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Brendan Rodgers hopes Celtic critics 'learn their lessons' as he defends under-fire Hoops star
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has hit back at critics of Arne Engels.
The Belgian international arrived for a club-record fee in the summer, after Matt O’Riley left for Brighton, but has yet to contribute the same attacking output to the side as the Dane. The likes of Nicolas Kuhn and Paulo Bernardo similarly took time to settle into Scottish football, and Rodgers has used them as examples when explaining why he still has full faith in Engels.
Kuhn has bagged 11 goals already this season and is now in line for a call-up to the German national side, while many punters were hoping Bernardo would get the nod midweek to start ahead of Engles in their Champions League meeting with Club Brugge. However, the boss stuck by Engels and called on his doubters to give the player time as he has “seen it so many times” when players develop at the club after a quieter start.
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“I know in life it is a challenge now for any of them, but I think the most recent example of that would be Paulo Bernardo,” Rodgers said. “He was exactly the same. If I remember back, you know, highlighting Paulo and his performances this time last year, now he can't be cheered on, you know, loud enough when he enters onto the pitch. That's called development. It's called patience. It's called time.
“Arne is a fantastic young player, otherwise we wouldn't have brought him here. He doesn't set the price, he's come here to a big club to improve his game; I've got absolutely no doubt he will do that. But hopefully, I know it won't be the case, but I would hope that people will learn their lesson. Same people that were writing off Paulo and Nicolas Kuhn, it'll be Arne Engles, it'll be someone else.
“Then you have to look and see and understand that development takes time. Some will hit the ground running and be fine and adapt perfect. But not everyone is like that, especially a young player. So I've been really pleased since he's come in because I know the future for him. He will improve, he will develop and get better. And we've seen it so many times.”
Celtic next face Ross County in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday afternoon, kick-off is at 3 pm.
