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Another Win, And Another Day That Confirms Rodgers As The Supreme Figure At Celtic Park.

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Well, that was good, wasn’t it, folks?

Even after just a handful of league games so far, this is exactly what we’ve come to expect from this team this season. Having watched them in pre-season, having watched them in a cup game, and now having watched them across a couple of league matches at two difficult venues, this is a good, flowing, energetic, and ruthless Celtic team.

The performances of certain players have been taken to brand-new heights. I love watching Maeda in this team. I love watching Hatate. I love watching Callum McGregor pushing that little bit further up the pitch to get goals this season. Alistair Johnston’s play as part of this side is brilliant, and I’m immensely enjoying watching Maeda as well.

I’ve already seen some people posting what I can only describe as hysterical pish about Adam Idah’s performance, and again I’m reminded—as if I needed it—that there are a lot of people who spend their time watching football without actually knowing what they’re watching or understanding the game terribly well.

Idah had an excellent game today. His link-up play was excellent. His movement off the ball was excellent. His positional sense was excellent.

He’s a bit rusty because he spent far too long this summer waiting for us to make the move that got him out of Norwich, where they barely used him at all. He’s still getting up to speed, but you can already see what his qualities are and how much he’ll bring to this team.

Rodgers knows exactly what he’s doing in bringing Adam Idah back to Celtic Park, and the fact that he rubber-stamped that deal tells you that Rodgers’ confidence in him is unwavering. Today, I think his performance justified it when examined in its full and proper context, rather than the knee-jerk reactions of those spitting their dummies out because he didn’t get a hat trick.

Yesterday, after his team had won at Hampden, Philip Clement showed that unerring ability he and everyone at his club have for talking utter rot, putting their foot in their mouths, and giving Celtic additional motivation, even though we don’t require any.

He was talking big about coming to Celtic Park and winning the game. These people really allow themselves to get carried away with a single performance.

But I can tell you that I’m confident because I’ve watched more than just one good Celtic performance this season. Pre-season was an absolute blast of excellent football against good sides, and we’ve started this season in top form.

We’ve only missed one thing against this current Ibrox team, and that’s a statement victory. I mean, Rodgers’ record against them is exceptional. Four wins out of five, with the other being a game we should have won, is good enough on its own, but we’re conscious that we’re missing a statement victory. And a statement victory would be a shattering blow to them, especially this early in the season, after the transfer window has shut and they have nothing to do but wait through the long, interminable months until January when they can try to fix what’s gone wrong. Good luck with that because their financial position won’t have improved by then.

And if they thought getting players off the books over the summer was hard, they ain’t seen nothing yet. After those players have been rotting in the reserves or flopping like fish on a line every week in our league, it’s going to be even tougher.

It was all well and good for him to talk trash yesterday when their side had the points in the bag and we had yet to play. But this afternoon, if any of them had the guts to watch, I’m intrigued to know if they still feel as confident. Because I wouldn’t be in their shoes.

There’s always worry when a team loses so many goal scorers from its ranks that you start to wonder where the goals to replace them will come from.

But Rodgers has obviously had time to think about this.

He had time to plan his response to a certain extent because we knew there was a likelihood we would lose Matt. Obviously, promises were made to O’Riley in January, which didn’t leave us with much wiggle room. It was a big deal that he stuck with the club, didn’t raise a ruckus, and didn’t bang the transfer drum. Atletico Madrid made an immense offer for him, and the fact that he was fine with us turning it down was a great demonstration of his loyalty and confidence in the manager to keep his word, and that is important.

But Brendan’s had time to think about what would happen if O’Riley left, and Brendan knew enough about the people above him to realise that he might not get to replace O’Riley with anyone reliable, at least in the early stages. When you see the way McGregor moves at the moment, the way Hatate moves at the moment, and how both of them have stepped up to the mark already to start scoring goals, and when you see the way Kuhn has played off the wide position, you can see the outlines of what the boss has tried to do.

Let’s bear in mind, though, that we’re now three games into the season.

