Rodgers insists circus around Dembele wasn’t a distraction before Gers game
MANAGER Brendan Rodgers insisted that the events leading up to Friday’s transfer deadline did not affect his preparations for yesterday’s game against Rangers.
The Hoops boss revealed that he brought in his senior players on Friday to his office to explain the events around the club in order to ensure that there was a full focus amid the circus that was going on around Moussa Dembele.
Olivier Ntcham scored the only goal of the game to maintain Rodgers’ own dominance in this fixture – in 12 games against the Ibrox side, the Celtic manager has not lost with his side scoring 31 goals to Rangers’ six.
But yesterday’s game differed in that for the first time since his arrival at the club Rodgers found himself under pressure this month.
It was the 45-year-old who lit a fuse between the boardroom and the dressing room when he laid bare the discord over signings, while the loss of Dembele to Lyon just hours before the window closed was a u-turn by the club and Rodgers.
That came down to Dembele’s behaviour after taking aim at Celtic on Twitter before then being asked to leave the club’s Lennoxtown training ground.
For Rodgers, though, the bigger picture is always about winning games.
“No, it was very easy, very easy,” said the Celtic manager when asked about the distractions in the build-up to the game. “You have to park the stuff that was going on.
“I work closely with all my players, particularly my senior players, and after it all happened I pulled them into my office and explained exactly where we were at. They respected that. Then we walked out the room and we got on with it.
“We saw in the performance today the spirit of the team and the quality. It can be an exciting season for us again. We deserve a rest now. Some of the players have international duty, but we will come back in and look to push on between now and Christmas.
“I’ve always come into these games trying to make sure the players have a calmness in order for us to play well.
“First and foremost, to have a chance of winning you have to perform. We performed exceptionally well today.
“Allan McGregor made some outstanding saves, we’ve hit the crossbar a couple of times and that’s kept the scoreline down.
“It’s a huge credit to the players, how we had to defend. Any moments of danger, we were pressing really aggressively and worked our socks off, which you have to do. It’s an obligation in the game.
“Then you saw the