Opinion: Brendan Rodgers digging his heels in over Liam Scales

The Celtic Star

·22 April 2024

Opinion: Brendan Rodgers digging his heels in over Liam Scales

It seems like Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers is deliberately digging his heels in over Liam Scales…

We got there in the end on Saturday and that’s all that matters in the grand scheme of things. We all know and understand that when it comes to these sorts of matches. However, we didn’t half make a mountain out of a molehill at times. That particular issue was in no way helped by the defence and serious questions will be asked of it before now and the end of the season.

I know it’s never fair to single just one individual out for errors or mistakes, as the Celtic defence collectively was a mess. But I think Rodgers is now deliberately digging his heels in with Liam Scales and it’s got to stop. Maik Nawrocki came into the side last weekend and kept a clean sheet. There’s no reason why he shouldn’t have been starting at Hampden Park alongside Cameron Carter-Vickers.

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Aberdeen v Celtic – Bojan Miovski and Liam Scales battle for the ball during the Scottish Cup semi-final match at Hampden on Saturday April 20, 2024. Photo Andrew Milligan

Scales has performed admirably this year, but it’s now obvious that he has flatlined and this plateau is seriously costing us at times. Yes, he’s a battler and was wonderful at Ibrox way back in September and yes, he had that Man of the Match performance in the UEFA Champions League group stages. But now is the time to hold the hands up and admit that his obvious deficiencies are becoming too costly and risky at a time when we can least afford them.

Twice he was caught under the ball against his former team at the weekend and I’m sorry, if his battling defensive qualities are found wanting, his on the ball attributes aren’t going to balance them out or pull him or us out of a hole when we need it most. If Brendan can’t see what’s unfolding before his very eyes now, he’s just digging his heels in and being deliberately stubborn when it comes to the assessment of Scales in recent times.

Yes he is unhappy with recruitment, but this is heading towards self-sabotage territory and is just a step too far now.

End it, Brendan. Before it ends us…pick the best possible eleven for every game that remains.

Paul Gillespie

🇮🇪 | 𝙇𝙚𝙩’𝙨 𝙏𝙖𝙡𝙠 - 𝙇𝙞𝙖𝙢 𝙎𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙨 I think some of the comments on Liam Scales recently are a little over the top. If we’ve to go up a level we need to bring in a consistent partner for CCV but it doesn’t mean there’s no place as a ‘squad player’ at the club.… https://t.co/bpUnT9Thuq
– Monday, 22 April 2024

David Potter’s bestseller The Celtic Rising ~ 1965: The Year Jock Stein Changed Everything is completely sold out in print on but is available on Amazon kindle, with all the photographs of the hardback edition, for HALF PRICE at just £3.49…

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Opinion: Brendan Rodgers digging his heels in over Liam Scales | OneFootball