Brendan Rodgers talked about Celtic being very good in the first half but suffered badly after the break with the Celtic support having to endure a ‘really disappointing second half’ where Kilmarnock turned around a 1-0 deficit after Matt O’Riley gave Celtic the lead to run out 2-1 winners.
And few could argue that it was a result that was no more than Derek McInnes and his said deserved. Rodgers raged after the first half performance at Perth last weekend but today was subdued and failed to read the room as far as the Celtic support is concerned.
Today’s result means that Celtic’s lead remains at 5 points having played a game more than theRangers – their game in hand is against St Johnstone at Ibrox. Celtic will play Feyenoord on Wednesday in the Champions League dead rubber before taking on Hearts at Celtic Park on Saturday afternoon. Meanwhile theRangers are at Hampden on Sunday for the League Cup Final against Aberdeen.
There is no question that there is a real league race now on . Indeed a defeat to theRangers on 30 December would give then the advantage in after Celtic have squandered a significant lead.
Here’s what Brendan Rodgers had to say post match to Sky Sports…
Sky Sports: Brendan, can we get your assessment of the performance and result today?
Brendan Rodgers: “I thought the performance in the first half was very good. We started the game really well in the first 25 minutes in particular. We scored a really good goal and created more chances and I thought we were good value for our lead. In the second half, we never got started, as we played the game that they wanted to play. We got rid of the ball instead of wanting to pass it and from that we failed to look after the ball and when you do that you give them opportunities to break through, and we suffered for that. A really disappointing second half.”
Sky Sports: First half, you could have gone in a lot more than one up.
Brendan Rodgers: “We should have done. We were in a good place and had good intensity in our game getting the ball into really good areas and missed what looked like good chances but we had control of the game. In the second half, we didn’t.”
Sky Sports: Why do you think that was? Was it because they made you play their game?
Brendan Rodgers: “Give credit to them, they pressed the game probably that bit more in the second half, but we have to be resistant to that. Instead of playing sideward and backwards you have to beat pressure and want to play forward. We didn’t do that enough and we didn’t make enough passes so that meant we got stuck in the game where we couldn’t progress through. We had one good chance through Matt O’Riley where he broke through, but we didn’t create anywhere near enough in the second half and weren’t decisive in the passing, which ended up costing us.”
Sky Sports: Did you struggle to deal with the wide areas as well at times?
Brendan Rodgers: “Yes. We defended those areas not so well. We know Kilmarnock’s game and they want to get it wide and get crosses in. Too often, we didn’t do that.”
Sky Sports: Is that a frustration or does that become a worry when that happens, when you don’t do enough in the second half?
Brendan Rodgers: “We had that last week where it wasn’t so good in the first half and the second half was better. We expected the second half to be what it was, especially the first 10-15 minutes when they came after us, but we have to deal with that better. We have to have a better take on the ball and look to connect the game because that’s the game that we want to play and if we don’t do that then we’re not as effective. It’s a disappointment, the first defeat that we’ve had in the league, so it will hurt, but ultimately we didn’t deserve anything because of the second-half performance.”
Sky Sports: From what you were saying there, is that partly because of mentality, coming out in the second half? Do you need to be mentally stronger?
Brendan Rodgers: “I don’t want to say that. These players have shown up until this point of the season domestically that they’ve got that bit between the teeth. Today, we just didn’t play our game in the second half. Mental strength is something that’s very important as a professional player and these guys have that. We just didn’t take the ball and show that courage that we needed to make passes and take them back. Instead, it became a little bit like a basketball game. I thought we had weathered the storm well in the second half, they had lots of corners but we defended them well. We then had to play our football and we didn’t do that.”
Sky Sports: Going into a busy period now, how do you get that message across then that it needs to be better?
Brendan Rodgers: “It’s quite straightforward, we’ve got a game in midweek which is our final Champions League game and then we go on to our next home game. The honesty of the group always gives me great hope for these guys because they are an honest and reflective group. We know the second half wasn’t what we would want, so we have to move on from that.”
Sky Sports: Medium-term, does that make you think about what you will do in January in terms of strengthening the squad?
Brendan Rodgers: “Hopefully, we get some more players back, but we’re going with the players that we have now, so we have to be better. We showed in the first half some good moments of play with good threat and speed in the game. In the second half, we didn’t do that and weren’t resistant enough to any pressure in the game so that’s what we need to focus on first and foremost.”
🗣️ “It’s our first league defeat. We didn’t deserve anything due to the second-half performance… We’re working with the players that we have now.”
Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers reflects on their 2-1 defeat to Kilmarnock and assesses his squad ahead of the January window 👇 pic.twitter.com/4eeoHZs1NV
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) December 10, 2023
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Celtic,we’re disgraceful 2nd half .No imagination nk heart. Does Rogers, not speak ,invigorate the team at half time. Just not acceptable for celtic ,dans .But we’ll done killie, they deserved that result 👏
Never your fault is it? You just take the credit when we win.
Abysmal in Europe and bang average in the league.
Should never have brought back
BR may bemoan the very poor, gutless, performance in the second half but one has to question his halftime talk. Every man & his dog knew Killie wouid have a real go at us in the second half so why did he fail to motivate the team to overcome it?
As for our defence – Phillips shouldnt be anywhere near our team. His only ability is in heading the ball but he’s too slow, flat-footed/awkward on the ball & hasn’t a clue about marking. Surely Rocky & Lagerbielke can’t really be worse than him?
Taylor is ok going forward but his defending as a left back is dire – Ralston should have replaced him. Palma was lazy & of no help at all to Taylor & should have been replaced instead of Johnson.
Of course, then we have the usual story of wasted chances in the first half when we could have been out of sight.