“These are big games to be guessing, especially at this point in the season,” Brendan Rodgers

The Celtic Star

·23 February 2025

“These are big games to be guessing, especially at this point in the season,” Brendan Rodgers

Brendan Rodgers gave his assessment to the media after Celtic fell to a controversial 2-1 defeat against Hibs at Easter Road yesterday afternoon…

Brendan Rodgers. Hibs v Celtic. 22 February 2025.Photo: Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Q: What were your thoughts on the match?

OneFootball Videos

Brendan Rodgers: “Yes, a disappointing start. Very good second half in the game. The first half probably cost us, that early part of the game. Obviously disappointed with the goal that was disallowed, which obviously our momentum was high in that point of the game. Congratulations to Hibs because they defended it very well, defended the box well and we just couldn’t quite break them down enough.”

READ THIS…“We’ve seen all the angles. The bench was convinced that it was a goal,” Callum McGregor

Q: Just on the goal that was disallowed, what was your take on the incident?

Brendan Rodgers: “Well, I’m hoping to see conclusive evidence that it was out. The linesman on this side, he had his flag up quite a lot today. But for the goal, he clearly had one of the best views in the ground. And he kept his flag down, which tells me that he felt it was in and not all of the ball was out. So, if it’s the case, then you’ve got to go and review it with VAR. But then you’re taking an angle from the 18-yard line. If you’re taking the angle from the 18-yard line and you can’t tell me that you can absolutely say 100%, then you’re having a guess. These are big games to be guessing, especially at this point in the season. So, we were disappointed with that and that’s what killed our momentum a little bit. But yeah, I felt it was very harsh on the team.”

READ THIS…Sandman’s Definitive Ratings – Renton’s Rovers v Celtic

Photo: Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Q: I don’t think it falls in the clear and obvious category, does it? Because as you say, how can you tell from an angle that’s not plumb on the line?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, and obviously the linesman was in a great position. So yeah, it was disappointing to have the official overruled in that moment. We were in a great moment in that game. We get to two each, then we’ve still got enough time to go and find a winner.”

Brendan Rodgers. Hibs v Celtic. 22 February 2025.Photo: Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Q: Was that the gist of the conversation you had with him at the end when you spoke to him? Did you ask him?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, and obviously for Stephen, he’s guided by the VAR official.”

Q: What did he say to you? Did he give you anything definitive then?

Brendan Rodgers: “No, no, he just said afterwards it was a VAR decision that it was factually out, which will be interesting, from the 18-yard line, if we don’t have the actual images. That’s what I’m saying. I don’t want to be overly critical until someone produces an actual piece of evidence that tells us the ball was conclusively out.”

READ NOW…The Guessing Game – Maeda’s first goal extends Celtic lead

Brendan Rodgers. Hibs v Celtic. 22 February 2025.Photo: Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Q: Is it one of those ones you can’t be too critical of the team either today, given the exertions they put in mid-week?

Brendan Rodgers: “These players have been brilliant for me. They absolutely have. We’re disappointed with our start to the game, because you know when you come away to grounds away from home and especially Hibs, Hearts, these teams, then you have to make a good start in the game. So, we conceded an awful goal. That gives the crowd a little something to hang on to. We had some good moments in the first half, but not too many. Then we conceded a disappointing goal right on half-time. So, we have a bit of work to do then and we’ll make the changes to try and regenerate the team. In the second half, we were excellent. We were much more like our game and got the goal. And like I say, we were much, much better.”

Brendan Rodgers arrives at Easter Road. Hibs v Celtic. 22 February 2025.Photo: Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Q: The three players that you brought in, Brendan, you felt you needed to take them off at half-time. Did that disappoint you? Did you feel that there could have been more from them?

Brendan Rodgers: “Listen, again, those guys have scored really important goals for me this season and they’ve performed well. I’m having to manage guys like Jota coming back, because we were thinking of Tuesday as well. And Jeffrey Schlupp, who had his first 90 minutes away in Bayern. So there’s a recovery in that and you’re trying to manage the game time of players. Listen, I’m not going to criticise the three guys, because they’ve been very important players in our squad this season. They’ve scored some important goals at various times, but also in the likes of Greg as a defender. They’ve been great. So I just needed to freshen the team to give it a different dynamic. The guys that come in were very good.”

Q: Do you feel it’s just a matter of time, kind of healing the wounds of midweek and then this result before you get back to winning ways? Or is there something else that needs fixing?

Brendan Rodgers: “No, it’s football. It’s sport. We were brilliant during the week. Today, we don’t want to have any excuses – fatigue, tiredness – you’re a big club. You’ve got to get used to being tired and playing through that. Today, we just weren’t quite on it. Again, it was the start probably that cost us. In the second half, you’ve seen there’s lots of energy, especially when the ball hits the back of the net. So, we’ll analyse the game. No real time to overthink it. It’s a disappointing result for us, no doubt. But tomorrow, we get back on the horse again, get our recovery started and get ready for Aberdeen on Tuesday night, which is an important game for us.”

Conor Spence

Sign up and receive a free Henrik Larsson book…

Mentioned in this article

Celtic

“These are big games to be guessing, especially at this point in the season,” Brendan Rodgers | OneFootball