GROUNDED RODGERS IS STAYING CALM IN THE EYE OF A CELTIC STORM—
Rodgers clarifies claim fans must be alarmed by Celtic’s awful start
IN hindsight, Brendan Rodgers wishes he had chosen his words more carefully. Taken more time to explain himself.
Minutes after Stuart Findlay’s stoppage-time winner for Kilmarnock confirmed Celtic’s worst start to a league campaign since Dr Jo Venglos cut a slightly bewildered figure in 1998-99, the current manager fulfilled his postmatch media duties for the BBC.
Asked if Celtic fans should be alarmed by two defeats and a draw in their opening six league games, ‘yes’ came the reply. Yes, they should. Across Scotland, eyebrows immediately shot to the roof.
The manager is regarded as the most important man at a football club for good reason. He’s expected to have all the answers and say the right thing even when he patently doesn’t know what the right thing is himself.
Supporters look to the admiral of the ship to guide them through choppy waters. By conceding that fans should be alarmed, Rodgers only contributed to the impression HMS Celtic was careering towards the rocks. And that the man on the bridge might be powerless to stop it.
‘I probably never explained myself well enough,’ said the Parkhead boss yesterday. ‘I think if you have lost two games in your first six, they will be alarmed at that — I’m not going to deny that.
‘But what I am doing in terms of the bigger picture is staying calm with it all.
‘Of course, if I’m asked the question: “Would Celtic supporters be alarmed?”, then yes, they would be. Purely because of the starts we’ve had these last couple of years. And also because of the indifferent start we’ve had.
‘But in relation to the bigger picture, there are 32 games to go.
‘We have two (domestic) cup competitions to be in and we will be judged at the end of the season.
‘So, alarming because of the indifferent start, but not everything else.
‘You stay calm and focused and concentrated, and it’s up to us as a team and the manager to make us play better.
‘Will fans be alarmed? Yes they will. Am I? No.’
That Celtic’s season to date been an alarming affair is impossible to deny. From the public tensions between manager and the plc board over an undisclosed issue — there are no shortage of rumours — to the Dedryck Boyata mess and the loss of star striker Moussa Dembele to Lyon with four hours of the transfer window to go.
In their first 19 games of this season across all competitions, Celtic have won just nine. After six league games, the ten points they have accrued form the club’s lowest total gleaned since the start of season 1998-99.
And for the first time since his arrival at the club two years ago, the manager is facing tough questions and criticism. Rodgers is coming under scrutiny.
He accepts it goes with the job, of course. There’s an acceptance that his team selections against Hearts and Kilmarnock hastened two damaging league defeats, but not all of the criticism goes unchallenged.
Scoring just six goals so far in the Premiership, Celtic no longer surprise their domestic rivals.
Against packed defences, the ball goes from side to side and back the way. Rodgers wants his team to be more clinical.
What he can’t accept is the idea that Celtic’s ‘Plan B’ should incorporate a free agent physical striker acting as a magnet for high balls.
‘What is Plan B?’ he asked yesterday. ‘Normally, it is the total reversal of what you do.
‘If a team plays long, they play it short. If they play short, they play long. If you press high, then sit back. If you sit back, press high.
‘Any manager worth his salt has a plan to win.
‘When you bring in players, you are investing in your ideas.
‘If you then start changing it, then I would always question the strength of a manager’s confidence in terms of how they work.’
In Europe, Rodgers stands accused of stubborn idealism. Of refusing to compromise his belief in attacking football even when Celtic play superior opponents. The results, at times, are best viewed through the cracks of the fingers.
Unrepentant over sticking to his ideals in the SPFL, however, he added: ‘You have beliefs. Your club invest in the types of players in terms of how you play and how you work.
‘If you are an attacking coach, you are an attacking coach.
‘We’ve lots of variations but, of course, whenever you don’t score as regularly as you do, then that may get deemed that you don’t have a Plan B.’
After 87 minutes of failing to penetrate Rosenborg in the Europa League at Parkhead, a route-one Boyata knockdown to Leigh Griffiths eventually secured a breakthrough.
‘Was that Plan B or was that just a decision made by a player on the pitch?’ asked Rodgers.
‘One thing you can never have is doubt. If you fall into that trap, you have an issue. A problem. I’ve worked in coaching all my life since 20 years of age and these are principles that I believe in.
‘They have brought us a relative amount of success, so I don’t think there is any need to change.
‘Of course you tweak. You do lots of that within games. When you look at it from time to time, it’s been a wee bit stiff and wee bit rigid, but us at our best, there’s lots of variety.
‘We will always look to maintain our identity. Our identity is that of a big club, which is you have to impose your game and look to win. For me, there is no compromise.
‘I said it when we were winning, and I say it now we have lost a game. There is no compromise. We attack and we always look to find a way to attack the game.’