Brendan Rodgers was in neutral mode after watching Celtic’s 1-0 win over St Mirren on the opening day of the SPFL Premiership season.
On Friday the Irishman wore his heart of his sleeve as he discussed his contract while questioning the ambitions of the Celtic board to improve the Starting XI and squad.
Rodgers did something similar after the 5-1 defeat from Ajax at the Como Cup , since then there has been no additions to the Celtic squad although it seems only a formality before Jahmai Simpson-Pusey is signed up on loan from Manchester City
Neither Kyogo Furuhashi or Nicolas Kuhn have been replaced in the Celtic squad, it is just over six months since the striker was sold to Rennes, Como signed Kuhn a month ago with the process underway towards the end of last season.
While Rennes and Como identify targets and deliver Michael Nicholson rarely shows any urgency in getting players signed up, with one eye on the Balance Sheet Celtic are almost £20m up in this transfer window.
That is of little use to Rodgers as today’s team selection demonstrated.
In an ideal world Yang Hynu-jun would be settling into life at Norwich, today he was demonstrating why he has only ever been an emergency pick to play on the wing for Celtic.
Rodgers left Marco Tilio and Hayato Inamura out of the list of nine substitutes, even short of wingers the Australian doesn’t feature while Liam Scales was the designated back up for Kieran Tierney who lasted 65 minutes on his Celtic return.
There were no fireworks at today’s post match media conferences, the ball is back in Nicholson’s court as the clock ticks towards the Champions League and an August 14 deadline to register the squad with UEFA although two changes can be made the night before the first leg is played.
📋 Your starting XI for the season opener!
Here’s how the Bhoys line up to take on St Mirren at Paradise 👇
#CELSTM | #CelticFC🍀 pic.twitter.com/B1y1Sa8ToW— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) August 3, 2025
Rodgers on today’s performance:
To win in the first game of the season is always good, and it sort of rounds off a lot of the good work that we had over pre-season. I was really pleased with the performance. I think that everyone here who knows St. Mirren and Stephen Robinson’s coaching qualities will know they are such a hard team to break down.
You have to be aware of their threat in counterattacks and their physicality in set pieces. We dealt with all of that so well. Their goalkeeper has made some brilliant saves, which have kept the game in the balance.
I thought overall, you know, at times we moved the ball really well. There are other times we could have attacked a wee bit more when we get into certain positions, and we could have been a wee bit more aggressive in the 1 v 1 moments.
Overall, to play against that team, against that system, that’s how you’ve got to work it. Then we have a wee bit of quality at the end to finish.
Rodgers asked if today was just a case of requiring better finishing:
I think it’s clear. I think everyone who was at the game would say that, or watched it on TV. So, sometimes you need a wee bit of good fortune as well. We didn’t quite have that with some that hit the post and the bar. You have to give credit to their keeper and St. Mirren.
They are a team who are not just going to roll up here. We see a lot of that, where teams are banked up and tight and compact, and so a lot of your connections, you’ve got to move it side to side to penetrate, to cross, to have half-space crosses, all these things, because there is no space.
It’s not a 50-50 game like a Newcastle or a Sporting Lisbon, for example, that you’d see in pre-season, where there’s space. It’s tight, it’s compact, and I thought the players came through it so well.
Rodgers on Kieran Tierney’s Celtic return?
It’s brilliant for him. I am so happy for him, and he got a great reception. You see the qualities he has. So, he had a wee bit of cramp at the end. He hasn’t played a lot of football, and that’s part of managing him through this period now that he’s back. We want to build him and his fitness. So, just his qualities, his crossing ability and his 1 v 1 ability, I am really pleased for him.
Did today emphasise the need for more quality in the final third?
Listen, we got into a lot of good areas. I think it’s the case with any team. You know, we’ll always prepare the game, take the game to the final third of the pitch. I thought we created a lot today.
We got into a lot of really good areas and, like I said, you have to give credit to the goalkeeper. He made some great saves. I thought we were creative in the game, dominated the game, and were unfortunate not to have won by more.
The goal meant a lot to Luke McCowan?
It means everything to us all. The victory belongs to everyone, but for Luke to come in, you know what you’re getting: you’re going to get a goal threat when he plays.
That was the idea. I thought the two eights did well, Reo (Hatate) and Benji (Nygren). It’s a period of pre-season where you need to keep the energy in the team when you’re not quite at the top of your fitness.
You know, by bringing someone especially like Luke into the game, he’s got that ability to score a goal because he wants to score. I am so pleased for him on this opening game that he’s he’s got the winner.
Rodgers thoughts ahead of Monday’s Champions League draw
I’m feeling really good. Feeling good. We’ve had a great, really, really good pre-season. The players are shaping up very well, working very hard. There’s real spirit and solidarity here in the team. So, we will look forward to that. We know whoever we get, it’s going to be tough, but it will also be tough for them. We will accept whatever challenge comes.
How ready is this squad for the Champions League Play-Off?
We’ll be ready for the games. You know, whenever they come, we’ll be ready. The players are working very hard, and yeah, as I said, they are always tense games, but we’re in a good place, and we’ll we’ll take that game on when it comes.
Rodgers on Jahmai Simpson-Pusey
Yeah, I think we’re still waiting for clearance on that one, but he’s up here, and I think obviously once it is definite, then it will be announced. He’s up here ready for the move.
Rodgers on Celtic’s central defensive options
You certainly need to be strong at Celtic. You know, sometimes you’re not doing a great deal and you are standing on the halfway line, or you’re attacking a lot of the time, but you also need to be able to defend space.
The idea of taking both Kieran and Ali off was because they’ve only been back for a few weeks. We knew Kieran was going to have to come out at some point, but we had Auston Trusty on the bench, and we could move Liam Scales to left back, who I thought was fantastic in the game, dominant, won headers against two big strikers. Then that keeps the height in your team when you’re playing against a team that is direct and physical.
So, that area of the team is always so important. Against any team, your centre halves need to be dominant, and we’ve got really good options there now.
Is a striker the number one signing target?
No, no, it’s just improving. There are areas that we want to improve in the forward line. That’s something we hope we can do over these remaining weeks.
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