RODGERS PLAYS DOWN BELFAST BEAR PIT
Celtic’s Linfield tie cannot be any more troublesome than last year’s qualifiers
BRENDAN RODGERS has not visited Windsor Park since playing a schoolboy international for Northern Ireland against Brazil in 1988 at the age of 14. On Friday, he returns as Celtic manager arguing that, for all the religious and historical sensitivities surrounding the fixture, the trip will be a delight compared to last season’s Champions League qualifying adventures.
After Gibraltar, Kazakhstan and Israel en route to the group stage, Rodgers is happy to regard the Belfast bear pit expected to greet the Scottish champions as a bonus.
An environment to sharpen the focus on the opening competitive contest of the season. A game with ‘a nice little edge to it’, as Rodgers euphemistically described the tie.
There can be no place on planet football where Celtic will feel less welcome in the eyes of the home supporters.
Yet the ultimate managerial prize-winner for positivity, Rodgers (pictured below) insists the hop across to face Linfield without the backing of a single Celtic fan is one that will only aid his group to come together in the face of hostility.
When asked if this was the ideal tie logistically for him to set off on the Champions League road, the County Antrim-raised boss said: ‘Straight away that was my feeling.
‘When you think that last year we were away in the heat of Gibraltar where it was 35 degrees, then we were out to Astana and then Hapoel Be’er Sheva. This is a home from home, really.
‘We’re staying in a lovely hotel and Belfast is a great city. We’re playing in the national stadium and it’s a very, very short flight.
‘So, in terms of all the logistics and all that side of it, and in terms of preparation for the team, it’s all cool. I haven’t seen the revamped stadium so I’m looking forward to it.
‘You always have to respect the opponent. You always have to respect the atmosphere. There will be a nice little edge to it. It’ll get us focused on the game and, over the two legs, we have to get through.
‘A big part of my job last year was to go and prepare the team mentally for how to deal with big occasions and big games. How to keep that calmness and that focus.
‘You want to go and play in a passionate stadium. It gives you the chance as a team, as a group, to bond even tighter together. To have that oneness that you need.
‘Then, when a question is put to you in the game, which there usually is, it’s not about how each individual plays. It’s about how the team plays.
‘Do they have that resilience and that mentality? That’s something that we’ve built up over the last period of time.’
Rodgers is now confident about taking his Treble-winning team back into the European stage.
To think that 12 months ago he led out his players into the searing sun and on to a dreadful surface to meet with humiliation on his Celtic bow against Lincoln Red Imps.
Ministry of Defence police officer Lee Casciaro got the better of Efe Ambrose to create the 1-0 shock, which was overturned by three goals a week later.
The feeling of assurance from the manager approaching this term’s Champions League opener could not be in greater contrast, according to Rodgers, even without injured defender Dedryck Boyata.
He said: ‘Yeah, I enjoy watching the team now. They were good guys last year, good boys, but we were a long way from where I would consider them to be a team.
‘Now, firstly, fundamentally they can defend. And they want to defend. They defend forwards, they are aggressive. They no longer defend with their eyes, they defend with physicality.
‘They press, they get up to people. Then they play football. They are good to watch and the numbers prove that.
‘It’s still very early on in the season, they are still getting fitter and stronger. We won’t be perfect, but we go to fight to get into the next round.
‘And, yeah, there’s a day and night difference on last year and we’re in a good place.’ Rodgers has already cast his eye over three Linfield matches, including the two legs in which David Healy’s side inched past San Marino’s La Fiorita in the previous round. ‘We respect them and will not take them lightly,’ said Rodgers. ‘They’ll fight, run and work. I’ve been to many grounds with hostility before — but you always have some supporters. ‘Listen, it’s hostile at places like Ibrox, Old Trafford and Goodison Park. The most important objective for us is to win. The surrounding stuff doesn’t concern me.’