“I enjoy that challenge of proving people wrong,” Brendan Rodgers

In partnership with

The Celtic Star

·4 May 2025

“I enjoy that challenge of proving people wrong,” Brendan Rodgers

Brendan Rodgers spoke to the media ahead of Celtic’s dead rubber Glasgow Derby clash against theRangers at Ibrox this afternoon. Here’s everything that was said…

Brendan Rodgers. Dundee United v Celtic, 26 April 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Q: Can we start with a squad update ahead of the weekend, how’s your squad looking?

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Brendan Rodgers: “We’ve got a few knocks. Obviously Jota will be out and sadly for us and for him he’ll be out for a period of time, probably six to nine months. It’s the cruciate and it was worse than we’d hoped really, so he starts on his journey of recovery from that now, but somewhere between six and nine months.

Celtic Champions 2025. Dundee United v Celtic, 26 April 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star).

“Ali Johnston won’t be available, Ali’s been needing an injection into his hip that he’s had for a period of time. To ensure he was ready for the cup final and in our preparation we decided that we would do that after the Dundee United game. So I picked him out of the game at the weekend and most probably the St Mirren game and that gives him a few weeks then to be ready for the cup final.

Alistair Johnston. Celtic Champions 2025. Dundee United v Celtic, 26 April 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star).

“Dane Murray had an issue with his knee and he’ll be out for the rest of the season and then be ready for pre-season. We’ve got Yang back, Yang’s back training with the squad so we’ll give him one more day tomorrow and then we’ll see if he’s going to be available for the squad.”

Q: Daizen Maeda and Nicolas Kuhn weren’t seen in training, are they okay?

Nicolas Kuhn celebrates. Celtic Champions 2025. Dundee United v Celtic, 26 April 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star).

Brendan Rodgers: “Daizen should be fine and Nicolas was out, we’re just assessing him and a slight issue with his knee but he should be okay. We had the scan on that, it’s just a little bit of bruising but he should be okay.”

Q: And on the game itself, obviously the final one of the season, what are your thoughts on this one?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yes, this is a game that is all about pride and as I said we’ve proved our point over the course of this season in terms of our performance level, consistency. I think the challenge in these games is that we’ve been so comfortable going into the game and I felt that has really disrupted our mindset. When it was win or bust in the cup final we won it, because that’s it, these games we’ve been so comfortable and even though you’re pushing, I know what these games mean to supporters and what it means to myself and the club.

Celtic Champions 2025. Dundee United v Celtic, 26 April 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star).

“It just can be that little bit in the back of the mind that you’re 13 points clear or 16 points clear and so that has taken a fraction of an edge off that you don’t want but there’s maybe a subconscious thing there. But this year, this is our last game, we are fighting for the pride of our team and also for our supporters because we lost the last game at Ibrox, deservedly so. We shouldn’t have lost the game at home but we did and we have to make that right in the last game.”

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Q: Brendan, what have you done differently this week, if anything, to almost change that from your players? You’ve been so good all season but as you said, you’ve just been a bit comfortable going into these games. Have you changed the message then to your players this week or is it something that they know themselves that they have to win this game?

Brendan Rodgers: “You have to know that I hear the talk up here about meaningless games, there’s never that. A Celtic theRangers game, there’s never a meaningless game or there’s nothing in the game, there’s everything in this game, everything. So we have to go and prove that on the field. Yes, we are champions, the best team, the most consistent team, the mentality, Champions League progression, all of this here but these are important games. So the messaging, no, our preparation has been really good, we had a little hiccup against St. Johnstone, from that you see the reaction, the players have been brilliant. I always think now at this stage of the season, we’ve set targets, we’ve set goals for the last five games and the cup final, we’re also preparing for next season. We’re trying to look to finish strong so we can prepare for that as well.”

Barry Ferguson, Interim Manager of theRangers, celebrates with backroom staff after Mohamed Diomande scored the team’s second goal during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and theRangers at Celtic Park on March 16, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: What have you made of theRangers or what do you expect from theRangers this weekend because since Barry Ferguson has come in, they’ve been up and down against themselves, what do you expect on Sunday?

Brendan Rodgers: “Listen, I think it’s been a difficult one for Barry to come into. I think what Barry has done is Barry has helped connect the supporters and the club. He’s a player who had a great career there. The challenge for Barry to start coming in is that it’s a different generation of player that you’re working with to when they would have played and even coached a number of years back. So the generation of player now is totally different and obviously they’ll demand a greater standard and a greater consistency.

Celtic v theRangers stats

“I said before that you look at it over a period of time and you would say that it’s probably pretty much the same. Some really good European performances, a wee bit up and down in the league but I think the difference being that at least theRangers supporters, they can connect with Barry when he’s saying it and speaking it. I thought he spoke really well and very honest in his appraisal of his team. Then the fans can at least connect with that as sort of one of their own really.

