Break better than glamour gigs for Brendan’s Bhoys
BRENDAN RODGERS insists he has placed the physical welfare of his Celtic players ahead of the club’s commercial interests by departing for a training camp in Dubai.
The Premiership leaders flew out to the Emirate on Friday and will spend this week in the sunshine before returning to prepare for the club’s Scottish Cup tie against Albion Rovers on January 22.
Under the direction of chief executive Peter Lawwell, the club has previously used the winter shutdown to take part in money-spinning exhibition games in Turkey and Gran Canaria.
Rodgers, however, has insisted on a match-free retreat that allows his players to recover from a punishing schedule that has featured 36 competitive games since he took charge last summer.
‘We’re not playing any games and that gives us more training time,’ said the former Liverpool boss. ‘We don’t need any matches. We just want to reinforce our principles and work on different aspects of the game.
‘There’s a commercial element but this isn’t a commercial trip — it’s a football one.
‘To the credit of the club, last summer I was given the freedom to look at the fixture list and see how it would pan out.
‘If we were to be successful as we wanted to be, then we identified this period as one for recovery with a warm-weather training camp.
‘I said Dubai because you’re pretty sure it’s going to be warm. The club have helped with everything I’ve ever wanted. It’s all gone to plan.
‘There’s been a huge volume of games. They’ve had a lot thrown at them, physically and mentally in the seven months that we’ve been here. I think this refresher will help and allow us to work on other aspects of the game.’
Rodgers’ squad completed 2016 minus the input of the injured Kieran Tierney and Tom Rogic and, in addition to the return of those two players, the manager expects to have at least one new signing on board.
Midfielder Kouassi Eboue is awaiting a work permit prior to the completion of his £3million transfer from Krasnodar, while Rodgers also covets a defender from this month’s transfer window.
Rodgers said: ‘I only see the winter break as a positive for us. Press the reset button and get ready to go again. The beauty of it is we’ll be fresh and we’ll maybe have one or two new players.
‘We’ll certainly have a few back like Kieran Tierney and Tom Rogic. It can only benefit us.’