WHAT A CORKER
How Rodgers’ tale of two cities inspired Bhoys to ease past Rosenborg
No disrespect to Cork, but we wanted to go and play in Athens instead
BEFORE facing Rosenborg, Brendan Rodgers presented his Celtic players with two options. One more conventionally cosmopolitan than the other.
‘I said to them: “You have a choice”,’ explained the Parkhead boss. “Do you want to go to Athens or do you want to go to Cork?”.’
The alternative to securing a place in the third qualifying round of the Champions League was a trip to the south of Ireland in the Europa League.
During an edgy first-half display in Trondheim, Celtic’s players looked as if they had chosen a drop of the black stuff.
By the end of a 0-0 draw — which saw them win the tie 3-1 on aggregate — Rodgers received the answer he expected all along.
‘I think they wanted to go to Athens,’ he added. ‘No disrespect to Cork.’
Greek champions AEK fly to Glasgow for the first leg in their first competitive game of the season next week. Rodgers admits to knowing little about a potentially dangerous opponent, but has commissioned scouting reports from opposition analyst John McGlynn.
Amid all the talk of a hostile, tempestuous atmosphere in the Greek capital, he has reminded his players of a fact usually overlooked. It is unlikely AEK will fancy a game against Celtic much, either.
The task of reaching the fourth and final play-off round — and a potential return to Astana or Qarabag — has already been made more difficult by fresh injury news on Moussa Dembele.
Celtic’s French striker was always expected to miss the two games against Rosenborg with a recurrence of his hamstring problems. The injury has proven worse than first suspected and Dembele will now miss the SPFL Premiership kick-off against Livingston tomorrow and both games against AEK Athens.
‘The medical guys are telling me it is probably going to be the next two to three weeks,’ reported Rodgers. ‘That’s a bit longer than we had anticipated.’
Asked if the player will now miss both games against the Greeks, the Celtic manager added: ‘Yeah, but that’s the way it is.’
Having suffered from the effects of cramp in Norway, Kieran Tierney will be assessed before Livingston’s visit.
Despite limping from Glasgow Airport in the early hours of yesterday morning in acute pain, captain Scott Brown plans to play through a recurring Achilles problem.
‘Scott has had an issue with his Achilles, at the same time as he did last year in all fairness, but he is fine,’ said Rodgers. ‘He will soldier on like he does and play himself out of it.’
In a notable landmark, Brown will become the first Scot to play 100 games in Europe if he features against AEK in Glasgow next week.
‘He is a wonderful leader,’ said Rodgers. ‘It is a great testament to how he looks after himself and his fitness. He has made himself available for all these games.
‘He is a wonderful example for all our players, both senior and youth. His leadership qualities and his drive and hunger to play are admirable.’
Leigh Griffiths, who is back fit again after Odsonne Edouard was the only available forward against Rosenborg, drew a less fulsome appraisal.
Rodgers has previously issued sharp reminders to the Scotland international on the need to take responsibility for the way he treats his own body — and revisited the subject yesterday.
‘Leigh will be back in the squad, but he has been out for a while,’ he said. ‘He needs to get his fitness up. He has been working hard at trying to get that up.
‘We have kept him behind to work on that side.
‘My job is very easy. I pick the players who are fit and fighting. Unfortunately, if you are injured, you are injured. You can’t help it. It is their responsibility.
‘You can’t keep looking at managers and coaches. Players have to take responsibility for their fitness and their willingness to make themselves available.’
Key defenders Dedryck Boyata and Mikael Lustig are back available after both were given time to recover from their involvement in this summer’s World Cup finals.
Both could be involved against Kenny Miller’s Livingston, with Rodgers warning all his Premiership rivals that there will be no let-up in his team’s efforts after last season’s double Treble.
‘What we did the first season was historical in every facet and that was always going to be difficult to follow in terms of records and numbers and all of that,’ he said.
‘But we did the best job we possibly could, which was to win all three domestic trophies and qualify for the Champions League.
‘So, this year, we talked about it before we broke up that we will be better this season and we have seen that in the pre-season already.’
The pace of improvement is likely to pick up when the English transfer window closes next Thursday.
Wary of bids for his own players, Rodgers will scan the market when the dust settles for players he can pick up to strengthen his squad.
‘There are players of interest to other clubs, but, at this particular moment in time, I don’t have interest in losing players if the squad is down in numbers,’ he added.
‘I’m happy with the players we have but we need to strengthen and that’s what we aim to do.
‘I think the August 9 transfer window down south is a big hindrance for the English Premier League, but it can maybe benefit us in a different way.
‘We’ll see. It might open up the market and the availablility might be more for us.’