“So that’s where they’re at. I think we’ve seen that they’ve played well in games and like I say other games that they would have wanted to have done better in. But for us really we have to go in and perform in this game.”

Q: There’s been a lot of talk around a potential takeover at theRangers. You yourself have so many points clear, you’ve already wrapped up the league on foot travel. But next season going forwards, do you expect more of a challenge from theRangers next campaign?

Brendan Rodgers: “Talk to me in the summer on that. We’re not even finished this season yet. I know there’s not a lot for you to write about or talk about or speak about. But speak about this season first. Speak about how good Celtic have been and how consistent we’ve been and how our mentality has been really good. And how this group of players, despite some knockbacks, they keep going and they keep fighting and they keep running and they keep working. And we can speak about next season then.”

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Daizen Maeda of Celtic celebrates with fellow goalscorer Reo Hatate after scoring to give Celtic a 2-0 lead. Celtic v Kilmarnock, Scottish Premiership, 12 April 2025. IMAGO Photo Stuart Wallace Shutterstock

Q: How impressed have you been with the team? You see that response over the last three games. Scored 15 goals, conceded one freak goal. Just that response from the team when you send that message of what you’re wanting?

Brendan Rodgers: “Listen, everyone needs it. Just no matter how good a team you are or how good a player you are, every now and then you just need the reminder of the standard. And certainly the standard here at Celtic, that fell away below the required level when we were at St Johnstone. Again, the thing that grated on me was we had the chance to win it at home if we’d do our job on that. So that was also that double the frustration.

“However, the players have been brilliant since then. And that’s the job, that’s managing. Managing is the ability to teach players, inspire them and motivate them. And then you see obviously the players when they go out to the pitch, they’ve been so, so good. It was a great win last weekend. Played very, very well. And we’ve had a good week’s training. And we’re now coming to this game that we’re looking forward to playing in. But the response of the players has been excellent.”

PFA Scotland POTY Nominees. Callum McGregor is among the four nominees alongside Simon Murray from Dundee FC, Daizen Maeda and Nicolas Kuhn. Photo PFA Scotland.

Q: When you look at Callum McGregor and James Forrest, both history makers like yourself, how important are those players going to be on Sunday at Ibrox?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, I think that in particular the guys that have been through it, and especially the Scottish, but having players from your national country means everything in these games for me. Because they understand what it’s all about. They’ve grown up with it. They’ve been through it. So they’ll know the importance of it. And like you say, those two players have been in numerous games and scored and performed at the highest level. So, they know what it takes to play in this type of game.”

Callum McGregor and James Forrest celebrate during the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup Semi Final match between St Johnstone and Celtic at Hampden Park on April 20, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: When you look at the previous games and Celtic dominating possession, how important is it just to stop those little small errors when you’re dominating possession in that game and just keeping the ball?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, I think for us it’s the start of the game. We need to start the game in the way that we would want to. Like you say, our last game at Celtic Park, we didn’t start the game well. We got done very early on with a corner, so that gave the theRangers something to hang on to. And then we switched off at a throw-in and very quickly a two-nil down. The response in that game was very, very good. Come back and then the whole second half, we were the only team that was going to win it.

Hamza Igamane of theRangers scores his team’s third goal during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and theRangers at Celtic Park on March 16, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

“And then we made an unfortunate slip and a mistake and they finished really well. But these games, there are errors in them and there are mistakes in them. What you know is 100 per cent you can’t be perfect in them. But we also know that we’ve won there before and won there a number of times. So, we know our game and what our game looks like. But always in these games you want to be at your very best in order to win and play well.”

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Q: Is that something you’ve looked at, the set-pieces in the last two games against theRangers? We concede from corners and you mentioned the throw-in. Is that something you’ve looked at over the last week?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yes, I think it’s something that we continually do. It’s not just something that we’ll look at specifically for theRangers. We take pride in every element of our game. Offensive, defensive and from all those static positions. The corner in the game at Ibrox, we get done on the second phase of that. The one at Celtic Park, we get done on the first phase. Again, it goes back to the level of concentration, being alert, being alive and switched on. Normally, those set-piece moments, those are the times when you can really be focused because the ball is static. So, you can get into position early, get organised, get concentrated and deal with the situation better.”

Jota. Dundee United v Celtic, 26 April 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Q: Can I ask how Jota is?

Brendan Rodgers: “He’s very philosophical. I had a long chat with him and looking at what the plan will be for him going forward in the different phases of what it looks like. He knows he’s going to get the support. He’s had a difficult couple of years. He’s come back to here. He’s loving being back, but he’s telling you that you need to get to a level of fitness and that was to try and get through this season in the best he could and then have a really strong pre-season. So, sadly, that interrupted that side of it. But, I have to say, he is a very positive young guy and I’m pretty sure he’ll come back from this year a stronger person and player.”

