TEAM SPIRIT
Summit over Moussa exit paved the way to glory, reveals Rodgers
CELTIC ................. 1 RANGERS ............ 0
BRENDAN RODGERS revealed how a crunch meeting with his senior players after Moussa Dembele’s acrimonious exit to Lyon paved the way for a continuation of their Old Firm dominance.
The Frenchman downed tools in training last Friday, just hours after taking to social media to openly criticise the club’s hierarchy for initially failing to sanction the transfer.
Originally told he would be staying as Rodgers had no replacement lined up, Celtic relented late in the day to allow his £20million switch to go through.
After Olivier Ntcham’s goal stretched
Rodgers’ record in the Glasgow derby to ten wins and two draws, the Celtic boss explained how a summit of senior dressing-room characters put the issue to bed — and galvanised the squad ahead of the visit of Rangers. Asked if this had been an especially difficult derby to prepare for, Rodgers replied: ‘No, it was very easy. 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.’ Despite the narrow margin of victory, Rodgers felt his side were richly deserving of the result which sees them open up an early four-point gap on their city rivals. ‘I always come into these games trying to make sure the players have a calmness in order for us to play well,’ he added. ‘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 bar a couple of times and that’s kept the score down. ‘It’s a huge credit to the players, how we had to defend. Any moments of danger, we were pressing aggressively and worked our socks off, which you have to do. It’s an obligation. ‘Then you saw the composure we had with the ball, in order to stay patient, move it and create opportunities. ‘It was an outstanding win for us and, equally, a very good performance.’ The manner of Dembele’s departure was extremely stormy, with the Frenchman ‘liking’ social-media posts which claimed Celtic had reneged on an agreement to sell him. But Rodgers hit back: ‘The whole episode was really disappointing. I will say a bit on it, then that will be it. ‘It has obviously been very much one way. I had a close relationship with Moussa. ‘I enticed him to come here with a plan going forward. He was, of course, desperate for the move. ‘We wanted to try and keep him because we didn’t have another option. But then there was a line that overstepped, from a behaviour perspective. ‘I have been in this situation enough times to know whether you can pull it back or not. ‘I needed to speak to Moussa, and I had a few other senior members of staff with me, and I just asked him: “Can you tell me and the guys in the room here if you received promises from me or any member of Celtic?” ‘It was very clear and categoric that he said: “No”. So once he said that, that was fine. I said: “You can now go if you can get the move”. ‘There was a lot of stuff that was said that was not so nice and, ironically, not true. ‘But Moussa has got his move, he is back home, he is happy. Deep down, I know he is a good boy. He has done great for us and I wish him well.’