BREND OF BROTHERS
Rodgers lifts pressure on Invicibles
Brendan Rodgers has revealed he gave his Celtic players a vote of thanks in the Ibrox dressing room BEFORE they went out and beat Rangers.
The Hoops boss was thrilled as his side marched into the new year without a domestic defeat to their name in his six months in charge.
But as he piled praise on his troops for the character of their come-frombehind win, he gave an insight into his psychology by admitting he’d taken all the pressure off them before a ball was even kicked.
Rodgers said: “I thanked them before the game on behalf of myself as manager and on behalf of the supporters for playing how they have been and how they have got themselves on a real exciting path going forward.
“They have shown the incredible resilience that we have tried to foster.
“So they are never beaten, they go right to the end. It’s been a huge achievement for them – especially this month’s nine games which everyone talks about.
“They have won eight and drawn at Manchester City – everyone would commend them for a great effort.”
Not that Celtic had things all their own way yesterday. Rangers came flying out of the traps and for the first half-hour the league leaders were on the back foot with surprisingly few answers.
Rodgers insists he had few worries, however, that they would find them over the course of the game.
He said: “We didn’t start so well but were always a threat on the counter attack. We just needed to adjust one or two things at half- time and, in the second half, I thought we were brilliant.
“We looked a real threat and I felt we could score every time we went forward.
“We created opportunities and I’m disappointed with only two goals.
“But probably the most pleasing thing of all was something we talked about before the game – and that was how we’d react if we went behind. We spoke about dealing with pressure. We even did an exercise about it the other day.
“In these games, you need to stay calm. We’d had a few bookings and the last thing you need in a derby is to go down to 10 men.
“But we stayed very calm and once we got our first goal we played our way back into the game.
“You have to play with responsibility but Scott Brown was again outstanding out there. So it was a really good result.”
Asked where the problems lay for the team, he said: “We didn’t pass the ball well enough in the first half.
“I didn’t think we had enough sequences of play. We gave the ball away sloppily and were careless with passes.
“When we did make passes we looked
a real threat all ways. We just had to reorganise one or two things.
“We needed to find the confidence and courage we’ve shown all season – and after that we played much more aggressively.”
Scott Sinclair’s winner was his 12th goal in a spectacular season that has rejuventated his career. And Rodgers insists it’s a lesson for anyone else watching on from down south.
He said: “Scott was incredible.Watching a player play to that level in such a high-profile game was great. He’s 27, happy in his football and playing very well. It’s been a great chance for him to play at the highest level. “We get calls from agents wanting to send their players here. Scottish football is a wonderful place to play.
“Everybody sees the finances in the Premier League but if you need rejuvenated or are a young player looking for experience, there’s some amazing experiences here in Scotland.
“You are playing at Celtic Park every other week and going to great stadiums like Ibrox, Pittodrie and Tynecastle.”
The pressure on Celtic now lies not in winning the league – that’s a done deal – but in living up to the expectations of an Invincible season.
But Rodgers played that down and said: “Every game is tough. This was the same, – you could see why Rangers hadn’t lost here in 15 months.
“Mark Warburton is building a team and they played well in stages. But our quality, intensity and fitness really came through in the second half.
“Teams we’ve played recently have suffocated the space, which limits you a little bit, whereas Rangers opened up more than some.
“Our team are finding solutions all the time and they showed immense character.”