Adam Idah. Celtic Champions 2025. Dundee United v Celtic, 26 April 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star).

Q: Brendan, it looks like Adam Idah might be leading the line this weekend against theRangers. I just wondered if you could speak tactically about the choice you’ve got between Daizen leading the line and Adam and what they both bring?

Brendan Rodgers:: “I think in terms of Adam, in all fairness, I think if you take away, I think there’s a lot of look on his price tag, isn’t there? So, everyone’s judging on the price tag. If you actually take away the minutes and look at the minutes he’s played and the goals he’s scored, his actual ratio is very good. So, what do you get in both? So, from a tactical level, you get him who can be the platform.

Adam Idah scores. Celtic Champions 2025. Dundee United v Celtic, 26 April 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star).

“Listen, I say a striker’s playing the space. I also want him to score. It’s not play the space and have three goals. It’s play the space and if you can get 40 goals, brilliant. And you’ll have the chance to do it, but it’s just, it’s knowing that at times, whenever you’ve got to come short to create space or whether you’ve got to run in behind. I think when you’re playing against high pressing teams, you have to play a lot of forward passes, a lot of vertical balls and knowing that it’s not always going to be perfect. And also playing against man-to-man. So, he can give you that reference point and when he’s big and strong and takes the ball in, he can be unplayable.

Daizen Maeda of Celtic scores his team’s second goal during the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup Semi Final match between St Johnstone and Celtic at Hampden Park on April 20, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

“Daizen’s slightly different. Daizen’s a runner. He can take the ball into his feet, set it and go, but he’s more about the space. So, both can play the position. I think it’s the beauty of Daizen. He’s very, very adaptable. And that’s why I’ve always said, he’s a winger and I said, he can play as a striker. And that’s where he’s very adaptable and we’re very lucky because there’s lots of strikers who can’t play in another position. He’s just a really unique player where he can still score goals, he can still create goals playing in two different positions.

Daizen Maeda after scoring during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Hearts at Celtic Park on March 29, 2025 (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

“But one’s more a player that’ll set the game up, use his power, allow the game to come to him and then players will run off him. Daizen, then you’re looking to probably find more of the gaps in the space in behind, that would be one of the differences.”

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Q: People say it can be ‘boring’ and ‘easy’ for Celtic. What are some of the challenges associated with going again this season?

Brendan Rodgers: “From all the clubs I’ve ever been at, this is the biggest pressure job I’ve been in. And that’s because you cannot afford to lose a game of football. You imagine any team that’s out there, they’ll get a pass for a draw, they’ll get a pass for a win. Sometimes we don’t even get a pass for a win. We can get win and booed off. That relentless nature and that’s what I love about the job.

Brendan Rodgers. Dundee United v Celtic, 26 April 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

“The expectation, the support base is to always be better, to always improve and that drives you forward. So, you know you can never just rest on your laurels here at Celtic. That means that every single day of your life you have to be on it. You have to be really focused, you have to be prepared, you know that the other team you’re playing against are going to give that extra 10-15% physically, mentally because every time you operate as a Celtic player and manager, you’re managing a final scenario.

“So, that there is virtually every game. To prepare the team, to prepare the trainings and the practice and the schedule and everything else that goes with that, to deal with that pressure, to leave you in the best possible position when you play your game, then it’s not straightforward. Yes, you’re absolutely right that there’s lots of teams that have good resources in other leagues and throughout the world but they don’t necessarily win all the time.

Brendan Rodgers talking to Sky Sports. Celtic Champions 2025. Dundee United v Celtic, 26 April 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star).

“Yes, we’ve got really good resources here but we haven’t been handed money. This is all generated through a model of work in the club, by our supporters, buying merchandise, everything is organic here at the football club and then of course my job is to look after the core performance of the team. But it’s definitely not easy, it’s a highly pressurised situation in which you have to perform every single game and in order to be at that level, then that’s how you train, that mentality has to be in training. So, when you have that every day, you have no rest days.

Brendan Rodgers playful kicks a ball into the Celtic support. Celtic Champions 2025. Dundee United v Celtic, 26 April 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

“That’s why you see players come here, some really good players, but they struggle because the mentality to survive within it, it’s a real challenge and players will be really good players. Not just even at Celtic, I’ve seen other players come up to Scotland before thinking, we’ll come to Scotland, it’s quite easy, you play for one of the big teams, you’ll be ok. No, the demands are totally different. Then you can leave and go back into the Premier League and actually do really well and be a good player in the Premier League. So, what’s the difference? The difference is pressure, dealing with pressure and at Celtic, and theRangers for that matter, there’s massive pressure.

