Brendan Rodgers uses 'mannequins' analogy as he expands on his Celtic crowd criticism
BRENDAN Rodgers has stated that he will continue to voice his opinion on matters that concern him despite the negative reaction among many members of the Celtic support to his comments after the St Mirren game on Sunday.
Rodgers was unhappy when the Scottish champions were booed for playing a backwards pass in the first half of the William Hill Premiership match at Parkhead and when some fans chanted the name of Arsenal player Kieran Tierney.
However, the former Swansea City, Liverpool and Leicester City manager was unrepentant about his remarks when he spoke to the media yesterday ahead of the league meeting with Dundee United in Glasgow this evening.
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“Everyone has an opinion,” he said. “Everyone has an emotion. They can say what they think and that is okay.
“But I am not going to beat around the bush when I am talking about the bush. I am experienced enough to say what I think and what I feel. But not in a derogatory way to anyone. I would be the last person to come back here and do that after everything I put myself through.
“I am so happy I came back here. I love my life here and I love my job here. But it is also important to be able to say what I think. Sometimes you are paid not to say what you think, but there are moments when you have to. I am at the stage of my life and career when I don't need to bite my tongue.”
Rodgers continued: “Everyone wants to play forward. Everyone wants to play vertical football but it is impossible to do for a whole game. When there is that positivity in the stadium and that recognition of that then that aids the players on the pitch and it is what they gain energy from.
"There are two teams. We kind of forget that. We are not playing against mannequins, where it is eleven v zero and you play through them and you score loads of goals. There is another team there who are normally set up very well and are very well organised, with good coaching staff and managers.
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"I can understand a bit of fret and worry off the back of the Rangers game and not playing anywhere near what our level is.
“But my priority with the players is the performance level and that comes from training and the games, creating that atmosphere which the players can thrive in. That’s what I’m here to do. To manage and be the best that I possibly can be for Celtic in my time here, however long that is. And, of course, I will stand up for that.
“And once my time is done I can step back, wait for the next manager to come in, support him and look forward to seeing 60 games of high intensity football for 95 minutes every week. And I will be really happy!”
