Rodgers won’t let despicable social media messages upset his players
FOR Brendan Rodgers, ignorance was bliss. The avenues through which the warped minds of social media can infiltrate the lives of professional football people were closed off to him and belonged, mercifully, in a different universe he had no wish to acknowledge.
This was a wonderful place for Rodgers to be. Until last week. There was an invasion of the sensibilities right at the heart of his squad, the core of his club, and the example was so ugly he could not disregard it.
His captain, Scott Brown, received a despicable message through his Twitter account from a user mocking the deaths of his sister Fiona and Celtic great Tommy Burns from skin cancer in May 2008.
The revelation by Brown caused outrage and moved Rodgers to address his squad about the issue on Friday morning at Lennoxtown. The precise ins and outs of the discussion will remain behind Celtic training-ground doors.
However, from this episode Rodgers is starkly aware of how deeply vile the material a player can be confronted with while preparing for a match.
When so much detail and effort is invested into planning a trip such as the upcoming time-zone headache that is travelling to Kazakhstan to play the most important match of an entire season, Rodgers will doubtless not wish any player’s casual online browsing to affect their state of mind.
Rodgers said: ‘It is a world that is hard for me to talk about because I try to ignore all of that stuff. I spoke to the players on it. That it’s incredible.
‘We’ve had Scott (Sinclair) with the racist stuff, the Scott Brown stuff the other day. That was absolutely phenomenal. I can’t fathom how someone can say that.
‘I can only assume it’s someone who’s sat in a room, doesn’t come out the whole day. Has nothing to do, doesn’t see the sun. They’re just on a computer and they have nothing else better to do.
‘I don’t get it. I think most people wouldn’t get it. Social media is a great tool for a lot of positive things. But it opens up so many doors for things like that, which I find incredible.
‘I’ve said to the players it’s part of success. People try to kill you and you have to take it for what it is. You’ve got to regulate it somewhere in your mind and try not to think about it too seriously. Because if you did, it would drive you mad.
‘And it will give something inside you. Which is why you always try to help the players control the background noise and stuff like that. But ultimately, you try to focus on your football.’
When asked if he would ever ask Celtic players not to participate in social media, Rodgers replied: ‘I wouldn’t. I just think it’s a different era now and there are so many positives for people in how it functions and how it works.’
Rodgers’ desire for the perfect build-up to the Champions League play-offs against Astana took a knock immediately after the draw. UEFA dictated that the first leg, at Celtic Park, is to be staged on Wednesday August 16, with the away tie the following Tuesday.
Rodgers would have preferred playing the Tuesday at home and the Wednesday away, thereby giving more time for the 3000-mile journey and five-hour time zone adjustment. His side have to play against Kilmarnock on the Saturday in between the qualifiers.
Fortunately, Kazakhstan is no trip into the unknown, so the experience which worked for Celtic last year will be drawn upon to provide preparations for the gateway game to the Champions League.
‘We stayed on British time, really,’ said Rodgers. ‘We got all the clocks changed in the hotel to our time. That made everyone stay on the same body clock. I got that done before and it worked really well.
‘You can’t have a big change to sleeping, eating, routine, for a short period then play in a game. So we adapt and try to make it as simple and easy for the players. We fly the chef out there before us, making sure all the food is set and exactly how we want it.
‘The club has been amazing. Whatever I’ve asked us to do, they’ve been on board to give us the very best chance possible.’