Rodgers deliberately excluded one Celtic player from criticism

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The Celtic Star

·8 aprile 2025

Rodgers deliberately excluded one Celtic player from criticism

Brendan Rodgers held back from blaming one particular Celtic player following his side’s 1-0 defeat to St Johnstone on Sunday at McDiarmid Park…

Celtic Manager Brendan Rodgers St Johnstone v Celtic, Scottish Premiership, McDiarmid Park, Perth, 06 April 2025. Stuart Wallace . Photo IMAGO/Shutterstock

The Hoops aimed to move nearer to clinching their fourth straight Scottish Premiership title, but it was Daniels Balodis’ header in the fourth minute of the game that ultimately separated the teams.

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The loss marked Celtic’s second league defeat in their last three matches and raised their total points dropped in 2025 to 14. Rodgers delivered sharp criticism of his players after the game, openly doubting their hunger and desire.

Rodgers chose not to place any blame on his captain

However, he chose not to place any blame on his captain, Callum McGregor. The Irishman said: “There’s maybe a few [players]that are comfortable. And comfort is not a physical place. When you’re comfortable, you become a bit timid, and you lose duels, and you lose the fight.”

Daniels Balodis of St Johnstone celebrates with team mates after scoring to give St Johnstone a 1-0 lead. St Johnstone v Celtic, Scottish Premiership, l, McDiarmid Park, Perth, 06 April 2025: Photo Stuart Wallace/IMAGO Shutterstock

“And you can never be that. And you can never be that if you want to be a top player. So collectively, that’s the annoyance. It’s easily done. You can go into the game and look for an easy game, top to bottom. But the very best players are right on it from minute one.”

“I’m not talking here about boys like Callum McGregor”

“And I’m not talking here about boys like Callum McGregor, who deals with expectation, who deals with being the underdog in the Champions League and guys like that. But there’s absolutely no doubt, around some of our starts, we have some players going in looking for an easy game. And that’s what we need to look at.”

Nicolas Kuhn of Celtic fails to score under pressure from Stephen Duke-McKenna of St Johnstone. St Johnstone v Celtic, Scottish Premiership, McDiarmid Park, Perth, 06 April 2025. Photo Stuart Wallace/IMAGO Shutterstock

Celtic can still end up winning the league this weekend

Celtic still have a chance to claim the league title this weekend, despite their defeat to St Johnstone, if they manage to overcome Kilmarnock on Saturday and theRangers lose against Aberdeen at Pittodrie on Sunday. The Hoops are limping towards the title, and a worrying pattern seems to be developing domestically.

Conor Spence

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