Let it Be – Brendan’s Speaking Words of Wisdom: ‘Don’t kill your joy’

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·05 de fevereiro de 2025

Let it Be – Brendan’s Speaking Words of Wisdom: ‘Don’t kill your joy’

All eyes were on Brendan Rodgers yesterday as the Celtic manager spoke in his media conference just hours after the closing of the January transfer window…

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers during training. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

With the failure to sign a replacement for the outgoing Kyogo, many supporters were expecting a reaction from the manager who made no secret of his desire to bring in extra reinforcements.

Vídeos OneFootball

Maybe some were expecting Brendan to unleash his fury at the board, but the Irishman is too clever and long in the tooth for that, and while his thoughts on the matter may differ privately he’s not foolish or naive enough to spill all to the bloodthirsty hacks and watching world.

Brendan remained calm and focused

Brendan instead remained calm and focused, and why shouldn’t he? We do have the best squad of players in the country after all which is reflected in the league standings. That Squad while admittedly weakened with the departure of Kyogo has been bolstered by the return of the talented Jota and the arrival of the experienced Jeffery Schlupp.

We are still in contention for a domestic treble, and have a Champions League play off against Bayern Munich to negotiate in the coming weeks.

‘You learn not to kill your joy’

As Brendan himself said: “You learn not to kill your joy over things you can’t actually control.”

The failure to replace Kyogo was a major disappointment, but we can do nothing about that, it’s done and dusted and we have a great deal to look forward to this season. What we can do is enjoy where we are at this moment and back the team on the challenges ahead. Some supporters should take note of Brendan’s words of wisdom.

Here’s more on what Brendan had to say yesterday afternoon at his media conference ahead of this evening’s Scottish Premiership match against Dundee at Celtic Park: “There’s no doubt that the squad is lighter. There’s no doubt, but we’ll work hard. We’ll focus in on this next four months. It’s a really exciting period for us, going into these games.

A tighter squad

“We’ll have a tighter squad, but also a squad that is improving in development. I think that’s sometimes what gets missed, especially when you have younger players. I think there’s still improvement in this squad, but it’ll be tighter than what it was before. We sold some players on, made great money for them. Some have gone on loan to get more experience. As I said, we’ll work with the players that are here and it’ll be tighter than what it was before.”

‘I don’t want to pin blame on anyone’

Brendan added: “Listen, I don’t want to pin blame on anyone here. I think as a collective, it wasn’t ideal how it ended for us. We have to, as a club now, go away and look at that, like we’ll do in every window, that’s what you have to do. You look around, of course, there wasn’t a great deal happening. But certainly all I was concerned was for Celtic and what I needed to happen here. So we’ll look into that and move forward.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers during training. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

“Obviously, I know the demands of here. I know the ambition I have for here. I think what’s very, very important is that what you learn through experience is the emotional transfer. Because if you have the hump, with the greatest respect, then as the coach and the leader, my leadership style is very much a motivational style where I like to teach, I like to inspire and I like to motivate.

‘A fantastic season until this point’

“Now, you’ve got to be in a good mood for that, in the main. As I said repeatedly, with experience you learn not to kill your joy over things you can’t actually control. As we’re sat here now, we can do absolutely nothing about it.

“So I go out that door and I’ve still got the same group of players, which I’m really happy with. Players that tomorrow night if we win our game in hand we go 13 points clear with 13 games to go. We’ve won a trophy, we’re in a playoff stage of the Champions League. We’ve had a fantastic season until this point.

The corner flag inside the stadium prior to the UEFA Champions League match between FC Bayern München and Paris Saint-Germain at Football Arena Munich on November 26, 2024 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

“So I don’t want to put any clouds over that there and take a narrative which is negative. There can still be a really, really positive season for us until this point. It’s been outstanding. So I want to continue with that and like I say, we can then go away and see what can we do better, how can we deal better with that window. And then once we do that, we’ve got many games to play and exciting games to play.”

Speaking Words of Wisdom

As Celtic supporters, starting this evening, we should heed these words of wisdom from the manager and adopt the exact same outlook as Brendan. It’s so important that we don’t kill the joy ourselves. Let in be.

Just an Ordinary Bhoy

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