WITH EVERY PASSING MOMENT OF THIS CURRENT MALAISE, THAT’S MY BELIEF. AND DO YOU KNOW WHAT? IF THAT IS THE CASE, I COULDN’T BLAME HIM ONE BIT.
OBVIOUSLY, HE CAN’T COME OUT AND SAY IT AND HE WON’T WALK AWAY. NOT WHEN HE HAS PROMISED TO STAY FOR THREE YEARS. MANY FANS FELT HE WAS WITHIN HIS RIGHTS TO LEAVE AFTER THAT ATROCIOUS LAST TRANSFER WINDOW AND, HAD HE NOT GONE TO LEICESTER AT THE TIME HE DID TO END HIS FIRST SPELL, THEN HE MAY WELL HAVE DONE SO.
I ALSO REALISE THE BOARD SURELY CANNOT GET RID OF A MANAGER MERELY BECAUSE OF THE FACT HE IS JUST PLAINLY POINTING OUT THE MISTAKES THEY HAVE MADE UPSTAIRS. NOT TO MENTION HIS TROPHY RECORD. IT FEELS TO ME LIKE AN UNHAPPY STALEMATE, SO I THINK RODGERS IS POKING, BEING ANTAGONISTIC. THE OBVIOUS QUESTION THEN BECOMES: IS HE ENTITLED TO BE?
MY ANSWER TO THAT WOULD BE UNEQUIVOCALLY YES. I DON’T KNOW HOW ELSE TO THINK WHEN I LOOK AT WHAT HE’S HAD TO DEAL WITH. CRUCIAL INJURIES TO THE LIKES OF CAMERON CARTER-VICKERS AND ALISTAIR JOHNSTON JUST EXAGGERATE THE FAILINGS OF THE WINDOW. HE CONSTANTLY POINTED OUT THE NEEDS AND LITTLE WAS DELIVERED.
MATCH OF THE DAY INTERVIEWS ON THE BBC LAST WEEKEND. WHY DID THAT COME ABOUT? SEEMED LIKE ODD TIMING. RODGERS SAID DURING THE WEEK HE HAS NEVER BEEN MORE MOTIVATED AT CELTIC, YET THAT CAME DAYS AFTER HIS HONDA CIVIC STATEMENTS AT DENS PARK. THOSE WORDS ON TAYSIDE SOUNDED MORE TO ME LIKE A FRUSTRATED MANAGER WHO IS POKING, PROVOKING AND IS AT THE END OF HIS TETHER.
I CAN ACCEPT HE MAY NOT HAVE GONE ABOUT ONE OR TWO THINGS IN JUST THE RIGHT WAY, BUT, LIKE I SAY, WHO CAN BLAME HIM?
VICTORY OVER STURM GRAZ WAS A SMALL STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION BUT, IN THE BIG PICTURE, IT’S NOT EVEN CLOSE TO SOLVING ISSUES. MY GUT FEELING ON BRENDAN IS THAT HE’S SEVERELY HACKED OFF. THE HONDA LINE CAME ON THE BACK OF THAT PERFORMANCE AT DUNDEE THAT HAD HIS COACHING ABILITY QUESTIONED.
HE SUBSEQUENTLY SAID IT WAS ABOUT BEING HARSH AND GETTING A RESPONSE FROM THE SQUAD. IT FELT TO ME LIKE ANOTHER REMINDER OF THE MESS THE BOARD HAS MADE OF THINGS. AT A TIME WHEN EVERYTHING HAS KICKED OFF, RODGERS UNDERSTANDS THE CONSEQUENCES OF WHAT HE SAYS, EVERYONE HANGING ON EVERY WORD. IT MIGHT HAVE MADE SOME OF THE PLAYERS FEEL BAD OR HAVE A LOOK AT THEMSELVES BUT WHEN YOU STRIP EVERYTHING BACK, WHAT HE SAYS IS 100 PERCENT TRUE.
