Everything Brendan Rodgers had to say to the media after Celtic’s 1-1 draw at Ibrox

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The Celtic Star

·4 Mei 2025

Everything Brendan Rodgers had to say to the media after Celtic’s 1-1 draw at Ibrox

Brendan Rodgers spoke to the media after the Champions maintained their 17 points lead at the top of the Scottish Premiership with a 1-1 draw at Ibrox against theRangers side that not only end the season empty handed as far as silverware is concerned but also failed to secure the coveted summer bragging rights trophy…

Brendan Rodgers and the Celtic players post-match. theRangers v Celtic, 4 May 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Afterwards the Celtic supporters at Ibrox noted that the Blue Room was Bare because there are no trophies there. The cannot be said about Celtic Park with two domestic honours already secured – the Premier Sports League Cup and the Scottish Premiership title and there’s the small matter of the Scottish Cup Final at Hampden against Aberdeen.

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Here’s everything that was said at Brendan’s post-match media conference today over at Ibrox…

Brendan Rodgers arrives at Ibrox. theRangers v Celtic, 4 May 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Q: Brendan, what did you make of that game today?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, I was really pleased with the team’s performance. (the)Rangers started off with a diamond, so I was glad we then find our way through that. I thought we had lots of spells where we did. Maybe in the final third of the pitch we were just short today in certain passes and making the final pass.

Brendan Rodgers. theRangers v Celtic, 4 May 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

“Overall I thought we had really good control of the game. We probably should go one up and then from that there actually corner that we get, we go behind in the game just before half-time so it’s not a great time to concede, but I said to the players, listen, they’ve done a lot of really good things, we’ve just got to keep our rhythm, keep passing, keep the control in the game and hopefully eventually the goal will come.”

Adam Idah celebrates scoring at Ibrox to level the score at 1-1. theRangers v Celtic, 4 May 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

“I am really pleased for Adam (Idah), he was a good reference for the team today. I felt that we were the team with control, and with our playing through that, we felt we could maybe get something late on. Because normally you come here, you normally have 10-15 minutes where you’re really hanging on, but I never felt we had that today. But yeah, pleased that if you can’t win it then of course you don’t want to lose it, so the players were really good.”

Q: Did you feel that was a big chance for Daizen Maeda at the end?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, we have to give him a bit of leeway. He’d been in Japan all week; he had his first training day with us yesterday. He flew expecting his wife to have their third child, and she didn’t have it, so we had to come back and then come into a game here at Ibrox.

Daizen Maeda’s chance. theRangers v Celtic, 4 May 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

“It’s one of those tough ones, you look at it and you analyse it, he’s through in goal. What can he do? He can toe poke it, can he get around the keeper? But in fairness to Liam (Kelly), he’s done well, he’s had a good spread on it, and I’m not sure Daizen can get it square for us to finish. But it just shows you we kept going right to the very end, the will was there to score, to fight, to run, and yeah, it was pleasing, especially the second half.”

Q: Is Daizen happy to go back out again?

Brendan Rodgers: “Well, I said to him that you can do if you feel you want to go back after tonight. But we’ll wait and see.”

Adam Idah celebrates. theRangers v Celtic, 4 May 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Q: You mentioned Adam Idah there, he kept plugging away, it’s a great touch he takes before he smashes it towards goal.

Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, I thought he was a good reference for us today because he, like I said, when there’s pressure on, he’s that ability to play up to him and he’s touching that, and the move was good and he didn’t get too despondent from the miss in the first half. But he kept going, and like you said, it was a wonderful touch, and he’s got that power in the box. So, no, I’m really pleased for him. He’s been a real contributor for us this season. If you look at his minutes-to-goals to goals ratio, it’s very, very good Like I said, he’s a player for the big moment, and it was a big moment today.”

Adam Idah celebrates scoring at Ibrox to level the score at 1-1. theRangers v Celtic, 4 May 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Q: Did you feel, Brendan, that physically you were better today than maybe you’d been in games at Ibrox before? In terms of competing?

Brendan Rodgers: “Well, it was certainly better than the last game we played here. But it’s the mark of my teams, they normally have a physicality to them and a press and good in the duels. The game here, we were beaten well, fair and square. I think I sat up here and said that. The game at Celtic Park, we just started slowly and then obviously we get back into the game. But today it was much more like, as I said, obviously some players miss them, but the mentality of the team was very good and like I said, we played with a real good control in what was obviously a difficult place to play.”

