THE RELENTLESS REVOLUTIONARY
Rodgers is setting the standards in cup blitz
FOR Martin O’Neill, the unthinkable happened at the Caledonian Stadium just three days after his side had eliminated Liverpool from the UEFA Cup at Anfield.
Gordon Strachan famously came a cropper on an icy pitch one January day at Broadwood while Neil Lennon’s copybook was blotted by losses to St Mirren and Morton.
The moral of the story? Even successful Celtic managers have not been able to hurdle every trip wire in domestic cup competitions. No size of budget can completely guard against complacency and the occasional culmination of freak circumstances. Until now, it seems.
Asked about the possibility of equalling Rangers’ run of seven straight domestic honours as he did his round of media duties at Hampden last week, Brendan Rodgers looked genuinely taken aback that such a milestone was within sight.
But talk of the creation of history has been omnipresent since the man from Carnlough took charge of Celtic in the summer of 2016.
By sweeping the boards in his first season, he became just the third manager in the club’s history to do so after Jock Stein (1967 and 1969) and O’Neill (2001). In repeating the trick last term, he moved out on his own.
Perhaps Rodgers’ greatest skill has been making it all look so easy. Because as every man to have sat in his seat will testify, it is assuredly anything but that.
Even Stein, the greatest manager in the club’s history, found the accumulation of silverware easier said than done. Remarkably, he led Celtic into the League Cup final in 13 successive seasons but lost seven. His side played in 11 Scottish Cup finals between 1965 and 1978 but lost three.
After two-and-a-half years in the post, Rodgers doesn’t yet have the body of work of some of his predecessors but, by any gauge, 22 straight victories in knockout competitions against all manner of opponents is a truly staggering level of consistency.
‘They are in a great moment,’ the Celtic manager said of his players. ‘It is not easy. You have to work at it. But we are in an exciting period at the club and however long we are all here, we want to look back on it and say it is a really successful time. So we don’t stop. To do that, we have to work.
‘Thankfully, our focus every day, the work we put into preparing the team, helps the players see we are not having a lazy day as staff. That allows them to focus on performing well. They accept that.
‘Now they have rhythm with winning and know what it takes to win. They went to Hampden on Sunday with a good feeling. They have the heart for it, but they also have the talent for it.’
More by accident than design, the evolution of Rodgers’ squad this season has kept it lean and hungry.
How his side would have developed had John McGinn arrived from Hibernian in the summer, we shall never know.
What can be said with some certainty, though, is that it would have closed the door in the face of Ryan Christie.
If the remarkable renaissance of Sunday’s match-winner against Aberdeen seems to have rekindled Rodgers’ enthusiasm for the job, the loan signing of Filip Benkovic from Leicester has also helped draw a line on the disquiet that punctuated the summer.
‘I think having youth helps,’ said Rodgers. ‘I think we are one of the three youngest teams in the Premiership. When you have that hunger and will and desire in there, and you can shape it, that is exciting.
‘You mix some experienced ones around about it and they are revitalised. They want to win. But, of course, we want to win in the best way that we can.
‘It is great to see the likes of Ryan developing. Benkovic is 21 and he has a great feeling, as well. The other players do, too.’
Odsonne Edouard, still just 20, may not have scored against the Dons but his contribution was still telling.
With Aberdeen marking man for man, it was the Frenchman’s selfless running which pulled Andrew Considine out of position just enough for Dedryck Boyata to guide a heat-seeking pass towards Christie.
In a game that proved much tighter than many had anticipated, one such moment was all it took. Rodgers, you suspect, always felt it might be so.
‘Aberdeen are a very fit team. They man mark,’ he said. ‘When Odsonne drops underneath, that gives us four against three on the inside. It worked quite well for us.
‘Sometimes, it didn’t work well for us. Their centre-backs want to go tight, so you have to take them a walk.
‘Eventually, space opens up. We did it a few times in the first half, but we never found the pass or we tried to get in too early with it.
‘A couple of passes were overhit. But when it did come off, it worked really well.’
For all Aberdeen went down fighting, the blunt fact was that Scott Bain only made two saves of note in the match. In that regard,
the contribution of Boyata was commendable.
The Belgian played on after a horrible clash of heads with Gary Mackay-Steven before succumbing to a hamstring complaint on the hour mark.
‘I was very proud of Dedryck,’ said Rodgers (right). ‘It was a tough summer for him in every way.
‘But it is really satisfying to see how he has got over that and how he has performed.
‘Since he had that little episode, he has been absolutely brilliant for us.
‘That partnership with Benkovic has been very good. He gives everything to the cause. He is super professional.
‘He is in the last year (of his contract), but I am quite relaxed on it.
‘He probably has to look at every option possible.’
Scott Brown finds himself in the same boat. Weighing up offers from Western Melbourne, Sporting Kansas City and Minnesota United, the fact the skipper has developed an aversion to microphones of late suggests this could well be his last season at Celtic Park.
‘He still is a key player,’ insisted Rodgers. ‘He is a very good player. But the team has been in good rhythm the last six or seven weeks.
‘As a manager, you pick the team you think can win.’
This is where Rodgers appears to have the Midas touch. Football squads, by their very nature, always contain players facing uncertain futures and others who aren’t involved. Simultaneously, creating harmony and the kind of iron-cast mentality which can create history is no mean feat. ‘You have to think of that emotional hook for players,’ added Rodgers. ‘Trying to find what drives each individual on. You have to set a standard in training. That is important. ‘From the first day I came in, the environment dictates what you bring on to the field. You can’t get lazy.’