After the misfortune of having to speak to Alasdair Lamont of BBC Scotland, Brendan Rodgers was in far better form when he held his all-in media conference following the 4-1 victory over Falkirk in the League Cup.
Two thirds of the Celtic side is functioning well, there are two very capable goalkeepers spurring each other on but the issues in attack remain.
Michael Nicholson seemed to be posted missing from the Directors Box but is more likely to have had a social engagement rather than concluding transfer activity.
Rodgers made six changes to the side that beat Aberdeen 2-0, the lessons from Falkirk last season were taken on board with Celtic dominant throughout.
At this stage in the transfer window fans are looking for messages in the team-sheet, Friday night was no exception.
While Nicholson refuses to sign a new striker or winger Rodgers has opted to leave Hayato Inamura and Jahmai Simpson-Pusey out of his squad.
Inamura did impress in his pre-season outings but it is difficult to see where he features as a central defender when JSP has been signed on loan with Murray extending his Celtic contract and responding with his first goal.
There seems to be no sign of any transfer activity over the weekend, Rodgers will preview the match against Kairat Almaty on Tuesday with the closing of the transfer window rapidly coming into sight with gaping holes in his forward options.
How happy were you with tonight’s performance?
I thought the performance was very good. From the first whistle, you’ve seen the hunger in the team and the intensity in the team. First half, we were good with the ball. We were not so good without it. We gave Falkirk a couple of wee opportunities to break through. We weren’t aggressive enough and tight enough on them. When we correct that at halftime, we really dominated the second half. So yeah, very pleased. Goals were excellent, and I thought we played really well.
Was that the best performance of the season!
We’ve only played three games. So clearly, you want progression, you want development. And there are different contexts of games. They’re a team that want to come and play. And we want to play, so it becomes a really good football game. St Mirren come here, they sit deep, sit low, and it’s early season, so you’re still finding your connections and everything else. Aberdeen, similar. They put it in a different shape, low, but we controlled the game.
John McGlynn’s a really courageous, brave manager, and that’s why he’s had the success he’s had. Again his team to play. And we knew we had to be good to get through, and thankfully we were.”
Tierney and Maeda combined for the first goal is that partnership starting to come together on the left?
Yeah, I think there’s still a lot of work for them to do. I think they became sometimes a little predictable on that side, where we were constantly crossing it. We want to cross it, of course, but we need to vary it, but that will come. But I thought Kieran was outstanding in the game. You can see him each game, his dominance, and it gives us that real security when we haven’t got the ball. But he’s going to get even better as his fitness develops.
And obviously, it’s a different player for Daizen to connect with because Kieran will at times be wider. So that means he has to move inside, whereas Greg was very much on the inside, playing out to Daizen. But no, I thought that through the team, the connections were really good and it was good to see both of those boys playing well and getting that understanding.”
Great for Dane Murray to sign a contract and score?
Great header. I thought Arne’s deliveries all night were brilliant. He had maybe just one early on, or sorry, at the end of the half. But other than that, the precision, and credit to Gavin and Greg and the guys working on the set pieces, that’s exactly what they had planned.
Get the delivery right, in the middle of the box, and Dane was there to score it. So it was very good. And great for him because he’s a great boy. He’s got a lot of potential, and I think over the next 12 to 18 months he’s going to really grow.”
He’s obviously somebody you really believe in?
Yeah, I think his ceiling’s so high. There’s areas of the game that he needs to clearly, obviously work on. But he’s 6’4″, he’s quick, he can take the ball. He has a comfort with the ball which aligns with top players and he just, again, concentration is something that’s key for defenders. But I really like him and that’s hence the reason we’ve tied him down. And I think he’s got a great future.”
Engels seemed to be on top of his game tonight
There’s obviously negativity around Arne and some of these guys, but for a manager, we’ve put a really good player in, we took a really good player out. And then I can change it and it’s great for the squad. So his attitude is great. He tired a little bit, so he had a little bit of looseness towards the last five, 10 minutes, but his quality from his set piece and his general work rate and intensity was great.
So he’s a boy that gives everything. And there’s a lot on his shoulders as an expensive player. But we bought potential. The club has bought potential many times. And a lot of them aren’t here. This is a guy who has potential but it cost a little bit more. And you have to pay that little bit more because if you’re going to be sat away in Bayern Munich and watching the team play and he has that athleticism, then that’s what you need because it costs you money. But he’s nowhere near the finished article.
We’ve just had to pay more for potential. You can buy potential at a million quid and two million quid. And a lot of the time, it doesn’t work. Sometimes it does. I will tell you a lot of time it doesn’t. But him, we’ve had to pay a little bit more to get the athleticism, to get the physicality that this team needed. And now I’ve got great options in there. Guys that are physical but guys that are technical. So I don’t complain.”
Is there a possibility of any wildcards coming into the Champions League squad?
Hopefully. It would be great. We’ve obviously named a squad, but right up until just before the game, we can do that. So that would be really good if we can.”
A start for Johnny Kenny tonight, were you happy with his performance?
Yeah, I think he worked very hard. He’s an honest boy who gives his all in the game and that’s what the team’s about. Didn’t have so many chances, a couple of good wee runs, didn’t quite drop to him in the box, but I thought he worked very hard and then created the chance then for Shin Yamada to come on.
Rodgers will be spending his weekend studying Kairat having almost given up on Nicholson producing the goods following a seven month wait for Kyogo’s replacement.
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