CELTIC LOST PLAYERS, DIDN’T REPLACE THEM AND THE TEAM HAS BEEN DOWNGRADED. THAT’S A FACT. THAT IS THE SOURCE OF EVERYTHING THIS SEASON. THE BAD FEELING WITH FANS’ PROTESTS, THE POOR PERFORMANCES, THE COMMENTS WHICH HAVE COME OUT. YOU CAN SAY WHAT YOU LIKE ABOUT THE REST BUT IT BOILS DOWN TO ABYSMAL RECRUITMENT. END OF. GET THAT RIGHT AND THESE ISSUES DON’T ARISE. NO DISRESPECT TO THE BOYS THEMSELVES BUT RODGERS COULD START TOMORROW’S TOP-OF-THE-TABLE GAME AGAINST HEARTS USING COLBY DONOVAN AT RIGHT-BACK AND JOHNNY KENNY AS CENTRAL STRIKER. INJURIES HAPPEN AND THE MANAGER HAS BEEN LEFT DREADFULLY SHORT.
I THINK BRENDAN IS JUST SO FRUSTRATED. HE WILL FEEL LET DOWN BY THE POWERS THAT BE. MANAGERS SHOULD BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR RESULTS, BUT THERE ARE ALSO FACTORS THAT FEED INTO IT AND IT’S NOT LIKE HE’S JUST TELLING EVERYBODY NOW HE DIDN’T GET THE PLAYERS. HE SAID IT BEFORE THE BALL WAS KICKED.
BRENDAN’S GOT A PROVEN TRACK RECORD AS A COACH, A PROVEN TRACK RECORD AT CELTIC, BUT IF SOME PLAYERS ARE SUB-STANDARD, THEY TAKE LONGER TO DEVELOP, IF THEY EVEN GET TO THE LEVEL AT ALL.
HE SAID AFTER GRAZ HIS PLAYERS KNOW HOW MUCH HE CARES ABOUT THEM, SO WHY CANE THEM JUST DAYS EARLIER? THERE WAS NO LONG-TERM UPSIDE TO THAT. THAT’S NOT GOING TO GO DOWN WELL AMONGST THE SQUAD. THAT’S TELLING YOUR OWN SQUAD THEY ARE BANG AVERAGE.
BRENDAN IS RIGHT BUT HE STILL SHOULDN’T HAVE SAID IT. I KNOW HOW THAT WOULD HAVE GONE DOWN IN OUR DRESSING ROOM IF MARTIN O’NEILL HAD SAID THAT. MY OWN SUSPICION IS THOSE COMMENTS WERE ACTUALLY INTENDED FOR THE BOARDROOM AND NOT THE DRESSING ROOM. IF HE’S POKING, WHICH I THINK HE IS, IT’S BECAUSE HE KNOWS HE’S GOT A POOR TEAM COMPARED TO WHAT HE HAD AND HE WARNED THOSE ABOVE HIM IT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN. THE DISPLAY AND RESULT IN DUNDEE WAS MISERABLE. THERE WAS MORE ENCOURAGEMENT IN THE GRAZ PERFORMANCE AND OUTCOME AND THE BIGGEST INDIVIDUAL POSITIVE FOR ME WAS THE SHOWING OF ARNE ENGELS.
BUT THE ISSUES ARE STILL GLARING. THE GAPS IN THE SQUAD ARE STILL GLARING AND I’D BE WILLING TO BET IT IS GOING TO BE HARDER FOR THE CHAMPIONS AT TYNECASTLE THAN IT WAS AGAINST GRAZ. THIS IS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF RODGERS GOING INTO A KEY MATCH AGAINST A TEAM WHICH IS EXCELLING AND NOT HAVING ALL OF THE TOOLS HE WOULD WANT AT HIS DISPOSAL.
YOU CAN ARGUE FOR A WEEK ABOUT WHETHER THE SQUAD SHOULD BE GOOD ENOUGH REGARDLESS, BUT THAT’S NOT THE POINT. IT SHOULDN’T BE UNDERSTRENGTH AND THAT IS DOWN TO THE BOARD NOT PROVIDING RODGERS WITH ENOUGH OF WHAT WAS NEEDED IN THE SUMMER. IT HAS STARTED A SEQUENCE WHICH, TO ME, HAS LEFT THE CELTIC BOSS AT THE END OF HIS TETHER. AND IF HE IS, THEN I DON’T BLAME HIM.
