Rodgers will not wait until Old Firm clash for title party
● Celtic manager wants his team to be crowned tomorrow
the club created by their 4-0 defeat of Rangers in the Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden last Sunday.
“It’s been a good week,” added Rodgers. “Always, when you win a semi-final and play how we played and make your supporters happy, you can enjoy it for a day or two. But then very quickly you’re getting ready for the next game.
“We had a very good performance against Rangers, a very good result. There are still areas we analysed together that we can be better in but, when you play with that composure and take charge of a game like that under that pressure, those are great signs for me of the team getting better.
“There have been other games with greater scorelines against Rangers but, under the professional pressure of the game and everything that was on it, I think what pleased me really was the performance.
“Now you see our team playing at Hampden seven times and winning seven times, you see the calmness and the edge players are playing with but also the control.
“They took real charge of the game from the very first minute. When you take charge of the ball then you can control and take charge of the game.
“That intent, real ferocious intent, in our defending and our pressing, it was something we talked about before the game. To stop the long ball you have to counter-press the game hard so there were very few opportunities for that for Rangers.
“So,tactically, I was really pleased with the players. To play under that pressure with that calmness, again it was another problem that the players solved. Coping in that situation was really pleasing.
“I’ve got a brilliant group of players that are very honest and have great qualities. Off the back of last season, which was a historical season, they were being measured against that this season. “We may not have reached the heights as consistently as that, but there are other factors within that. Some peo- ple say that our football hasn’t been as quick bu tilookatthe weather conditions up here and the pitches have been slower and heavier. That’s making it difficult as well.”
As Celtic pursue the unprecedented feat of winning backto-back domestic trebles, clinching the title as soon as possible may allow Rodgers to rest some players ahead of the Scottish Cup final against Motherwell at Hampden on 19 May.
“We’ll see about that,” he said. “We still need to work. There’s a balance. Obviously we’ve got some time to the next weekend but, either way, we can’t just stick the sombreros on.
“There are hard games leading into the cup final, which is a way down the road. The players will get a few days off but will be ready for the next game.”
Rodgers has also held talks with Scotland manager Alex Mcleish, pictured below, over how many Celtic players will be included in the international squad which travels for the end-of-season challenge matches in Peru and Mexico.
With Celtic back to pre-season training in June ahead of potentially four Champions League qualifying ties, Rodgers suggested a compromise agreement with Mcleish has been reached. “I’ve spoken to Alex,” he said. “Some of our players might go away with Scotland, definitely not all of them. There’s good dialogue, though, but my job is to protect Celtic and the players. But I know every case is different, it depends on the individual player.”