Gordon: Bren will juggle us to glory
How will Hoops cope with their gruelling run of seven crunch games in 22 days? Gordon: Brendan will juggle our World Cup-weary stars
CRAIG GORDON last night backed Brendan Rodgers to successfully lead his Celtic squad through a hectic spell of seven matches in 22 days.
The Hoops had several stars away on gruelling international trips and now face a brutal run of games.
But Scotland No.1 Gordon said: “It’s up to the manager to rotate the squad and give people rests. It’s a juggling act but we have good players.”
CRAIG GORDON is backing ace juggler Brendan Rodgers to conjure another run of sustained Celtic success after the latest international circus took place across the globe.
The Parkhead legions are slowly dripping back into Lennoxtown after exhausting and gruelling trips with their respective countries.
Although Scott Brown and Stuart Armstrong are injured, influential stars such as Gordon, Leigh Griffiths, Kieran Tierney, James Forrest and Callum McGregor were involved with Scotland.
Jozo Simunovic may have sat out Bosnia’s matches with a hamstring issue but fellow defenders Mikael Lustig, Dedryck Boyata and Cristian Gamboa were racking up the air miles with Sweden, Belgium and Costa Rica respectively.
No one had to go further than Tom Rogic, who was back on the opposite side of the world with Australia for a home and away double-header against Syria.
With key men Moussa Dembele and Olivier Ntcham also away with France’s Under-21s it’s been a punishing period for the Celtic squad and there is no let-up on the return to club business.
Gordon and his colleagues are facing a hectic run to the end of the month with crucial fixtures on three fronts. Following Saturday’s Premiership encounter against Dundee, Bayern Munich will have to be tackled in a double-header.
Celtic will also face a Betfred Cup semi-final against Hibs and a trip to Pittodrie for a top-of-the-table showdown with Aberdeen in between the two crunch Champions League dates.
With Kilmarnock and St Johnstone also crammed into the mix to complete a brutal run of seven games in 22 days for the champions, Gordon knows it will be another massive test of bodies, minds and resources.
But Rodgers has managed to shuffle his pack successfully in the past to cope with the demands and Gordon believes his manager will again have the answers to selection posers in the coming weeks.
He said: “We’ll get the squad back together and we have a very busy time coming up. We’ll have to recover and be prepared for an awful lot of matches.
“Of course it’s tiring for the boys playing at international level, with European club football and also domestic football. There are some who are doing more miles than others. Some are doing more travelling.
“But it’s up to the manager to rotate the squad and give people rests when he can and when he feels that it is the right time, while still being able to maintain the winning record. It’s a juggling act for him but we have good players.
“That’s why we have international players. That’s the reason we do so well domestically because we have so many top internationals, so it works both ways. We have to put up with the travelling.
“Naturally we want to keep our unbeaten run going domestically for as long as we can and there are also a couple of really big ties coming up against Bayern Munich. We’re looking good.”
Rodgers will also be able to bank some of the feelgood factor when lifting spirits.
Although there were success stories for some such as World Cup qualifier Gamboa, the Scotland contingent were left shattered having seen their dream of a World Cup play-off slip away in Slovenia.
Gordon was part of that group and although the disappointment was obvious, there were shreds of light for Celtic.
Griffiths, for example, proved his worth again at the top level with a stunning strike in Ljubljana to take his tally of international goals to four in the past five outings for his nation.
Celtic and Scotland team-mate Gordon said: “Leigh’s finish in Slovenia was great and he was a nuisance to their defenders all night. That’s the man you want chances to drop to. When it falls on to his left foot you always feel he’s capable.
“Leigh smashed it across the keeper and it was a fantastic finish. Unfortunately we couldn’t keep them out at the other end to make the strike really count for him but it was still a terrific goal.”
Gordon, meanwhile, has vowed
to put the bitter experience behind him quickly. He said: “Since I have come back from my injury the chance to play in these types of games at international level and Champions League level is something I have had to enjoy and savour. “You just want to keep having as many of them as possible because you don’t know when it is going to stop. “As players, you have to move on. When we’re all retired we will all look back with disappointment at missing a big opportunity. “We just gave ourselves too much to do in the group after the start we made. Under normal circumstances a draw in Slovenia would have been excellent result. “We knew we needed more on Sunday but it just wasn’t good enough. We didn’t really create an awful lot in Slovenia. “We scored a couple of goals but didn’t really keep the ball and it was tough at times trying to keep them out and hit on the counter. “Losing two goals from set-plays was disappointing. Slovenia are big and physical and that was a threat we were aware of but didn’t cope with it.”
It’s a juggling act for the manager but we have good players CRAIG GORDON