PRESSURE US AT YOUR PERIL
Rodgers relishing Ibrox test but warns that a high press could leave Rangers open at back FOUL PLAY IN EACH CASE [4/24/2017 12:15:02 PM] paul: AHAHA NICHAT NGA AKO NG BF NUN EHA AHAHA
WHEN the collective effort to trouble your great rival has been so meek as to leave your manager ashamed to show his face in public, the expectation is of a reaction akin to a volcanic eruption.
Since time immemorial, the unwritten law of the Old Firm jungle is to beware the wounded animal. Given how passive they were against Celtic last Sunday, the belief that Rangers will, at the very l east, turn up tomorrow hardly requires a leap of faith.
Brendan Rodgers gets all this. Celtic have won four Old Firm games under him to date but none underscored the gulf between the sides quite like the opening period of that Scottish Cup semi-final victory. He fully anticipates a more taxing time of it at Ibrox tomorrow.
But while the Northern Irishman and his players will be bracing themselves to be asked far more searching questions than in last week’s no-contest, they will hardly be hiding under the bed at the prospect of a backlash either.
Rodgers, bluntly, would relish the prospect of Rangers sounding the bugle and going toe-to-toe with his side.
The demand for a high-pressing game that has beenn widely demanded by the Ibrox rank- and- file in the past few days may be understandable.
In Rodgers’ view,w, though, not onlyy would it be alienn to the way Rangers have acqu it tedd the ms el vest hiss season, it might wellll play right into his side’s hands.
‘When I have watchedtched the games that haveve been, they haven’t reallyy been a highhighpressure team,’ he said.
‘It is difficult to come away from something that might not be. If you think of the Aberdeen game (a 3-0 win for Rangers at Pittodrie), they were sat in a three- quarter pitch in a pressure situation and, in certain situations, they would come and press it.
‘If they feel the need to press and disrupt our organisation, it can also be dangerous because behind that leaves a big space and you saw it with the second goal (last Sunday).
‘If you leave space, then we have speed to break into it.
‘I am sure their fans will demand they be better, they will want to be better, but we want to be better. We want to improve, to be better than what we were in our performance level — but they are always great games.’
When it was put to Rodgers that a 33-point gap meant this match was as close to a no-pressure Old Firm game as you could ever imagine, his steely glare made the words that followed superfluous.
While the destination of the league title was scarcely an issue after Celtic won the first of three league encounters 5-1, each battle for the local bragging rights is important in its own way.
The prospect of becoming the first post-war side to complete the league programme unbeaten has been underplayed by the Celtic manager to date but, privately, he will appreciate that no side is likely to come so close again.
More important, though, is the need for him and his players to deal with pressure — both internal and external. Emerging from Ibrox unbeaten for a second time would be another box ticked. One less reason to doubt his players have the mental wherewithal for the heights he hopes they can soon scale.
‘No. You can’t say you have made the Scottish Cup final with a great performance andan now this doesn’t matter,’ aadded Rodgers. ‘EveryEver game matters and, in particular, a CelCeltic v Rangers gagame. But I prefer ththe players to have pressure because, i ff you want to succeed and want to be winning ththings and be at the v every highest level you can be in your perfoperformance, you have to feel the pressure. ‘What is important is how you cope withwit it. Our players, through the habits we’re creating, through education, through training, are getting better and they bring these confident habits into games. In this type of game you have to deal with pressure, but it is always there.
‘There is external pressure as well. When we were getting beaten by St Mirren, they were banging on my dugout and saying: “What are you doing?” So it is there. But what you can control, that is the key. You can control all of that. You can control how you prepare and how you perform yourself.’
Celtic’s history is littered with players who apparently had the ability to cut it only to disappear from view. A lack of mental toughness is normally the answer.
One striking feature of Rodgers’ reign to date has been his ability to make so many of his charges walk a few inches taller.
Where once the pressure of pulling on the jersey threatened to suffocate them, now they are thriving on it.
‘If you want to be successful you can’t get away from it,’ added Rodgers. ‘What you have to do as a coach and as a manager, is regulate the pressure, re-direct the pressure so it doesn’t affect your flow. But you can’t be in a club where there are 60,000 supporters and have the demands of a club like Celtic but not have pressures.
‘If you have it, it is about how you use it, how you rebrand it. And winners have that. If you are a loser you might not want it because you don’t think you can win.
‘When you are a winner and you want to win, there is always that element of it, that bubble in your tummy that is anxiety or whatever and it is how you regulate that, how you re- direct the flow of pressure. That is where it comes on to me and I can get the players to stay calm and play football.’
This unflappable demeanour extends to selection problems outwith his control. The hamstring strain Moussa Dembele picked up in the semi-final is likely to cost him the remainder of the season.
Rodgers’ careful management of Leigh Griffiths throughout the campaign to date is l i kely to minimise the disruption.
‘He’s struggled this year in terms of injury and regularity of training,’ said the Celtic manager.
‘But there’s no doubt about it, you saw when he came on the other day and played the majority of the game, he’s always a threat.
‘You don’t score 40 goals and not know where the net is. That’s the beauty of it.
‘Domestically, he’s top quality in terms of his ability. So there’s a little period now for him to step up and show his qualities.’
Commendably, Griffiths has kept any complaints about playing second fiddle to himself.
It’s the kind of selfless attitude Rodgers demands. His desire to see players improve seems to be shared by the players themselves.
‘This is a group with no ego,’ he added. ‘This season, I’ve said to one or two players at times: “I want to give you that period of break” and they didn’t want it.
‘They wanted to work, to still be here. The environment we’ve fostered, they want to be in here, they want to prepare themselves, and that’s quite unique.’