Brendan Fraudgers!

This month's transfer window will indicate whether or not Rodgers will still be here next season.

If we don't at least sign a permanent RB and actual quality players in the positions that need filled, then I reckon Rodgers will lose patience with Lawwell and friends and sign off at the end of the season.

* hope not like, as much as I've been frustrated at times under him I've been elated the majority of the time under Rodgers. Achieved more than I could've ever expected when he first walked in the door.

 

BRENDAN RODGERS won’t just spend January trying to fish for whoppers in the waters of the transfer market.

He’ll also examine the tiddlers in his squad as he attempts to become the loan shark once again.

The Celtic boss has netted the benefits of sending Ryan Christie to Aberdeen for two temporary spells.

He could now consider sending other fringe players such as Lewis Morgan and Scott Allan off to sea in the hope they’ll return better prepared for his own first team.

Rodgers said: “I don’t know if January will be busier than previous windows. I think there will be some players who go out.

“They need to get games and need to play. We’ve had a number of loan enquiries. We’ve had conversations with guys we feel it would benefit to go out and play.

“Lewis and I have had a good conversation. Even though he hasn’t been playing so much he feels he’s really developing in the culture here.

“He’s getting to grips with the mentality of Celtic and what that entails. Again, we will see.

"Players come here initially to play for Celtic but it’s obviously been really difficult to break into this team, especially for some of the attacking players.

“A lot of the players who have done well for me are young players. I look at the likes of Scotty Allan. He needed the loan period when I first came in.

“He went out and did very well but while he was doing well the team here was doing very well.

"When he came back it was very difficult for him to get in front of a Tom Rogic so his game time has been virtually none.

“Scott’s a great guy who trains every day, works hard and is professional. But he’s been unfortunate he hasn’t been able to play.

"That’s really been through no fault of his own. The players have just been at a level and form.

“Scotty is probably at the age where he wants to play. He knows he has the talent to play in most teams.

“We have a plan for all the players and we sit down and talk regularly in terms of what’s going to be in their best interests and the interests of the club.

“Ryan is a perfect example. At the time I came in he was slight and he wasn’t physical, so we had to ask what was going to be best for him.

“Sat not playing he will develop in training but what is it he actually he needs? He wasn’t 18, 19. You’re talking 21 or 22.

"Maturation can come a bit later but it still might need something else.

“I’ve been used to that development cycle over many years. I’ve sat with players and their agents trying to work out the best solution.”

But before Rodgers sanctions a loan move he’ll ensure the destination fits the bill.

He said: “The choice of club is important. It’s about getting the right club. Ryan went to Derek McInnes.

“I had a good relationship with Derek and I knew the type of work he’d give him in terms of the game and focus.

“Aberdeen is also a club where you’re expected to win so the pressure was there.

"We knew he would get the physicality and the growth mentally of playing week in, week out and feeling that pressure.

“Align that with a physical programme then when he comes back the big challenge is fitting in positionally to how we play, which is different.

“But you can see Ryan coped brilliantly and has really taken his chance. It’s a great marker and measure of how a loan can really work.

“Constant communication with players is important. They need to know you’re watching.

“We had a scout at virtually every game Ryan was playing so we could feed back information to him.

“We had contact either through myself or the coaches in addition to the sports science team.

"He always felt there was that connection with the club but he still had to do it himself.

"The connection is brilliant but you have to have the belief that one day all the work you’re doing will pay off.

“Then when it comes you must really grasp that opportunity — and he’s done that.

“He is now a full international player and looks like — over the course of a number of years — he will push on. There is still improvement for him to make.

“It’s been great to see because two-and-a-half years ago, when I came in, he was not at that level.”

One player who won’t be going anywhere this window is Mikey Johnston.

The winger looked set for a loan spell at the start of the season but has made his mark for the Hoops first team this term.

Rodgers will place demands on him to follow in Christie’s studmarks and improve his upper-body strength.

He added: “Each player is different and sometimes the plan is different. Sometimes you need a bit of luck.

“If you look at Ryan’s situation, he’s been working away for the opportunity and grabbed it and not let go. It’s different circumstances that lead to the opportunity.

“Mikey has done very well so he won’t be going out. If you look at the physicality of how we play you need to have that.

“That is absolutely critical. Your body is your tool.

"Mikey doesn’t need to be massive but he does need to be able to win the battle of the arms so he can protect the ball.

“His strength is his speed and technique but the rest will come with time and with him focusing on his life as a footballer and making it his life to improve his body and get himself robust.

“His best position is from the left side but, like you saw from his goals, he has a natural instinct to score. He played as a striker as a kid.

“He has that electrifying speed that can really hurt teams in behind and once he’s in he can finish.

“If you are a centre-half and you’re playing against him it can be really hard. He can really hurt you.”

 

FOR the third year in a row, Brendan Rodgers and his squad have headed out to Dubai for a training camp during the winter break in Scottish football. It’s something which has stood Celtic in good stead in the previous two seasons, given that the domestic treble has been delivered on both occasions.

