BRENDAN RODGERS has hit back to mock Craig Levein after the Hearts boss’ latest attack at Celtic captain, Scott Brown.
Levein, only last week, attacked Brown for being ‘unfair and aggressive’ in the wake of his side’s 3-1 defeat at Celtic Park last week.
Today, the former-Scotland manager suggested that Brown had deliberately been booked in an attempt to be banned for Celtic’s next match and not face the risk of being suspended for the Champions’ visit to Ibrox on March 12th.
Rodgers, however, dismissed this claim and stated that Levein’s infatuation with his captain was a compliment.
“He’s a wee bit obsessed with Broony, isn’t he?”
“I think it’s a huge compliment for Scott that Craig keeps talking about him. Especially when we don’t play them for a little while.
“It’s the first I’ve heard of that. Broony’s a very competitive player so there’s nothing really to answer on that.”
Rodgers, who is busy preparing his side to take on Patrick Thistle in the Scottish Cup on Saturday, was coy when asked what he thought of other managers discussing his players in a negative light.
“It’s not something that any manager will like so much but it’s not something I do unless I’m praising a player for his quality.
“But it’s up to each individual about what they want to say.”
The SFA Compliance Officer remains silent despite one man Levein’s campaign against the Celtic and Scotland skipper.
Meanwhile Callum McGregor has been speaking about the importance of the Scottish Cup to the Celtic players as he recalled that wonderful day at the end of May last year when the Scottish Cup was won in such dramatic circumstances and the Invincible Treble secured.
“It was a massive competition for us last year going down to the last day,” Calmac said.
“The scenes we had that day were excellent and special as a group. We hold it in high regard here as to what we want to do.
“When you look back, it was the last day of the season with so much riding on it so to go and win the game and complete the invincible treble will stay with you until the end of your days. It’s a special day to remember.”
McGregor and his team-mates already have retained the Betfred Cup and are eight points clear of Aberdeen in the league. The Scottish Cup therefore takes on a special significance once again as a second consecutive Treble comes into sight. The talented midfielder though isn’t keen to talk that up too much.
And after the disappointment of defeat at Kilmarnock the players would rather restrict their focus to defeating Patrick Thistle on Saturday, thus getting back to winning ways.
“Talking about a treble again isn’t what we want to do,” he stated.
“We want to return to winning ways at the weekend and start focusing on every game the way we did last season. That’s what got us the success.
“I think we need to go back to that and back to basics a bit.”
Have you listened to Neil Lennon on A Celtic State of Mind podcast, which is how part of TheCelticStar.com site? The link is below and it is a brilliant listen…
Listen to “A Celtic State of Mind (EP32) with Neil Lennon” on Spreaker.
