CELTS ON THIN ICE
Gordon admits Rodgers could wield axe if stars don’t shape up
CRAIG GORDON admitted that Celtic’s players are fully aware they will be axed if they don’t raise their performance levels, with Brendan Rodgers looking to revamp his squad in January.
The Celtic boss last night insisted dodgy defending — not a rejigged formation or post-European fatigue — was to blame for Celtic’s loss to Hibs at Easter Road.
It was a third league defeat of the season for the Parkhead side and saw them miss out on a chance to reclaim top spot in the Premiership.
Gordon said no one in the Celtic dressing room was unaware of the ever-looming threat of replacement in the next transfer window. And he admitted: ‘It’s up to the manager to decide what he wants in his squad and the
positions we have to improve on. The guys have to step up and make sure they’re in the manager’s plans, especially leading up to January. ‘It’s up to us to make sure our performances are good. At a club this big, if they’re not up to scratch for a period of time then you can get replaced. ‘We have to work hard enough to stay in the team and deliver the results the manager, the club and the fans want. ‘Do I expect him to be busy in January? I don’t know what his plans to bring players in are. ‘I think he will want to do that but we’ll have to see what happens. We’ll see who comes in and who goes. ‘Then we have to start the second half of the season looking to go on a run again. ‘We go into every game trying to win it but you have to win the battle every single week. ‘To play the way we want to, you have to win those battles first and when you don’t do that, you see what happens today. ‘The league is strong. You probably only have three teams who are down at the bottom and the rest are all capable of taking points from the big games. ‘Even last weekend, Dundee took a point from Rangers, so the bottom clubs are even starting to pick up points. ‘The league is tight, so it’s tough and we have to get back to working hard enough to earn the right to win points.’ Rodgers defended his decision to play a back three which was exposed by Hibs, instead pointing to a lack of ‘tactical discipline’ for the concession of both goals. The Celtic boss said: ‘The formation may well have had an effect. But I don’t think it had anything to do with the goals. ‘If we need someone to blame, then blame the system but that was the system because of the players we had available.’ Rodgers said fatigue after last Thursday night’s Europa League clash was not an excuse, insisting: ‘It was disappointing, the result and performance. We gave away two poor goals, nothing to do with energy from Thursday. It was to do with tactical discipline and not concentrating. ‘The likes of Callum McGregor is playing his 40th game, which is an incredible amount of football. It’s not even half a season yet. ‘But, listen, tiredness wasn’t an excuse for the two goals. ‘When you concede in the first minute, it’s to do with positioning on the pitch and our pressing. And the second one came from our free-kick. ‘In the first minute, we left gaps. We pressed at the wrong time and then didn’t track runners at such an early stage. ‘That was disappointing because we didn’t get off to a good start playing against a team that wasn’t overly confident. It’s not as if they have been flying high. ‘The second one comes from our free-kick. ‘Again, it’s tactical discipline. We don’t secure the ball at the top end of the field and Scott Brown is left in a two-against-one situation. ‘So, two poor goals from our perspective and then we didn’t create enough going forward. ‘We had some flashes across the box but we didn’t quite have the performance level today.’ Celtic played the closing quarter of an hour without a recognised striker after misfiring Odsonne Edouard was replaced, Rodgers admitting this underlined the need for reinforcements up front. The former Liverpool boss (left), without Leigh Griffiths for off-field reasons, said: ‘We need to obviously (strengthen) in the window. ‘When we had Leigh and Odsonne, we were definitely in the market for another striker. ‘Because of the number of games we play, it’s been unfair on Odsonne. He has had to play in so many as a 20-year-old when I’ve wanted to take him out. ‘But through necessity, he’s had to play. That’s been unfortunate for him as he’s not had the support around him in terms of that. It is something in January that we have to look at it.’