GODS WERE WITH CELTS
HOOPS DIG DEEP FOR GLORY THE STATS 2 5 3 15 4
FROM BACK PAGE we saw today. I have said this before but when I came in Ryan wasn’t ready to play week in, week out.
“We could see there was a talent there but for the level we were trying to attain and get to you need to have that physicality as well as the quality. He’s always had the quality.
“I felt he needed to get some games. It’s a great demonstration of the different types of loan you can get. This was a development loan.
“I have good relations with Derek McInnes. We both looked at it and we both felt he still needed to do more in the big games.
“But there’s no doubt he went away and got that physicality in body strength and durability in terms of how we want to play and the intensity.
“Ryan came back in the summer and it was just about waiting for the moment and in the last eight or nine weeks he has shown that.
“It’s fantastic to see his status grow now and in the big games he has shown he has that quality to play for the biggest teams. I’m delighted for him.
“That’s the football Gods for you. Lo and behold he scored against the team he was at for 18 months. “It was a wonderful finish, a great run off the ball. The keeper made a good save but he reacts well to it and finishes.”
Christie struck in injury time at the end of the first half shortly after former Celtic winger Gary Mackay-Steven was taken to hospital following a sickening clash of heads with Dedryck Boyata.
The Belgian defender needed to be stitched up by medics on the side of the pitch while MackaySteven was out cold.
And Rodgers believes the way his players responded immediately after this drama proved crucial to the outcome.
He said: “For both the players it was tough. I could hear Dedryck getting stitches at the side of the field. He must have had five or six stitches in there.
“But he went back into the game and kept his concentration.
“That little period was when we started to make our passes and connect the game better. Earlier on we were trying to penetrate too quickly. When you’re playing against Aberdeen you have to move them about to find the spare man and open up space.
“That was the moment you wait for in the big games. Overall, it was a very satisfying win for us.
“They showed a lot of heart and a lot of fight. After the run of games we’ve had, and especially after Thursday night, it’s a really tough game to come in to and play against Aberdeen because they’re physical and very strong.
“To show the quality for the goal, that was probably our biggest moment in the first half. We had a sequence of passes and worked our way through their man marking and ended up with a great goal.
“My only disappointment with the second half was we could have been more clinical in key moments, especially when you’re having to defend a bit deeper.
“We broke away fantastic and had the support up there but we never made the last pass, which then makes the game a lot tighter towards the end than it should have been. That’s my only criticism. It was incredible mentality from the players.”