We’ve also played a cup game.

And in those four matches, our two registered centre forwards have yet to score a goal. Now, Maeda played centrally last weekend and scored twice, but neither Idah, who we can excuse because he’s just joined, nor Kyogo has yet put the ball in the net.

And yet we don’t look any less potent up front.

That’s a top-class manager at work. A top-class manager who can weave his magic even after losing such outstanding goal-scoring players from his squad. He lost Jota before he’d even properly seen him play. He lost Abada, first to injury and then in that messy situation last year. Those were his two best wide players. He never really got a chance to work with Hatate, who was out with an injury that put him on the sidelines for a long spell last season.

So, Rodgers has had to shift things around and compromise, and he’s done it superbly.

And you know, it makes me laugh when I hear people lauding our chairman and others for their alleged success. Do you think there’s a single one of them, a single one of the glorified pen pushers and bean counters, who would know the first thing about how to shift Rodgers’ resources around like that? Who would know the first thing about developing a tactic and a system that replaces players who scored all those goals with guys already at the club, and still keep us looking like a formidable, well-oiled fighting machine?

Don’t make me laugh. No director ever saved a penalty, scored a goal, or changed a tactic at a tricky away ground with ten men in a must-win match, as Rodgers did at Ibrox some years ago.

Every bit of credit you give them takes a bit away from the people who really earned it—the manager, the players, the coaches, the guys on the sharp end.

This is a football club. This is not a business.

Let the bean counters count beans; that’s all they’re good for. The football men run the football team, and it’s the football team, not the accountancy types, who put the points on the board and fill the trophy room with silverware. Nobody lauds the Celtic board of the 60s for the European Cup; that was Stein and the players. But we have people at Celtic Park who think the tail wags the dog, and a section of our support that agrees with them.

But we are watching a master at work here, a genuine elite boss, and there’s a part of me that thinks that’s part of the problem—that a swaggering Brendan Rodgers is too much for certain fragile egos at Celtic Park to handle.

Because in the land of the Sun God, there can only be one king. There’s a tendency with some folk at Celtic Park towards a Trumpian sense of entitlement. They’re hooked on adulation and can’t help but brief their buddies in the media to “look how smart and brilliant I am” and have a severe intolerance of anyone who overshadows that.

Here’s the critical flaw in blatantly taking the piss out of Rodgers by withholding signings, by asking him to do more with less while stacking the bank with all that cash as the team goes backwards. It doesn’t make them look like geniuses. If Rodgers does more with less, it makes Rodgers look like a genius. It makes Rodgers ever more the leader of the club, ever more the centre of the universe, ever more the one who outshines those who think the sun shines out of their arses.

We are witnessing today the possibility of another all-conquering Celtic team. But that possibility depends on those above Rodgers properly equipping him for the job.

But you know what? They can deprive Rodgers of resources. They can pursue their little pet projects. They can build their own Golden House where Celtic Park currently stands—it will be a fine monument to our tumbling European coefficient at least, their own vanity project, the lasting altar to their own egos.

But Rodgers will put his name in the history books. Rodgers will write entire chapters, with or without their help, with or without their support, and all of us will remember that.

We’re top of the league with nine points out of nine, despite a weakened team.

The side that started today will almost certainly form the bulk of the team that starts next weekend. I’ll make a prediction right now: if the team changes much, it will be with players already in the squad coming in for others, like Kyogo for Idah and Kuhn for Forrest; not a single new signing will start next weekend’s match, and I’m pretty confident of that because those who do sign, even if they are good enough to start, probably won’t even get as much as a day to train with their teammates, far less learn the system.

But yeah, this is how big clubs and their transfer windows work, apparently.

Congratulations to the Bhoys today on an outstanding display, and now they and the boss can start to focus on the next game on the schedule—the one against The Mouth Of Brussels, Manneken Piss, and his team, who once again have provided us with our additional motivation.

