Pushing, pulling, kicking and stamping were par for the course with those ‘tactics’ not exclusively used against Celtic.
The timing, announced on Transfer Deadline Day, seems a little strange but after recent speculation that he could be on the move Celtic fans will be delighted by tonight’s news.
Rodgers did briefly discuss Benfica midfielder Paolo Bernardo who is expected to join on loan but beyond that there was no hint of further incoming activity.
Celtic will be entitled to a fee of around £300,000 for developing Vata but clubs will have to wait until next summer to get that move completed.
Frequent changes in manager inevitably lead to the accumulation of players with a couple of left-overs from Neil Lennon’s time hopefully moving on long after their usefulness came to an end
A hefty wage rise would no doubt be on offer at Elland Road but negotiations with Celtic on his current deal which runs until 2026 could bring a similar outcome.
Alas for Haksa two Celtic players returned from the World Cup Finals in exceptional form, Aaron Mooy edged Matt O’Riley out of a midfield place with Daizen Maeda nailing down the left wing spot with Jota switched to the right.
Beale has rarely been slow to talk up his own brilliance but last night his answers were notably shorter as he tried to heap praise on PSV rather than criticise his own squad.
We’re all really disappointed in that changing room. It’s something, as players, we knew how much it meant to the club, the fans and ourselves to try and get into the Champions League.
But we hope that we’ve assembled a squad that Michael can be really competitive with in terms of getting to that group stage.