Q: On a different note, Dundee United have confirmed they got a call with Willie Collum today about the goal they got disallowed on Wednesday. Have you had any sort of communication or update from the SFA about what happened in the game against Hibs?
Brendan Rodgers: “I haven’t spoken personally to anyone in the club. We’ve obviously been dealing with that, but we try to do that in-house and deal with it from there. But I haven’t spoken to Michael today, so as far as I’m aware, we haven’t heard anything.”
Celtic supporters during the Premier Sports Cup Final victory over theRangers at Hampden on 15 December 2024. Photo AJ for The Celtic Star
Q: In terms of the ticket story, is there a sporting element to it? Do you get an advantage having away fans locked out of your own ground? A disadvantage in contrast to when you go away? How does that affect it on the pitch?
Brendan Rodgers: “It can be more difficult for the home team without the support, the opposition supporters in, because sometimes in the game the supporters can be distracted by the away support and that takes sometimes a wee bit away from the actual football. Whereas if you’re the home team and it’s just all your supporters in, everything is focused directly on the game. But listen, football as we know is about the rivalry and there’s arguably no greater rivalry than Celtic vs Rangers in world football. There’s many great derbies of course, but this one being the exceptional one. I think it’s just good to have both sets of supporters in and I think for the game itself it always adds to the spectacle.”
Jude Bonnar of Celtic in action on his debut during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Aberdeen at Celtic Park, on 25th February 2025. Picture by Mark Runnacles
Q: Jude Bonnar came on in the 80th minute on Wednesday night there. How important is it for you to promote younger talents coming through the academies?
Brendan Rodgers: “Always, always. Every club I’ve been at, that was a big part of my development as a coach. I worked for 15-odd years in youth development, so I like to think I know it quite well. I’m passionate about young players and every club I’ve been at I’ve always played young players and put them in. So yes, it’s a nice reward for Jude. The pathway into any first team is not meant to be easy. It’s not just something that you go through your age groups. You have to earn the right to come in, but at the same time I’m always looking for the opportunity to put in young players and we have to have space for them.
Daizen Maeda celebrates scoring his second goal during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Aberdeen at Celtic Park, on 25th February 2025. (Picture by Mark Runnacles)
“I think that’s what’s important. So it’s nice for Jude. He’s done very well with the second team, but not only that, he’s working very, very hard, which I notice I see him in the gym a lot, doing his extra to get himself physically ready. He’s technically very good in the game. Like I said, he’s improving his physicality. He’s improving the competitive side to his game.
“Tactically, he understands how we work and for him to get that feeling of coming in. For me, what he also showed was personality, because I like my players, especially young players, to have the personality to come into the arena and play for Celtic. He showed all of that, so it should hopefully give him that bit of motivation now to push on.”
