“I am at the stage now in my career and my life where I do not need to bite my tongue,” Brendan Rodgers | OneFootball

Most of Brendan Rodgers’ media conference today centred around his rather extraordinary post-match comments on Sunday afternoon after the 3-0 win over St Mirren at Celtic Park. On what was a freezing cold afternoon at Paradise the rather routine victory stretched the Celtic lead to 13 points and everyone it seemed went away cold but pleased with the outcome…

Brendan Rodgers looks on prior to the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and St. Mirren at Celtic Park on January 05, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Then Brendan let rip about two things, some groans at the team passing the ball backwards when the game was still goalless and some supporters chanting Kieran Tierney’s name which seemed to upset the manager and also apparently the player, although as has been speculated Taylor did not go down the tunnel in the huff at the final whistle but instead skipped the (somewhat pointless) lap of the stadium to applaud a 95% empty stadium because we was after some treatment for a nose knock.

From my own point of view in the Jock Stein stand lower, I was totally unaware of the Green Brigade chanting the KT song but as mentioned yesterday, there would have been no offence at all intended to Greg Taylor or anyone else. If that’s a cause for friction, skin is getting very thin indeed inside our football club.

Nicolas Kuhn celebrates with teammate Adam Idah after scoring his team’s first goal during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and St. Mirren at Celtic Park on January 05, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

On the back-pass groans, again I was not aware of anything out of the ordinary here, in fact the atmosphere in the early stages of the game was subdued maybe because of the defeat at Ibrox but more likely because of the cold. The stadium was also well short of capacity and that always impacts on the atmosphere.

Yes the support can get on the players’ backs on occasion and sometimes it’s out of order. But no-one other than Brendan would have reckoned that was the case on Sunday as they made their way out of the stadium.

Auston Trusty scores the second goal during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and St. Mirren at Celtic Park on January 05, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

As for the post match walk-round, it’s maybe time to shelve this especially during these colder days and night games. Tomorrow with be freezing so wrap up folks! James Forrest is injured and Stephen Welsh looks like he is going to Belgium on loan, other than that today’s media conference was taken up by the manager’s comments on Sunday and the reaction and debate that it generated…

Nicolas Kuhn celebrates with teammates after scoring his team’s third goal during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and St. Mirren at Celtic Park on January 05, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Here’s what was said this afternoon, again with no Celtic fan media present and no explanation ever being given for the club’s decision to break the agreement…

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Q: Brendan, everyone coming through this busy schedule okay?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, still James Forrest is the only one that’s out, but everyone else, all good.”

Q: Last time we heard from you, you were calling on the Celtic fans to maybe trust you and trust the team a bit more in games like the St Mirren one. Is that going to be required again potentially, this type of fixture that you face tomorrow evening, perhaps that level of patience?

Brendan Rodgers: “I think a lot of the games over this period of time, especially when you’re going to come up against teams that are designated to sit in deep and close the space. So yeah, it’s definitely an important part of the idea of getting to games such as these.

Celtic celebrations

Q: Why is it so important? Do you feel like it can’t spook players even though you can try and get your message across? Is that the ultimate fear, that they become anxious and don’t do the things you want them to do?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, listen for me it’s always, my job really I always say is to create an atmosphere that players here both in the training centre and at Celtic Park and beyond that can flourish and play in the style of which the fans demand here. And that there is all about positive mentality and that connection between both. So yeah, listening to Celtic fans is amazing for the team and for the players and when everything is right up there.

“There is going to be moments over the course of the coming months where teams will be sat in deep and you might not be able to always play forward and you have to come out and restart the attack again. I never ask the team to play around the houses and not be penetrative and I think you see that in the goals that we score and the chances that we create. But no, it’s an observation, I think everyone has the right to air their emotion and their feeling and that was my feeling from the weekend but now we look forward.”

Q: What do you expect the reaction to be like tomorrow Brendan from the fans after your comments at the weekend?

Brendan Rodgers:  “The supporters will support the team.

Q: Have you had to speak to Greg Taylor at all in the aftermath of that game? Is that something you have had to address with him personally?

Brendan Rodgers:  “I have spoke to him, he is absolutely fine. I had a good chat with Greg just on a number of things. He is good to go.”

Q: Was his nose fine as well?

Brendan Rodgers:  “That was obviously a part of going in to make sure he was okay and he obviously rushed in to get some treatment. But yes, he is fine. He is trained today so he is good to go.”

