Rodgers: We can handle
CELTIC Bhoys boss vows players will keep their cool in the heat of battle at Pittodrie
BRENDAN Rodgers has backed his Celtic players to keep their cool if the Ladbrokes Premiership match against their Betfred Cup final opponents Aberdeen at Pittodrie this afternoon turns nasty.
That showpiece at Hampden at the start of this month, which the Parkhead club won 1-0 thanks to a first-half goal from Ryan Christie, ended in ugly scenes.
Derek McInnes, the Aberdeen manager, confronted Mikael Lustig, the Celtic right-back, on the pitch and accused him of attempting to goad Lewis Ferguson, his young midfielder, by deliberately laughing in his face.
In an another incident, Graeme Shinnie, the Aberdeen captain, refused to shake hands with Scott Brown, his Celtic counterpart, immediately after the final whistle and later claimed the winners’ postmatch celebrations had lacked class.
Rodgers also aimed a thinly-veiled dig at McInnes in the week following the encounter when he implied that his opposite number’s conduct on the sidelines during the match had been partially responsible for the fallout.
The cup final hasn’t been the only game between Aberdeen and Celtic in recent seasons where tensions have boiled over.
Indeed, Brown and Shinnie have had a simmering feud since the final league match of last season at Parkhead back in May – which the visitors won 1-0 to secure second place in the Premiership.
The Celtic player took exception to a foul by his fellow midfielder and afterwards described it as “a little boy’s tackle”. He also claimed his opponent “lacked quality”.
The Aberdeen captain refused to apologise and responded by saying “what goes around comes around”. He admitted before the cup final that the former Scotland internationalist “probably hates me”.
However, Rodgers stressed that he has no concerns about his players – who have won all four of their matches at Pittodrie since he was appointed Celtic manager two-and-a-half years ago – losing their discipline if the ill-feeling from their previous meetings resurfaces this afternoon.
“It’s the emotion of the game,” he said. “They are a good side, have been our nearest challengers and have been second throughout my
‘‘ We trained on Christmas Day at Parkhead
time here.
“After you lose finals – and that was the third to us – there is so much emotion attached. I’ll just let it go.
“You have to be aggressive, but I think it’s been the measure of our performances in the last three seasons. We’ve played well because of temperament as well as quality. We wouldn’t want anything else.”
Asked if he felt his Celtic players would rise to the occasion against the team who have finished runners-up in the top flight in the last four seasons and are currently enjoying a rich vein of form, Rodgers said: “[There is] no reason to doubt it again,” he said. “We trained on Christmas Day at Parkhead and refocussed the mind.”
Celtic have only won three of the nine Premiership games they have played away from home this season, but Rodgers has no concerns