7 Celtic presser headlines as January transfer plans and Paul Tisdale role among hot topics

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has been fielding questions ahead of his side’s home match against Ross County.

The Hoops are in indomitable form domestically, and come into Saturday’s game off the back of another decent result in the Champions League, picking up a potentially crucial point against Club Brugge. Rodgers says he was "very pleased" with the performance despite some fans left feeling like it was a missed opportunity to put another three in the bank. The 51-year-old had also been asked about Arne Engels' form and said he hopes the midfielder's critics "learn their lessons" as he came to the player's defence.

The manager also spoke about the job the recruitment staff were doing in the background but swiftly batted away a question about the upcoming transfer window. Here, Football Scotland brings you the key takeaways from the manager’s press conference.

READ MORE: Brendan Rodgers hopes Celtic critics 'learn their lessons' as he defends under-fire Hoops star

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Carter-Vickers isn’t feeling sorry for himself

It's just reinforcement. It's not so much him himself, it's just one of those things. I said to Nicolas Kuhn, as long as he doesn't claim the assist, because he seems to be getting assists left, right and centre these days! But no, it's just one of those things. We needed to get into shape earlier, that was the correction that we make on it. He's been a real colossal player for this club and will continue to be. His response in the game was actually very, very good. So just one of those things that happens in the game, but his response and the team's response was very good.

Alistair Johnston’s ‘threat’ is key

I just think you evolve and develop with time and patience. I think the encouragement of him going more forward than coming inside, we have a full-back that does that. But sometimes the game you play doesn't need both coming in. Sometimes they need to be in the half-space, so it just depends. But either way, we want to attack, we want to score goals. I think if you look at our records, we score goals, we create many opportunities. For me, I've always liked the teams for the goals to go around the team. Whether it's wingers, strikers, midfield, press, full-backs, or centre-halves, it's a collective responsibility. For me this year, he scored early on and he's got that love and feel that you get when you hit the back of the net. He looks a threat in the games.

No time for January window chat… sort of

We won't speak about it until then! [When a question leads with mention of the window]

Will improve ‘if we can’ in January

Like everything, we would like to improve if we can. Firstly, I'm seeing the improvement of this group of players and this team here, so we brought a number of players in. But of course, every window where you can, if you can improve and the right players are available, then we would certainly look at it. But there's a lot of time for that.

‘Big benefit’ of Paul Tisdale

I think it'll be a big benefit for us. Paul came in here during the summer to help. I obviously control a lot of the core performance of the team, the B team and everything else that goes around that, media, everything else. But there's a side that runs beside that, which is, for me, the strategic operation of the club. And I felt there was a gap there in that. So I wanted to bring someone in just to see how that would go. Paul, not only has he managed before, which gives me comfort, he knows what it's like to be in the shoes of a manager, but he also understands the business side. So I felt that having someone in to help support that organisation and a lot of the logistics that go on at that level, from recruitment to academy to admin, for me, a modern club needs that. And if you're going to progress, you need that operation. Because if I'm out on the pitch and doing all the stuff there, it still needs to go on down here. Clearly, the business side of the club has run immaculately. You only need to look at Celtic over many, many years. But from a strategy perspective, that was Paul's role. So he links in very closely with Michael and myself, along with Dermot, in terms of the strategy. And we obviously converse a lot, we speak a lot, and he will bring his strength to that role.

Old pals reunions with Don Cowie

I think they'll be very determined. Obviously, Don, I know well, he was my first ever signing as a manager, Don, when I was manager at Watford. 50 grand I think he was, and he did brilliant for me at Watford. So I've known him since those days. I've always been in contact with him and followed him. Obviously, he worked closely with Malky (Mackay) and then he went out on his own. I think he's done a really, really good job. The game that we played up there, I think it could be a similar type of game. They were super organised, they all knew the job, they all knew the role, and we had to work very hard at the end to get the result. So, I will expect a similar game. They'll carry a threat in various moments, but for us, we're at home, and we love playing at home. We want to be at home, we want to showcase our energy, and our attitude in the game, and that's what we'll look to bring. So, it will be a tough game, I'm sure.

Recruitment team ‘busy’

Been quite busy, yeah. Very clever up here, you know. It's always ongoing, isn't it? Even if we're not just looking for January, it's beyond. We get meetings this afternoon around our young players and looking at that strategy. So it's ongoing. I always say you can't wait for the future to plan for the future. You've got to be looking at it now to look forward, and the club's in a great place, we're in a great moment, but we have to always look forward. That is a part of his role, to oversee that and to make sure that we are in the best possible position as a football club to grow that department in order to get the best players in, so that we can perform.