Chilled-out Bren won’t see red in the dugout
BRENDAN Rodgers will never find himself banned from the touchline – because he’s determined to be the cool Celtic manager.
The Parkhead boss had great sympathy for Motherwell boss Mark McGhee who lost his temper during his team’s heavy defeat at Aberdeen on Wednesday, but that will never be him.
Rodgers said: “I’ve never been sent to the stands before – but I am still young! Mark’s managed a lot more games than me so come back to me when I’m his age.
“Every manager is different and of course it’s a challenge being back at your old club.
“I have empathy for Mark, especially in the modern day when you get people catching you on phones. I don’t think that’s right.
“Personally, I try to stay calm. I ask the players to stay calm so I can’t be jumping up and down on the sidelines like a lunatic.
“It doesn’t help me to make tactical decisions during games so my own ethos has been to remain cool under pressure so I can make those decisions to impact the game.
“You can’t be too emotional. Even though I am young in terms of age, I’ve stood on the sidelines for hundreds of games.
“I go back to my experiences as a young player. When I looked over I didn’t want someone threatening me. I wanted support and someone who wasn’t going to put you off the game.
“It’s experience and practice, but it’s about thinking clearly because you can’t afford to get caught.”
RODGERS is not one for throwing tea cups around the dressing room, not that there has been. But that doesn’t mean the Celtic players have not seen the other side of their gaffer.
Rodgers said: “It didn’t go so well in Barcelona. I made the point after the game. I’m not smashing things, I’m not that way.
“I’d rather work with the players but they will see various sides, whether it is pre or post-games or at half-time.
“I’m not a shouter and bawler in life. I try to find the hook that taps in to their emotions that allows them to work on a process.
“I won’t waste six months of my time when I can tell them something now.”
When a side is so out in front there can be a tendency for the players to drop their standards even by a small margin.
However, if anything the performance levels have has actually gone up in recent weeks. Rodgers added: “The players have that drive to keep going. It’s something we spoke about at the start of the season.
“Celtic is a winning club. You have a choice about how you win.
“You can just do enough or you can be the very best you can be. For me there is no choice.
“There are certain times when you can manage a game but if you get two or three it becomes can you get four and five? Their job is to entertain.
“You can do that when you are super fit. If you look at our stats, most of our goals come in the last 15 minutes.
“I remember not so long ago people were questioning this squad’s fitness.
“But there are boys who have really bought in to the sports science of the game. We’ve got a brilliant physiologist and sport scientist who have a periodical programme that allows them to be at a certain level of fitness.
“That allows us to keep going from the first second to the last. They stay to the end because they know if it goes to three or four there’s a good chance it could go beyond that. We want to win the best we can.”