And the Celtic manager believes that the winter break has proved to be beneficial to his players. It’s something he hopes will again be the case this time around.

Speaking to the Celtic View at the team’s training camp in Dubai, the Hoops boss said: “We had such a busy first period to the season. After a week’s break with family, it’s now an opportunity to reinforce and introduce some new concepts.

“To do that in the heat is beneficial, and being out here lets us work very closely together. It’s a very important week for us. This is our third time here and I believe we’ve had the benefits over the last two years – so I’m sure we’ll get similar benefits this year.

“The break is also good for the injured players, but a few of them are still a little while away from full fitness.

“We’ve got Odsonne and Kieran – Kieran probably won’t train this week, but there’s a good period for him to work closely with the medical team. Odsonne will train later on in the week.

“Of course, those are quality players, which means they’re important players for us. It’s going to be very important for us to get them back as quickly as we can.”

And the break also allows the manager some valuable time on the training pitch with his players, something that isn’t always possible during the season with a busy schedule of fixtures.

“It’s vital,” he said. “There’s not a lot of coaching time during December because a lot of the time the guys are playing a game, recovering, then going straight into their next game.

“This allows us to get invaluable coaching time into the player, and lets you try to reinforce some of the concepts of your game, and how you play. If you decide to bring in new elements to it, this, of course, gives you the time to work on that.”

 

7 trophies out of 7 is a decent success rate

But..

If Brendan thinks Lustig is still capable of being our first team right back, he will need to have his head checked.

Post totally fuelled by lack of RB transfer rumours

 

It’s far, far, far better than ‘decent’

 

Touch of sarcasm mate

 

Seen people say on here that we will only make loan signings this window and Rodgers is off in the summer, i hope Bayo is the board proving everyone wrong and Brendan is here for 10....at least!

 

BRENDAN Rodgers believes our referees have to be better but that doesn’t mean he’s bitter.

Conspiracy theories, innuendo and club statements are not for the Celtic manager. He simply isn’t interested in what he perceives as to be a waste of time.

Rodgers twice said yesterday that John Beaton’s performance at Ibrox was not why his team lost to Rangers for the first time since he strolled into town. Although that didn’t mean he allowed the referee’s performance to pass without criticism.


Alas, we live in a time when, and it was ever thus, a section of Celtic supporters see bias where in fact incompetence is to blame when it comes to officials during and after a match, especially when their team lose to Rangers.

Rodgers, thankfully, is level-headed and not interested in adding to the noise surrounding Beaton whose family has had to deal with death threats which, not matter how serious or otherwise, is shameful.

The defeat at Ibrox was far worse than any other result for Rodgers's Celtic, including any heavy Champions League defeat.

And almost three weeks on all he cares about is the fact his team didn't play well.

“I’ve got to be honest, I came out to Dubai the day after the Rangers game,” said Rodgers but then added: “I’m fully aware without reading anything or seeing anything of what happened. My only interest is on the field, really. That’s what I can affect.

When you lose those types of games, and we haven’t had that feeling before, it is difficult. However, the difference for us on the day was our players of quality. The players we missed like Tom Rogic, Kieran Tierney and Odsonne Edouard starting; players of quality who can make the difference.

“Unfortunately, we didn’t quite have that on the day.

“So, yeah, I’ve seen pictures of stamps, all sorts of stuff. I’ll have a look when I go back but it wasn’t the reason we lost the game. We didn’t score. I tend to not get too carried with the emotional words around it all and focus on the field and ensuring the team stays focused on what we want to do.”



Beaton did annoy Rodgers, that has to be said.

“He (Beaton) wasn’t very good on the day, but that can happen to anyone,” said the Celtic manager. “There’s no doubt that John, for me, was affected by the game. But that’s not the reason we lost.

“I’ve said it before, the standard has to be better and that’s a constant, it’s not just on that game.

“We need to improve the standards in lots of areas and that is certainly one of them. Again, I haven’t seen or read so much about it, to be honest.

“It’s something I wouldn’t get side-tracked on. Refereeing is always an issue where you want to have the best officials and I think the referees do their very best in the games, but we always want to improve standards across the league.”

This was the first time Rodgers had spoken since December 29. He and his family left for Dubai the next day and so there was lot for him to talk about during this sit-down in his favourite hotel in the city.

Celtic are top of the Premiership, are still in Europe and have the League Cup tied up for the third season in a row.

But so much talk is about a title race, which involves more teams than Rangers, and Rodgers knows, and might even have suspected after the summer, that his Celtic are not going to get it all their own way.

Rodgers said: “I don’t really focus on that side of it. I look at us. I look at how we came out of the summer and if you’d said to me we’d be top of the league with a game in hand having won the cup and qualified for the last 32 of the Europa League with what we had available, I’d have taken that.


