Celtic’s strongest team as a key factor in failing to achieve his pre-season target of securing European qualification to the knock-out rounds of either the Champions League or Europa League beyond Christmas.
🍀 “There’s a long way for us to go I would say…”
Brendan Rodgers says Celtic are far from their peak as he reflects on the Champions League and looks ahead to their trip to St Johnstone.
📺 Sky Sports, Sunday from 11am. pic.twitter.com/ONT8kR3GNH
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) December 1, 2023
The Celtic manager though is determined to do something about that during his time in charge, much the same as Ange Postecoglou said this time last year. Has the game moved on from the days when Gordon Strachan (twice) and Neil Lennon got Celtic out of the group stages and into the knock-out rounds?
Before we get answers to all that, focus turns to McDiarmid Park on Sunday afternoon (kick-off 12 noon) and the match is live on Sky Sports. Rodgers recalled his previous encounters with Craig Levein who was the Hearts manager during his first spell at Celtic and is now charged with turning St Johnstone’s fairly miserable season around and securing their Scottish Premiership status.
Levein will look at utilising all his dark arts against the Hoops on Sunday but Celtic should have more than enough to secure the points.
Rodgers closed by dismissing any thoughts of extending the remit of VAR and introducing sin-bins on the basis that they have to get the current implementation sorted and he reckons that most coaches would agree with him on that one.
Here’s everything that Brendan Rodgers said today…
🍀 “There’s a long way for us to go I would say…”
Brendan Rodgers says Celtic are far from their peak as he reflects on the Champions League and looks ahead to their trip to St Johnstone.
📺 Sky Sports, Sunday from 11am. pic.twitter.com/ONT8kR3GNH
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) December 1, 2023
Celtic don’t invest in Europe. Look at who got sent off in our first group game.
Buy projects. Pitch them like lambs to the CL slaughter. Sell on the ones who develop. Talk about building for next European campaign.Don’t spend a lot. Rinse and repeat.
As for not having full squad available, stats show at various teams that Rodgers correlates to spikes in injury casualties.