NO SHRINKING VIOLETS HERE
Celtic boss claims Ralston should see Neymar snub as a sign of respect
“It was not just a blind risk to play him. I felt he could do well in the game”
THE refusal of a handshake is usually taken as an insult. To Brendan Rodgers, Neymar’s snub to Celtic defender Anthony Ralston could be construed as something else.
‘I think it is probably a tribute to Tony and how well he did,’ said the Parkhead manager yesterday.
‘Of course, it would have been nice for a player of that standing and status to acknowledge it.
‘That is the true mark of a player sometimes.’
After being booked for diving in the 75th minute of Paris Saint-Germain’s resounding 5-0 Champions League triumph in Glasgow, Neymar was unimpressed by his young opponent’s reaction.
At the age of just 18 and with only five first-team appearances for Celtic under his belt, the Scotland Under-21 defender could be seen laughing in the face of the £198million man. For a home support unimpressed by Neymar’s theatrics, it proved the highlight of a grim night.
Yet football is a hierarchal structure and many observers unaware of the context of the incident felt the young right-back should have ‘known his place’ in the footballing food chain and shown a little more respect.
‘That is why I played him,’ countered Rodgers. ‘You can’t have shrinking violets in that arena — and one thing he isn’t is a shrinking violet.
‘He is an 18-year-old, he is a young guy, but he doesn’t play young. He is strong, he’s aggressive and I think with players, when I put them in when they are young, they need to have certain personality traits.
‘When you put a young player in a Champions League game you have to know they are not going to sink. He never did that.
‘He was competitive, aggressive, strong… he’ll take a huge lift from that.
‘Professional pride gets hurt when you lose, but he is playing against one of the top-five players in world football and actually the most expensive player in world football. The boy from Glasgow did alright.’
For Celtic it was a harrowing night in the end. An experience as sobering and bruising as a 7-0 loss in Barcelona on the opening night of last season’s campaign.
It was a stark reminder of the growing chasm between Europe’s super-rich and the clubs in pot three and four of the Champions League draw.
Celtic’s inability to land a central defender in the transfer window exacerbated the gulf between the sides, forcing a daunting European debut for Ralston.
Yet Rodgers believes the right-back will have learned more from 90 minutes against Neymar in the Champions League than he might have done from two years of Development League football.
‘Absolutely, and that is why with young players you have got to throw them in,’ said the Celtic boss. ‘You have got to put them in, but it is about timing.
‘If I thought he was going to get over-exposed, well, you have to be careful with that as well. It wasn’t just a blind risk. I felt he could do well in the game.’ Respected French newspaper
L’Equipe begged to differ. In a withering critique of Celtic’s display, their man-by-man ratings gave teenager Ralston two out of ten. Patrick Roberts was the highest-rated home player with four. The evident gulf between the teams renders any disagreement with those assessments futile and foolish. With the benefit of reflection, however, Rodgers sees plenty of life in a Group B campaign that was always likely to come down to two games against Anderlecht. ‘I thought our two young full-backs were very good considering the level of the opponents.
‘(Kylian) Mbappe and Neymar are exceptional. PSG beat Barcelona 4-0 last season without these two.
‘I thought Tony — for a young boy through the academy and for his first game at that level — did well. There were a lot of questions posed of him and there are always issues surrounding personality and whether young players can deal with it.
‘I always felt he could and, when he walked off at the end of the game, he’ll have come off a better player for the experience.
‘Same as Kieran (Tierney) on the other side. I thought they were real positives even if I was naturally disappointed with the way we played as a team — especially in the first half.’
In the aftermath of the game, Rodgers accused his players of performing like Under-12s at times, a lack of composure with and without the ball contributing to the size of the defeat.
‘You can’t take away the human element,’ added Rodgers.
‘We have grown so much in a year and learned — but you have to respect that it’s a humbling experience to be up against guys who are worth £200million and are in a team put together to win this competition.
‘That can be difficult. I’m trying to build a mindset where success is not just qualification.
‘We wanted to qualify and fly the flag and that’s great. But we’re also in it to compete.
‘This will be like any defeat. The setback will provide the motivation going forward.
‘The players will learn. They are honest and when you have honesty in defeat it helps you grow.
‘In the second half we were less timid and more potent before they got two late goals.’
An away trip to Brussels in a fortnight will provide a gauge of how likely Celtic are to claim a coveted third place in the group.
Last season’s alarming openingnight humiliation in Barcelona was followed by a levelling off; a steadying of the ship. Rodgers hopes lightning will strike twice.
‘It is a similar process,’ he added. ‘It is not just a click of the fingers. You have to have respect for what a footballer goes through and the whole expectation.
‘It is a great tribute to the players that lots of people coming into the stadium the other night were thinking that we could maybe get something against that level of opponent. PSG showed what real top-level football is.
‘That team would be better than most national teams.
‘To have young guys from here playing against that… what we are trying to do is be competitive against them.’
Tomorrow’s home game with Ross County in the league is followed by a Betfred Cup quarterfinal clash with Dundee on Wednesday before the first Old Firm game of the season at Ibrox.
Striker Moussa Dembele returns to the squad this weekend, with defender Dedryck Boyata likely to be fit for the Dens Park encounter.