Q: Because of all that, do you allow yourself a moment after you crossed the finish line last week to celebrate and savour it? Do you get a chance to do that?

Brendan Rodgers: “I do. I have to say, when I left Liverpool the first time to come here, I knew because of that job there and what I enjoyed, I knew my next job needed to be pressure. Otherwise, it will feel like a holiday. So, coming to Celtic and experiencing it like I did for the first time, it was absolutely no holiday, it’s pressure. I think I thrive in that situation.

Celtic title celebrations. Celtic Champions 2025. Dundee United v Celtic, 26 April 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star).

“So, then coming back to here and especially how I came back that first six months, it wasn’t all singing and all dancing, it was back to, well, you’ve got to now show yourself here. And that’s what I enjoy. So, when the good moments come, of course, you enjoy it. You have to or else, if there’s no finish line ever for you, when do you celebrate your success? So, we had a nice couple of days last weekend, but very quickly you’re turning to the next game and the next challenge. Hopefully, the supporters will have enjoyed it much more. So, yeah, but you have to celebrate success, it’s so important.”

Q: It sounds like you kind of need that pressure?

Brendan Rodgers: “I think I need that challenge, absolutely, especially this period in my career and what I’ve experienced now. I can be no good if I’m comfortable and I would never get to be that in here. But, I think it’s something that I thrive on, I enjoy that and I enjoy the challenge. Last season it was clearly tighter and there was lots of things being questioned of you and whatever else. So, I enjoy that challenge of proving people wrong and there will always be something else to improve or prove in the role. So, if I don’t have it, I find it from somewhere and that’s what allows me to be the best I can be.”

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Q: One of the things you guys have been very good at in these years of success is, whenever there’s a narrative that Rangers are getting a bit of momentum, whether that’s in the derby or just in general, is just quelling that. Do you see this game as an opportunity to lay down that little psychological mark as well?

Brendan Rodgers: “I think what we’ve always done well is just focus on ourselves. Clearly, up here there’s the two big teams and they’ll be the teams that will be written about most. I think all we can do is control ourselves and control how we play and how we work and the work that we do and hopefully lead us to be a champion.

Celtic supporters doing the Huddle at Tannadice as they celebrate the title win. Celtic Champions 2025. Dundee United v Celtic, 26 April 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star).

“So, that’s something that I like to manage, that messaging with the players and that narrative around all of that. Because, like I said, it’s not our story. What’s written and what people’s headline is or what their themes are, people have to write, they have to report, they have to podcast, they’ve got their shows on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. So, there’s lots going on there, isn’t there? But, for us, we control ourselves. So, it’s easily done.”

Q: I saw you bumped into Barry actually at the youth’ game the other night. Can you reveal what was discussed?

Brendan Rodgers: “Just a handshake. I don’t know Barry. Apart from the game, I’ve never obviously come across him. So, yes, we’re obviously there to watch the kids play and bumped into him before the game. But listen, Barry’s gone into that job and I’m sure he’s really privileged and honoured as a Rangers man and a former great player there and supporter.

Barry Ferguson, theRangers vs Fenerbahçe, Ibrox, Europea League, 13 March 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

“So, he wants what’s best for his club and I’m pretty sure that him and Neil and the staff that are there will feel that they can take the club forward and meet the challenges that are demanded by the club and the supporters. I don’t know Barry that well. But I will always be civil and if someone’s a manager of theRangers or a coach of theRangers, no-one will tell me that I can’t speak to him or shouldn’t speak to him because that’s not the world. We might have different jobs on different sides of the clubs but we will share a lot of the pressures and that always deserves respect.”

Q: What’s your thoughts Brendan on the talk about a guard of honour on Sunday?

Brendan Rodgers: “It’s not a rule, that’s the first thing I would say. When two clubs have a rivalry that’s emotional, it’s always difficult for the team that comes up short. It’s one that I’m relaxed either way on it. It’s one where I’m a little bit of a traditionalist in where there’s a lot of things that are going out of our game over in these isles that are just moving away from the traditions of the great managers and the great people that run our game and were successful in our game.

The Rodgers Roar . Celtic Champions 2025. Dundee United v Celtic, 26 April 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

“And I always think if you’re a champion to show, or not a champion, showing that humility to the other team, whatever the rivalry is, it’s a mark of respect. But like I said, Celtic theRangers, it’s an emotional rivalry and if you’re up short and you come up short quite a lot, then it can be a challenge for you to justify that with your supporters. But as I said, I’m a traditionalist. These are the things that have been in our game for many, many years. There’s no rule to it but I’m relaxed either way on it really.”

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