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Greg Taylor is seen during a power failure the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and St. Mirren at Celtic Park on January 05, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: How easy or difficult is it for the likes of Greg to ignore the noise when he runs into the last few months of a contract, the crowd and what not? Is it easy for him to turn off to that?

Brendan Rodgers:  “Yes, I think Greg is clear on where he is at. For me, he is a dedicated Celt. He has been someone that has walked nearly six years. I think tomorrow if he plays, it is 200 games as a Celtic player which is a lot of games. He is a brilliant servant and I hope he can continue to be that throughout my time here and beyond. I think you see from his performance level, his concentration, his commitment to the team and to the club is always there. There is always a little backdrop for every player and manager but he copes with it really well and you see that in how consistent he is in his performances.

Q: Would you think that it would be better for a quick resolution to this matter, considering the noise that is going on around about it for all parties involved, if there was a quick resolution to this contract?

Brendan Rodgers: “Well, you always want that ideally but I am sure Greg does as well. I think between the club and he and his representatives, they will find a solution to it I am sure, either way. In the meantime, I am here to support him and his performance level and as I said, he is absolutely fine with it all.”

Q: Do you think Celtic fans will see where you were coming from with your comments?

Brendan Rodgers: “I can never say to anyone what to say, what to think, what to sing, what to not. I know what my own personal value is and a lot of it is based around respect. But for me, the Celtic support is an amazing support base, what they give the team and how they support the team and how they travel with the team. I am not going to tell people what to think, but like I said, for me it is just that bigger picture around this period of games in particular, where pitches are a wee bit lumpier than what they normally would be and the game may be a little bit slower than what it can normally be. So that is not always the fault of the players, that is just sometimes how it is. But for us, it is that support that can really help the team in what is a really, really gruelling period for us.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers prior to the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and St. Mirren at Celtic Park on January 05, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: You have been around the block too often now, you have not been shocked by anything. Have you been surprised by the scale of the debate that the comments provoked since the post-match?

Brendan Rodgers: “I have to be totally honest, I have not seen anything. We played the game, we recover, we train and then our focus is primarily on the game. I think it is obviously in your guys’ world, it is not in my world. Everything is open for debate now, win, lose, draw, whatever you say. It is not something that I get attracted to really, my focus is really on the team in our next game.

Greg Taylor of Celtic and Mohamed Diomande of theRangers during the Scottish Premiership match at Ibrox Stadium, 2 January 2025. Photo O’ Rourke//Shutterstock

Q: Can you understand some Celtic fans, we had them on the show last night replying to your comments saying that their singing of the Kieran Tierney song, they felt was separate to the Greg Taylor issue, can you understand what they might be coming for?

Brendan Rodgers: “I said before and I repeat, everyone has an opinion, everyone has an emotion, people can say what they think and that is okay.”

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Q: Is the message that at this particular point in a gruelling festive season when the games are coming thick and fast, it really is the onus is on everybody to pull together and be moving in the one direction, you do not need schisms or distractions, it needs to be all channelled?

Brendan Rodgers:  “I think I have said that a number of times in my time here and it is just reinforcing really that the unity is the strength of this football club. As a manager and as I said, my priority since the day I walked in here has always been the players and the supporters, then that is the connection which is always most important. That consistency there, then of course you get great results. So I think we have seen that and every now and then, like I said, it is to observe, it is not to tell anyone what to think, say or do, but certainly when we are together we are a much stronger club.”

Today’s Scottish Daily Mail back page with Kieran Tierney update.

Q: How much do the players take from positivity from the stands? We talk about it all the time, but does it really have an energiser or give them something extra?

Brendan Rodgers: “100 per cent, it is everything. If you are in a really positive ground with a great energy, then that can give you so, so much. You can get into your flow, everything is just much more positive. I have walked in stadiums outwith here where you play passes in the game and the team will recognise. I remember my time at Swansea where you would make a backward pass because you could not go forward. The crowd could recognise what was happening. They clap, they square the pass, then you play a forward pass and it changes the point of attack. It is recognising the game and that feels good for the players. They do not see that as a negative, it is to start a new attack.

“Because everyone wants to play forward, everyone wants to play vertical football, but it is impossible to do it for the whole game. So when there is that positivity around the stadium and that recognition of that, then of course that really aids the players on the pitch and that is where they gain the energy from. I repeat, the players get an amazing energy from Celtic Park.

“I have said it so often, especially this season, we love playing at home. We love being there, so it is not a big issue at all. It is just an observation from a moment in the game. We move on and we and the players will get an incredible support, as we always do.

