Last night was the whole Rodgers revolution in miniature.
No kidding. It was there if you wanted to see it, and I know that, as crazy as this will sound, that there is a section of our fan-base which just won’t.
They want to believe that Rodgers has been served brilliantly by the board and that, as Jerry Krause says in the amazing Netflix documentary The Last Dance that “players and coaches don’t win titles, organisations do.”
The notion is ludicrous. Last night shows it up as such.
Look at the performances of individual players in that game,
Some of them were superb.
Look at how he changes the game with the subs.
Rodgers, like Ange before him, is an architect; he knows what he wants the team as a whole to do and he knows in addition to that what he wants every individual part of the machine to do. Every signing you can pinpoint as definitely his, consider that not one that has been made to satisfy some bizarre “strategy” of bean-counters and non football people. All have performed exactly as he intended.
If this team sometimes resembles an unstoppable winning machine, it’s only that because someone like Rodgers has crafted it to fulfil that role.
Think on the summer window.
Who was the last signing we got over the line in that window, and why did that signing speak to what Rodgers wants this squad to do?
The guy confirmed in the last moments of the last day was Luke McCowan.
Who saw him being a crucial part of the jigsaw? Nobody but the manager himself.
There were lots of talents in our own league who the manager could have gone for; that’s the guy he chose.
Look at what we got out of Luke McCowan last night. He was one of the players who turned the game. He gave us drive and energy in a crucial area where we needed it most. He understood what McCowan could deliver when some people were still arguing about what a player from Dundee could possibly do in our side
Rodgers had the answer, and he knew it before anyone, just as he knew that there was a football in Yang and he persevered with that long after a lot of us had given up.
Listen, you only have to look at the European teams to see that he knows who can cut it on that bigger stage and who cannot but he also knows there is a cadre of guys who can do it right here at home and will do it very, very well.
That wins leagues. That’s why we’re now on the brink.
Yang is the classic example and I need to do a longer piece on him because Yang has had me all over the place like a Mexican jumping bean
For all that, the team performance last night was shaky in parts but in other parts exceptional.
I genuinely do believe that it was one of those nights when Rodgers proved himself to be not only a top manager but a top coach: the two are sometimes exclusive but in the case of the man we have here they are one and the same.
Not only is he a great judge of what a footballer brings to the team but he also has that incredible talent where he makes players better.
And you know what? That makes teams stronger and better without having to spend huge sums of money.
This is not to say that our board gets off without having to spend something but Rodgers has this skill-set and he has proved again that the most important thing this club can do is to sign him up on a long term deal as fast as it can.
I’m not going to suggest that Yang was man of the match: i think that went either to Schlupp or to Arne, but he turned it and there is not the least doubt that he and Luke between them were the difference here and that is a credit to the boss himself who has not only seen what these guys have to offer but crafted them into the kind of footballers who can deliver for him when it matters.
Yeah, this is what elite managers do; no further proof is necessary.
But i am certain that this manager and this team will continue to provide it.
What a great night that was for Celtic fans.
Photo by Craig Foy/SNS Group via Getty Images
I must be honest and confess. I had written Yang off. I thought he was a dud and that he was never going to make it with us. It’s been great to see his confidence grow and impose himself on games in a meaningful way recently. I’m delighted I was wrong.
We need to get Schlupp signed if we can, he’s making a real difference, McCowan and Yang both done exactly what we needed them to do, they were excellent and now as we go into a period of one game a week, hopefully we’ll see our best form. I’ve got a feeling Hibs are in for an absolute doing next week. Idah will have to work hard to be first choice again, he’s a little behind the others now and even though it’s not been a problem so far constantly switching Maeda from wide to central is not ideal. I’d play Maeda through the middle for the rest of the season to see how many goals he can get.
Remember yang when he got here yang was and still is a young man.
I have never been one to say i told you so but fuck it!!
