I expect more, warns Rodgers
BRENDAN RoDgERs has warned his runaway Celtic side — and their Premiership rivals — that he expects them to get even better after the winter break.
A mammoth 19 points clear of second-place Rangers with a game in hand, the Parkhead side are on the cusp of smashing the club’s unbeaten run for the start of a season. A sixth successive sPFL title is also a question of when rather than if, with a domestic Treble in their sights.
In a chilling warning to scottish rivals, however, Rodgers says he ended a week’s winter training in Dubai by warning his players it’s still not enough.
‘This has been a chance to press the reset button and the message has been very simple: we need more and we need to be better,’ he said.
‘We’ve had a good period but we want more. If we are going to be better, that means improving our game, the levels of our game and to keep pushing. That’s been our clear message since we’ve been here. The players have been fantastic.’
Unbeaten in their first 24 games in domestic competition, the Parkhead side will equal a record set by the Lisbon Lions if they emerge unbeaten from games against Albion Rovers and st Johnstone.
Asked how his team can possibly improve when Inverness are the only side to take points off them in the league, Rodgers added: ‘They are absolutely giving everything. The attitude and mental fitness is now strong. Pre-season, I talked about reclaiming that mentality to work and to have this mindset that allows you to win games and win in the style that we want to win them in.
‘But there are still areas. We need to create chances. My philosophy is non-negotiable: we attack.
‘But we can defend better to allow us to attack more. so in Dubai this week, we were talking about creating more pressure with speed, power and aggression in our game. We can create chances through defending better as a group.
‘Those are areas we have to work on tactically. Technically, there is a level we can be better in but the players are ready, they are soaking it up in order to be the best they can be. That’s what you want.’ Despite an unassailable lead in the Premiership, Rodgers insists he won’t allow complacency or lethargy to creep in.
Under Ronny Deila, home games became devoid of atmosphere and meaning as Celtic cruised to the title but the current manager insisted: ‘We will have strategies to guard against complacency. I don’t think it’s in the mentality of the group.
‘That was something we nailed from the very first day. I don’t know, sometimes at big clubs, your talent can hide you among good players.
‘You can be hidden and you can be protected, which means you don’t have to work so hard because your ability takes you there. No chance.
‘If you’re not working here you will be out, regardless of your talent. I said it before a few months back: some players will struggle to keep up.
‘Their talent is there but they can’t keep up with the demand. so your talent won’t be protected.’
Meanwhile, Bastia will today offer Efe Ambrose the chance to end his Celtic Park misery.
The Ligue 1 outfit are expected to table a formal offer of a two-year deal to the Nigerian defender.
Two unnamed English Championship clubs are also in the mix for the player but the French side will be the first to come in with an offer.