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13 comments

  • goodghuy says:

    It was a very good performance today, Hatate, and Mcgregor were excellent, Bernardo did OK, but he will do well in due course. I will be hoping for about 3 new players in place for the glasgow derby, and then I will be fairly satisfied. HH

  • Bunter says:

    Great performance this afternoon. Idah looks a bit ring rusty, but another week on the training ground will see him get his touch back. Hatate was outstanding and I also thought that Liam Scales was excellent. Liam is developing into a class act under Brendan. Now Let’s he some quality in the door before Friday night and we’ll be looking good for Europe as well as domestically.

  • Kevan McKeown says:

    Good win at a tough ground. Couldn’t fault anybody and tho it’s big boots tae fill, Bernardo never put a foot wrong or wasted a pass, so credit tae the boy. Happy with that performance and now’s the time tae get the bench strengthened as well.

  • Scud Missile says:

    Auld PISHY Tena Lady Heevins using the death of a 117 year old woman to have cheap dig at out club.
    That auld fart should be ashamed of himself for that comment.

  • Bitdman says:

    What a player Hatate is and to think BR was leaving him out last season and playing somebody’s name I’ve already forgotten. When he came back from injury 2nd part of last season that’s when we kicked on and I reckon we’ll kick on just fine from the sale of MOR. If we can just keep a hold of Hatate for seasons to come we’ll be just fine particularly with Callum alongside and leading the way and with some new additions to come hopefully. Things don’t look too bad at all despite the constant moaning

  • Johnny Green says:

    It was such a straightforward professional performance that it was almost boring at times. Next week won’t be boring though, as inflicting pain on those who deserve it, is great fun.

  • Croftcelt says:

    Is the “mouth of Brussels” the same guy as the Brussel Spout?

  • Michael McCartney says:

    The best result of the week other than the one in Paisley was at Hampden, I’ve been worried for a few weeks now that complacency was the only danger to us.
    One victory against a team who in my opinion are heading for relegation and the bragging from them starts once again, Just the motivation to sweep away any complacency, they’ll never learn.
    Good solid display today, BR has improved this squad a lot since last season, a few signings this week and from the 1st September the serious stuff really starts, If we can finish in the top 24 of 36 teams in the group stage of the Champions League then it would take us into the knockout rounds and keep us in Europe until February.
    Give BR at least 3 or 4 decent signings and it can be done.
    I just wish the minority of the supporters who slag some of our 1st team and fringe players would give it a rest, Scales in my opinion is a decent CB, Taylor is a decent Wing Back,especially going forward, Ralston and Welsh are decent back up players.
    They are part of our squad and deserve our support and respect, Idah had a good game today with his unselfish runs and will give a lot of CB’s a hard time of it once he’s up to speed, it’s not his fault that his pre season hasn’t been the smoothest.

  • JimBhoy says:

    Consistency of performance all season has been brill..

  • Neil says:

    I hope to god next week is the time we go beyond 2 goals up and then finish a team. It’s been a pattern, more or less win before 40 mins then nothing much it’s done, game won. Its ok as nothing coming at at us and we winning. But Sunday unless they stupid it’s high ball after high ball… Lofted balls from midfield over our defense. Long throws. We will nulify wingers. But high balls a worry. Hoof ball guaranteed. We may struggle against as much tactics. Football we win every time.

  • Mr Magoo says:

    Unfortunately James, with the huns winning 6-0 against toss county , they are the champions in waiting they are gonna get to another euro final and win it this time. They are going for a quadruple. .

    That is According to ma wee hun mate Andy and his cohorts.

    Well i watched their highlights and they are still pish to watch..

    I know we will beat them next week and I really hope it is by a record scoreline.

    Burst their bubble and watch them drown in a fountain of their own pish

  • Matt says:

    New signings should have been in prior to heading to the USA. Makes me sick to my stomach. The board are making a trying to make a fool of BR, a guy who is trying his best to make a successful team for the supporters. I hate them for that. We should be going into this next game absolutely buzzing. The board take that away from us with their amateur behaviour.
    SACK THE BOARD

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