Brendan Rodgers is relishing this part of the season and the chance for Celtic to show their true selves in the final ten games of the league campaign.
With five draws and two defeats, there have been inconsistencies littered throughout Celtic’s Scottish Premiership title bid but now is the time for focused minds and strong performances.
We’ve seen too many passive performances from the players throughout, even in matches that were eventually won.
Rodgers is now looking to address that and had a clear message for his players before the recent 7-1 demolition of Dundee at Celtic Park.
Brendan Rodgers looking for ‘physical’ Celtic
He’s told his squad that there is simply no more luxury time to coast through games.
The Celtic boss said [Daily Record]: “That is what the message was before the game the other night, ‘you are now in a period where you just cannot be in your comfort zone’. Naturally, you can be as a player, for whatever reason, but from now on in… you should never be.
“I say comfort zone because you have to have physicality. If you are in your comfort zone in life, then you’re normally not being physical, not doing the work. We’ve had inconsistencies up until this point, but we are still very much there and it is still very much in our hands, what we want to do.
“You are in a period now where you have to be on it, you have to be there, and I think we saw the example of that the other night. From the off, the aggression, the speed, the touch, everything. When our game is like that then our football smiles, and that is what we want to see now for the rest of the season.
“Everything felt really good in the game, the supporters were brilliant and really pushed the team, the players never got comfortable in the game, despite the scoreline. Pushing, intense, fast, dynamic and quality in our goals. And that’s the level of performance that we want.”
Time will tell whether or not this really is a new Celtic attitude taking hold. Sunday’s match away to Hearts at Tynecastle is going to tell us a lot about where this team is right now.
However, the messaging from Rodgers is strong. Hopefully, it’s not bluster and more of a reflection on what he is sensing from his squad.
If they are ready to fight for every inch of the title, then Celtic undoubtedly still have a chance to defend their crown.
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