Yang had some convincin tae do for most of us. Tho don’t mind sayin, ahm glad tae be wrong if he keeps this up. 1st half we looked complacent and the 2nd half subs changed the whole dynamic. In the end a good win. Notice tho, now that it looks like ‘Barry mania’ has already bitten the dust and given its early reality check, the media’s focus is all about the Ally Johnston penalty incident. They’ll dwell on this now as much as they possibly can, because it’s the only bit of deflection and pathetic comfort they can find.
A great result and some great attacking play to get the goals that mattered…..but…..that is three games in a row where we have looked very vulnerable in defence for long spells. I don’t want to be a spoilsport, but it cannot be ignored. Our undoubted better quality squad got us there in the end but, if not for Kasper in goal (yes I know that is what he is there for), we could have faced an uphill struggle as they got in behind us on several occasions. Hibs, Aberdeen and now St Mirren have given us a bit of a going over which we luckily survived and if St Mirren had gotten the penalty they deserved, it may well have cost us dearly.
All’s well that ends well and I fully appreciate that, however everything is not rosy in the garden, our centre backs look suspect at times to long balls being played through the middle for fast attackers to run onto. We really do need to improve in that department.
Agree Johnny, truth is Trusty and Johnston may be composed on the ball coming out of defence but by god they are rotten defenders, Trusty is weak and easily bullied, Johnston’s positional sense is lousy and he can be so rash. We moan about VAR decisions but we got one last night. Johnston tackle was a penalty and many refs would send him off especially in Europe. Johnston had an attempted headed clearance in his own box that was memorably bad, they two need replacing in the summer
I was getting it tight from my bros about how easily we were opened up at times, esp the Aberdeen game, so I was pleased that Brendan spoke about it after the game.
Listen, oh god I sound like Barry, there is only great things to say about our team so it is not a criticism at all or negativity to flag up one aspect that will just make us even better.
I, and this is not a hindsight thing, have thought we had more to see from Yang so I am glad he is coming on so well.
Anyway James hurry up with the Fear and Loathing article. One of things I really look forward to after the huns get gubbed lol
My opinion of Yang was very low, now I’m seeing a player who can be brought on with 30mins to go and he will give tiring full backs a really hard time. Next up is to see him do it for longer periods and I think Rodgers can develop him to this level.
James can I say to all Celtic supporters enjoy our Belgium wonderkid as long as we have him 21years imagine how good he is going to be unbelievable Scottish media bigots wrote him off . He will go to the very top final peice in national team they will win 2026 world cup.HAIL! HAIIL!. PS what the well glorious.
Up until the subs came on Celtic looked lethargic.
Possibly St Mirren were starting to tire.
McCowan and Yang were both brilliant.
Stonewall penalty to StMirren though.
I think yang was good, and some individual performance were decent also, but I think Brendan needs to maybe put his arm around Hatate, and maybe give him a couple weeks off, as he is just not been at the races recently. Hatate when In full flow, is one of our best players, but I think he a wee rest won’t do him any harm. Good result though, at a tricky venue.
If Saints had scored the penalty they should have had it would be 3-3 and Johnston could have been red carded. Completely different game then. Celtic still look vulnerable to implosion at times. Trusty and Johnston both comfortable on the ball but piss poor defenders. Have to be replaced. Brilliant for Yang, people were writing the lad off far too soon
Fair points Dan – It most definitely was a stonewall penalty of ever there was one…
We may suffer for that v a highly resurgent Hibernian next week though !
Could have been a penalty, it was much the same kind of incident when we got denied one against Bayern when the ball took the Munich players foot onto Engels. Johnston made contact with the top of the ball that rolled his foot into the Saints player, it was never a red card. We’ll have to start quicker against Hib and the Ibrox team, In these two games we’ve got to play Maeda through the middle, both teams weakness is their centre backs, Maeda will have them terrified. I’m not writing Idah off, BR will eventually get the best out of him, he has a role to play in certain games but Maeda has to start up front in the next two.