“I think the club has made a very good decision,” Brendan Rodgers

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The Celtic Star

·10 October 2024

“I think the club has made a very good decision,” Brendan Rodgers

Brendan Rodgers yesterday had his say on the news that Celtic has opted out of the SPFL’s secondary broadcasting deal for Premiership matches with Premier Sport…

Celtic CEO Michael Nicholson at Dingwall on Sunday . Photo Vagelis Georgariou

This news emerged amid a controversy surrounding the top of the table clash between Celtic v Aberdeen match a week on Saturday not being shown live on television, except on Celtic TV for subscribers based outside of Britain and Ireland.

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Top of the table clash

Aberdeen have received around 1200 tickets from Celtic as their allocation for this match which will be a 60,000 sell-out. Unusually, Aberdeen could easily sell the same number again and they will have the rest of their support desperate to view this match, with both sides going into the game joint top on 21 points apiece after both achieved a magnificent seven straight wins at the start of the season. Something must give on Saturday 19 October at Celtic Park.

6th October 2024; Victoria Park, Dingwall, Scottish Premiership Ross County versus Celtic; Celtic Manager Brendan Rodgers greets Ross County manager Don Cowie before the match.

Amid criticism for Celtic’s decision, which incidentally most Celtic supporters agree with, Brendan Rodgers had his say. “I think the club has shown they have really thought about the supporters. They could have easily taken the money. But they have kept the games there for supporters who come and see them,” Brendan said as reported by Scottish Sun.

A great game for television

“It’s a shame, it would have been a great game for television, but it’s not to be. It allows us to get a good run into next week and a bit of recovery time before we play again on the Wednesday. We will be ready to go. You can’t win really when it comes to this kind of thing. But the club have put the fans first – and that is important. Celtic get a lot of fixtures moved,” the Celtic manager pointed out.

“That is why I was so happy for the supporters at Ross County. Thousands of them travelled every which way to get to Dortmund and obviously the result didn’t go our way. They come back and they have to get up for a noon kick off at Ross County, three or four hours away.”

Celtic players acknowledge the away support at Dingwall after the 2-1 win. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

We know Celtic supporters will go anywhere at any time

“People come in from all over the country, come in from Ireland, they get late flights, have early mornings, you name it. For us to have that support is so important so it was nice to reward them with a win.

“We know Celtic supporters will go anywhere at any time, but it’s about offering that bit of respect to them when we can, when it’s something we can control like the kick-off times. So I think the club have made a very good decision,” Brendan said.

On the 3-2 victory over Sligo Rovers last night, Brendan Rodgers had this to say about the club’s return to Ireland, which is always welcomed by the huge Celtic support across the water.

Mid-Season Friendly, Showgrounds, Sligo 9/10/2024 Sligo Rovers vs Celtic Celtic s Luis Palma celebrates with the match ball after scoring a hat trick Luis Palma celebrates with the match ball after scoring a hat trick 9/10/2024 Photo :INPHO/Tom Maher

Objective was to bring Celtic to Ireland

“The objective for us was to bring Celtic to Ireland which is always important. It was about getting some minutes into the legs of some senior players who haven’t played a great deal so that was a good exercise. There was also the opportunity for the young players to come in and see how they played with a bit of a crowd against a good team. I really enjoyed the game and you could see Sligo played some really good football.”

And it’s hard to argue with a simple word the manager has said. Celtic should play in Ireland once a year to make sure the support for the club is not eroded, especially among younger supporters who can get seduced by the high profile English Premier League.