Window shopping

Celtic boss Rodgers is targeting quality over quantity

THE John McGinn deal is still very much alive — while the Kieran Tierney stay-go, stay-go saga may drag on for weeks yet.

It is a quirk of the transfer market that, just as Celtic face potentially season-defining Champions League qualifiers, they are also confronted with off-field machinations of almost equal import.

Brendan Rodgers, who hopes to give his first-team regulars another hour or so of match practice against Shamrock Rovers in Dublin today, arrived in the Irish capital last night sounding positive about his chances of landing Hibernian midfielder McGinn — despite Celtic seeing an initial bid of £1.5million rejected out of hand.

‘I think it’s what happens in negotiations,’ he said, adding: ‘That will be organised, hopefully, between the two clubs — and, hopefully, we’ll have another player.

‘To improve us, the reality is that there has to be investment. We can’t deny that.

‘If you want to improve and develop, that is important for the squad.

‘But the players here have developed very well, players who have been fantastic for me for two years. To bring someone in who is ahead of them is going to take money.

‘We need to strengthen. That’s something I’ve said all along.

‘It’s about bringing in players of the right quality. It’s not a numbers game for us. We have a core squad that is very strong but, of course, we want to add to that.

‘But I don’t need to add guys who will be on the bench. I want guys who can come in and affect the team.

‘It’s going to take a bit of time and negotiation. We’ll just wait and see.

‘I think we want to get them in as soon as we can, being honest. If it’s not to be, you have to wait. You have to be patient.

‘Over the last couple of years, we’ve developed very well as a squad. Players are improving.

‘Of course, we lost a couple of important players in Stuart Armstrong and Patrick Roberts.

‘So we need to replace that quality — and, if possible, add to it. That’s our job over the next couple of weeks. I wouldn’t have a time frame on it.’

Rodgers smiled when asked if he feared the subject of Tierney — and his potential move to Everton — would carry on for the next four or five weeks, saying: ‘Probably. When you’ve got talented players, and we’ve got a number of those, there will always be speculation.

‘And this is the period when it’s always going to be hotter than most.

‘All we can do is keep the group calm, keep focused on what we want to achieve.

‘I’m sure there will be lots of questions on it. I haven’t been told anything different.

‘And Kieran has been absolutely brilliant, as per usual.

‘He is totally focused and, thankfully, he is at a club he loves. He’s still trying to get fit, still learning. There has been no change in Kieran. Absolutely, nothing fazes him. But you have to remember that he’s very young.

‘He’s still developing in the game. He’s a wonderful talent, a great boy to work with, everything you would want as a manager, in terms of all the work he does off the field.

‘He gets his rewards on the pitch for the work he does off it. He’s very diligent.’

Rodgers (right) refused to be drawn on reports linking Celtic with Liverpool winger Harry Wilson as he makes final preparations for the start of what he hopes will be a lengthy European campaign. Celtic fly to Armenia tomorrow ahead of Tuesday night’s qualifier against Alashkert. Today’s match against Irish opposition fielding a mostly shadow XI — Rovers are in the middle of their league season — will be mostly about fitness, with Rodgers admitting: ‘There will be a team that will play probably 60-70 minutes of the game, then we’ll make changes. ‘You can’t protect them too much because you still need to build fitness. ‘Next week, you will be looking to push them for 90 minutes. ‘But bearing in mind it could be 38 degrees. We’ve had excellent preparation in the Mediterranean cities of Glasgow and Dublin! And Austria was great, too.

‘It’s always difficult if you are playing in extreme heat like that.

‘We have to monitor the blocks of pressure we put on in the game. It’s hard to press for 90 minutes, that’s for sure.

‘So it’s about how you prepare the players tactically, as much as physically.

‘Maybe it can’t be a full-pitch press, just a medium-pitch press and even lower at times. You are preparing the players for that.

‘We’ve done as much preparation as we possibly could.

‘We’ve got a lot of coverage and (scout) John McGlynn has been out to see them and analyse them. We will be prepared.’