Brendan Rodgers has reacted as he watched his Celtic side fall eight points behind Hearts in the Scottish Premiership this afternoon.
The Tynecastle fixture got off to a blistering start after an eighth minute own goal by Dane Murray was cancelled out by Callum McGregor just a few minutes later.
Celtic controlled much of the first-half and should have gone ahead just before half-time, but Benjamin Nygren dithered on the ball instead of just smashing home from five yards.
However, in three crazy second-half minutes, the score went from 1-1 to 3-1 to Hearts after a lapse in concentration allowed Kyziridis to put Hearts ahead and then another mistake from Murray caused Celtic to concede a penalty which Lawrence Shankland converted.
Celtic looked out of ideas after that as the game fizzled out to its inevitable end and here, Brendan Rodgers delivers his verdict on the Bhoys’ latest league defeat.
January ‘a long way off’ as Brendan Rodgers focuses ‘on the here and now’ for Celtic
The Celtic manager was asked if the performance at Tynecastle was down to the quality of player he has as the BBC’s Martin Dowden probed Rodgers about the upcoming January transfer window.
Rodgers told BBC Radio Scotland, “Well, that’s what we have to remain positive with. You know, it takes a level of determination. And like I said, it’s still so early, like you said, it’s only nine games in.
“Obviously, being been eight points behind is not what we would want, but the comfort being is that there’s still so many games to play.
“But ultimately we have to focus on ourselves and get our level of determination and find somehow that quality that could create us more opportunities.
Dowden: “In January, when the transfer window opens, do you need to be busy then?”
Rodgers: “Listen, that’s a way off.”
Dowden: “It’s only about six, seven weeks away.”
Rodgers: “It’s a way off. We’ve got so many games in between times. We had a big opportunity in the summer and weren’t able to take that.
“So we now have to focus on the here and now. And like I said, look to find more consistency and more quality in our play.”
The Celtic board and Rodgers need to take a long hard look at themselves
Let’s start with the Celtic board. January recruitment is clearly going to be very important if the board don’t want to concede this league in embarrassing fashion to Hearts.
Yes, there are only ten games gone, but in each of those ten, there is not one performance fans could pick out that gives any hope of Celtic getting out of this malaise.
As for Rodgers, that’s another big game that the Celtic manager has failed to negotiate since the big draw in Munich in the Champions League last season.
Since that game Celtic have lost to Rangers in the league, Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup final, drew blanks twice to Kairat Almaty, lost to SC Braga and now suffered a defeat to Hearts in the league.
Rodgers needs to work out how to get more from this Celtic side because as it stands right now, not many fans will be confident that this current run of form looks set to end soon.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