Johnny Kenny. theRangers v Celtic, 4 May 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Q: I was going to say, you managed to get Johnny Kenny on the pitch as well. Will there be more opportunities for guys like Kenny in these games?

Brendan Rodgers: “I think there will be. I think our idea is to get to the Cup final in the best possible place that we can, in terms of the availability of players and players getting some minutes. We’ll probably have the likes of Cameron Carter-Vickers coming out for maybe a couple of games this week. He’s been playing with a little bit of an issue that he can get some sort of injection on that will make it right. So I would think he’ll maybe miss a couple of games, but he will be back fit and ready for St Mirren and the Scottish Cup final, a wee bit like Alistair Johnson. But like you say, some of these other guys are getting opportunities and getting minutes, but with the same ambition and desire to win games.”

Celtic supporters at Ibrox theRangers v Celtic, 4 May 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Q: Good to see 2,000 Celtic supporters at Ibrox today?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, I think now having had both fixtures, that’s what it’s all about, isn’t it? This game is such an iconic fixture, and it’s the supporters that make it. So, brilliant to have our support today. Always mix for the atmosphere, and yeah, they can be proud of their team.”

Viljami Sinisalo. theRangers v Celtic, 4 May 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Q: How did you feel about Sinisalo today, and what’s Schmeichel’s progress?

Brendan Rodgers: “Well, I thought Vil was excellent. You’re always looking for maybe keepers with temperament, especially a young keeper and I thought his temperament was really good today. He didn’t look nervous, dealt well with anything he had to and yeah, I’ve been really pleased with Vil. We knew he was a really good young keeper. Indirectly, this has given him a chance to get some games and show that he has the authority to play for Celtic, and he’s definitely done that.

“Kasper is just on-going day-to-day. We’ll see how he is, and we’ll see where he’s at over the next week or so.”

Viljami Sinisalo.theRangers v Celtic, 4 May 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Q: Was there any concern about the start with the two headers that Balogun got, one off the bar and then one at Sinisalo that Raskin scored with a header from a free-kick?

Brendan Rodgers: “Aye, there always is. Yeah, always. I think that we’ve conceded from a couple of set-pieces in the last couple of games. But I also think that is a Rangers game. They are good on set-pieces. Delivery is good with James (Tavernier). His delivery is fantastic, puts it in the area and like you say, Balogun loses, I think it was Scales, maybe. So that’s always a concern. But the player stood up to it because there were a lot of long throws in the box, a lot of deep free-kicks. So in the main, you’re not going to win 100 per cent of them. But what we had to do, we did it well. And obviously, the goal, we were asking the header offside, but that’s actually good defending because it’s so easy to drop deep when you’re away from home. But we kept the line really strong right through to the last step, so when it was delivered, it was offside.”

Rangers substitute Neraysho Kasanwirjo runs on to the pitch to throw items off the pitch that appear to have been thrown into the Celtic penalty area during the second half of the match. theRangers v Celtic, Scottish Premiership, Ibrox. Sunday 04 May 2025. Photo Stuart Wallace/Shutterstock

Q: Are these three weeks tricky? You’ve got a big occasion at the end of this, but technically nothing to play for in the week. How do you keep them going to make sure they’re ready for that?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, I do think we still have a lot to play for. We want to finish well. We have some targets that we want to achieve in terms of goals and wins and everything else. But ultimately we want to arrive into the cup final in a good place. So it’ll be pretty straightforward. There’s no free passes at Celtic. But what it does give me the chance to do is to play some players and get them some minutes, and keep the squad fresh and ready for the final.”

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

Q: How is Nicolas Kuhn?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, hopefully next week he’ll be OK. He had a bash in his knee when he went on to United. He hasn’t trained so much all week. He was out with the medical team and the rehab team. We gave him a go yesterday, but he had a bruise on his knee, which the scan showed up. So we’re hopeful that by next weekend he should be fine.”

Cameron Carter-Vickers. theRangers v Celtic, 4 May 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Q: Is Carter Vickers’ injury serious?

Brendan Rodgers: “No, it’s just what you see today. He gets through it really, really well, but there’s just a window. Our priority, of course, is all the games, but we have a Scottish Cup final. So that’s the big priority, to get the players ready for that. So there’s a little window now in order for him to get some treatment on that. He gets an injection which clears up a little bit of the issue that he has. It’s just timing, really, and this is a good time for it.”

Q: Is it his knee?

Brendan Rodgers: “No, it’s his hamstring.”

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