TALKING CELTIC
THERE is a danger that the weight of a record-breaking run can make a millstone of a milestone. In some ways that may have appeared to be the case for Celtic in recent weeks as the Parkhead side have shown uncharacteristic vulnerabilities, at least in a domestic sense.
Brendan Rodgers will take Celtic into tonight’s game against Hamilton Accies on the back of a 68-game unbeaten run, a streak that goes all the way back to May 2016, but he has revealed that he has already told the players to forget all about the sequence coming to an end.
The mental aspect of protecting the stats would appear to have been apparent in the nervy finale against Hibs, but the Hoops boss has insisted that it is all about performances above all else.
“I’ve said to them that it doesn’t matter,” said Rodgers of the record. “I’ve reiterated that to them to forget about the record. I’ve told them: ‘you broke that games ago.’ It’s about performance. You can’t worry about the run.
“Our worry is our game and we want to play better. We want to defend better.”
Meanwhile, Rodgers has also insisted that there is nothing concerning about the five draws that Celtic have clocked up this term – three more than this stage last season.
Under normal circumstances such stats would not raise much of an eyebrow. But given Celtic’s almost unblemished campaign last year, the fact that they have lost more points at this stage of this season than they did in the entirety of the previous term has been of note.
RODGERS, though, believes the reason can be attributed to the uniqueness of his inaugural campaign at the Parkhead club.
“I think it tells you that last season we had the best season in Scottish football history and they don’t happen all the time,” said the Celtic manager.
“This year we’ve made a tremendous start and we’ve won our league Cup, we’re five clear with a game in hand and have six games until the winter break.
“We’re in a great, great place. We can be better at seeing out games, but you have to give Hibs credit. They threw everything at it in the last 15 minutes.
“They took their chance so for us there was so much good in the game we have to learn from that which wasn’t so good for example the lead up to the corner.
“And then when we concede the second goal.”
The Hoops boss also revealed that a Monday morning conference at Lennoxtown among the players and coaching staff was used to identify the problems that were evident during the 2-2 draw with Hibs.
“We share the responsibility of it all,” said Rodgers. “We take the players into their different groups and reflect on the game.
“We take the goalkeepers and defenders and they go in with the analysts with myself to talk about it.
“We look at where we were very good and where we could be better. Then the midfield players come in and then the attackers.
“We then share that responsibility to be better for the next game. The story for me was simple; I thought we were very, very good up until they scored their first goal.
“Then the game becomes emotional.
“We lose control of our game and stop passing as crisply and cleanly as we had done. All of a sudden we concede a second goal.
“We still had chances but we could lose the game too.
“But it also really focuses on how great these players have done because it shows in the run of 68 games what can happen in a game of football that could allow us to lose a game in the last minute.
“So for them to have the resilience that they’ve had is great.
“Like I say, how they played their football was very, very good. We just failed to control the emotion in the game when we conceded.”
CENTRAL defender Marvin Compper is on Rodgers’ shopping list for January and there has been much chat over the course of the last few months about the failure to sign a defender in the summer. Domestically, though, Rodgers has maintained that there have been improvements in the backline.
“At this stage compared to last season we have conceded