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Celtic Supporters at Hampden/ Photo The Celtic Star

Q: Ultimately, does the team’s performance in the park determine the atmosphere in the stadium?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yes, it is a bit of both. It can also be determined by the opponent and what their game is. The point being is that there are two teams in a game. There are two teams and we cannot forget that. We are not playing against mannequins where it is 11 v 0 when you are just playing through them and then you score loads of goals. There is another team there that will be normally set up very well and very well organised by really good coaching staff and managers.

So that is the first challenge. The challenge then is to break through that. If you can break through it in the first 20 minutes, it is great. But you will not always do that. If you don’t, then you have to keep the penetration, keep the speed in the game until you can break that resistance. Very, very few times this season we have been able to do that. But in the main, if we don’t break through early, there is no need to fret, there is no need to panic. It is the game, it is the opponent making it really difficult or you missing chances or whatever. But yes, it is a little bit of both. There are a number of things that determine and normally it is the opposition making it really difficult for you. Or maybe sitting deeper so there is not the space. So you have to spend more time with the ball, trying to make your connections to break through.

Q: Is it also important that you are in the game and you feel able to speak your mind with these things, to say what you think?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yes, I am not going to beat about the bush when I am talking about the bush. So I am experienced enough to say what I think and what I feel. But not in a derogatory way to anyone. I am not, as I said, I would be the last person coming back to here. Everything that I put myself through to come back to here, I am so, so happy that I came back here and love my life and love my job here. But it is also important to be able to say what I think. Sometimes you pay not to say what you think, but there are moments when you have to and I am at the stage now in my career and my life where I do not need to bite my tongue.

Q: Is it quite confusing? Whether you were aware of it last season when you came back, people were saying it did not seem like quite the same man as it was the first time? And now you say what you think and it is like, oh, you cannot win in some ways?

Brendan Rodgers: “Well, you cannot because then you have got an ego or something. It is the modern world, so it is okay. We just get on with winning football games. We win games, play well and that is what is important.

Q: It illustrates how important you think the message is that you were prepared to stand up and say it. Because the easier thing for you, as you said, with the history, the recent history and all, the easier thing for you to do is to say nothing. So that perfectly illustrates how important you think this is, that you are prepared to make a stand about it?

Brendan Rodgers: “I think I have mentioned it sporadically over my time here, just because I know what the power of this club is when everything is together and that unity is there. And also what it feels like for the player to be on there and getting that amazing support. I can understand this off the back of theRangers game and not playing anywhere near what our level was. So I can understand that wee bit of fret and a bit of worry. But no, it is something that I think is very, very important.

“As I said, my priority with the players is the performance level and that comes from training and it comes from the games and creating that atmosphere that players can thrive in. So that is all I am here to do, to manage and be the best that I possibly can be for Celtic in my time here, however long that is. And of course, I will stand up for that. And then once the time is done, I can step back, wait for the next manager to come in, support him and look forward to seeing 60 games of high-intensity football for 95 minutes every week. And I will be really happy.

Q: Thoughts on Dundee United this season?

Brendan Rodgers: “Very good. You see where they sit in the league. They clearly are getting results and performances and doing very, very well. They made it very difficult for us up there. It was difficult conditions and everything else, but still we could not make the breakthrough that day. But I would like to think this will be a totally different game. Playing at home, availability of players, good performance at the weekend and now look to back it up.

Q: In terms of signings has there been any progress?

Brendan Rodgers: “A few little bits and pieces going on in the background, both ins and outs, but nothing to declare as of yet.

Stephen Welsh of Celtic before the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic FC and Dundee FC at Celtic Park on October 30, 2024 . (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: Stephen Welsh, do you expect that to go through in Belgium on loan? Does that create a vacancy for a B-list player in the Champions League squad, maybe a Dane Murray or someone?

Brendan Rodgers:  “Well, we’ve brought Dane back for that purpose. He’s a young player that I really thought highly of. The bits I’ve seen of him, he obviously had horrendous spell of injuries and we sent him to Queen’s Park, where Callum and his team and the club done a brilliant job with him to ease him. After a long injury period out, where he virtually trained every day and got really good coaching and was at a fantastic club there. So the whole idea then was to bring him back. Stephen’s a player that’s pretty much been a part of the fabric of this club for so many years. He’s one of the guys that helps create the culture because they’ve come through the system. But there also comes a time when they need to look at their own career. So there’s a possibility that he’ll go out doing the loan. It’s not confirmed yet, but for him to go out and Dane come back, it’s quite an easy transition really.”

Alec McNair – Celtic’s Icicle. Available from Celticstarbooks.com

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