Our home record has been brilliant in terms of matches played. Away from home, we’ve suffered a drip and that’s something I need to look at. It’s the reason we are doing what we are and why we are away; to find different solutions to one or two things away from home which haven’t happened to us in the past couple of years.

“But you have to concentrate on the positive side.

“The league is competitive. I’d like to think we standard we have set over the past couple of years has increased the standard of the other teams and qualities, which is absolutely brilliant for the league.

“It’s also a sign for us as a club that we need to keep improving and developing as a club as well.”


Rodgers made his third signing of the January transfer window with the arrival of Vakoun Issouf Bayo, who has joined Celtic on a four-year deal from Slovakian side, Dunajska Streda.

The 21-year-old Ivory Coast striker has scored 18 goals in 23 games so far this season and the Celtic manager was happy with this piece of business.

Rodgers said: "He’s a good signing and it’s another forward player for us, which increases our options on the front-line for the second part of the season.

“He’s a young player that has scored goals, he’s broken into the Ivory Coast national team, Kolo knows him well, and he’s a player we can develop. I’m looking forward to working with him.


We’re a team that plays an aggressive and attacking game, and I felt that was an area that we were short in, in terms of our options. Bringing Oliver and Timothy (Weah) in will strengthen in central and wide areas, and bringing Vakoun in as well gives us a physicality, as well as a presence and speed.

"This allows us more options in terms of the systems that we play. The style will always be the same, but it increases the way in which we can play.”

 

Brendan on the referees

 

At least the issues from the last transfer window appear to have been acknowledged by all parties and that steps have been taken to rectify the problems have had this season.

The 3 new attackers add more pace, power, competition and variety to our front-line, which can only be a positive thing for an attacking coach like Rodgers.

We haven't spent an enormous amount, and there are still 3 weeks of the window left to get a few players out and add to our defensive ranks, too. The fact that Rodgers has already stated that he is looking for further activity is a real positive, and seeing him earmark the Summer qualifiers gives me hope that the theories I'm starting to see that he'll be off at the end of the season are just bullshit.

 

Disappointed to hear he's still sticking to this idea that the officials are fair & honest but can't call things right because they're not full time professionals. He keeps going on about how we go through behind the scenes channels to express our concerns about decisions but it's clearly having no impact on officiating.

Willie Collum was 5 yards away from Nial McGinn going in with 2 feet off the ground into Christie's shin and didn't give a red card. He gives a penalty for a challenge Izaguirre makes that's identical to a Hearts one on Tierney where he gave nothing. He gives a penalty for a dive that Tom Daley would be proud of.

Beaton apparently saw all 3 Morelos incidents clearly yet didn't find any worthy of even a talking to. The same guy shouted "Foul, Foul, Foul" into his mic while 4th Official after seeing the Jack v Rogic incident from 70 yards away in the September game v Sevco.

It's time to call it out for what it is. Cheating and incompetence. Neither of which should be accepted and neither of which will improve by doing a few extra hours on a treadmill each week.

 

Just call it and stop pandering to them ...
I really don’t get his reasoning unless he really sees it differently which I find almost impossible.

 

Imagine Rodgers coming out with Gerrards statement. He'd have a 10 game ban. Hes trying to keep it professional.

 

The referee didnt win rangers the game, celtic being poor did. Im sure if brendan felt the referee cost us it hed say so.

 

What BR says in public about refereeing will be different from what he says to his team..

 

There's no need to come out with a statement like that unintelligible *, he can articulate the inconsistency of decisions better I'm sure.

Jozo got sent off last season for swinging an elbow towards (but not hitting Morelos) with Douglas Ross shaking with excitement to scream "red card! red card! red card!"

So ask if that is deemed worthy of a red card, why did Morelos have an off the ball kick into a player with the ball being 40 yards away rescinded on appeal?

Ask why in the 2 games v Sevco this season we've had McGregor put studs into Ajer off the ball to be found innocent of any wrongdoing after being cited by the compliance officer...then Morelos elbow Broony, punch Christie in the balls and stamp on Ralston's back only for the referee to confirm he seen all 3 incidents but didn't deem any of these worthy of a talking to, never mind a card?

This is the same referee who sent off Boyata for having a go at him for missing a clear foul on him after he passed the ball at McDiarmid Park.

John Reid was right to go on the offensive in 2010 and tell them "We don't seek special treatment. But we won't be treated as less than anyone else. Those days are gone."

That's the sort of action I'd like to see us take. It's not professional to bite your tongue while Celtic are being * over left, right and centre on the park. It's 2019 we have cameras capturing every angle of every incident, we should make it as uncomfortable as possible for these crawling * to get away with any fly moves. It's time to go on the offensive.

 

You're right but what he says to his team will have no impact whatsoever in any ongoing decisions.

Beaton is bouncing about hun pubs on the evening of a game like that. They don't even try to hide what they are. They know it. We know it.

The only thing that will bring about change is bringing about attention to the inconsistency/incompetence/cheating.

Dougie McDonald would still be in a job had we not done so in 2010.