There’s no doubt it’s been a difficult week for Celtic. A defeat, cup exit, question marks about the club’s transfer business and more injuries than is sustainable – Brendan Rodgers is treading a rocky road at the start of his return as manager.
Nonetheless, Rodgers is heartened by the response he has seen from his players, insisting that the signs are good in training at Lennoxtown over the last few days.
St Johnstone visit Celtic Park on Saturday and three points are a must, especially in the build-up to a crucial derby at Ibrox the following weekend.
Rodgers is now keen to turn last weekend’s negative into a driving force for Celtic’s season, telling reporters in a media conference today: “I think what’s important to understand when you’re trying to be successful, that losing and failing in a game is integral to becoming successful. Yeah, it was a disappointing result and we didn’t do enough to win the game.
“But it’s also something you have to have at a club this size, you have to have that mental strength and toughness to cope with disappointing results, and then be ready to go again. That’s what the players have been, they’ve been outstanding this week in training, and we’ll look to take that into the game.”
However, Rodgers has also reminded everyone that the defeat to Kilmarnock isn’t the only one Celtic will suffer under his watch as Bhoys boss.
He continued: “It will happen again. There’s no doubt about that. You lose games of football. For us, it’s very early stages of our process that we’re in. We’re obviously not helped by the number of injuries and whatever we have, but we’re in a process where the players will get better, and the game idea will look better.
“It’s just at the beginning of that process, but whilst you’re finding your rhythm and the quality of your game, clearly you have to get results, and that’s why we’re here.”
All eyes are on Saturday for a response from the team, from the manager and from the fans. Everyone needs to pull together and push towards a positive result against the Perth side, then Celtic can put pieces together in the transfer market and head into a derby match with a bit of momentum.
In other news, Celtic now identifying “magic” in closing stages of summer transfer window.
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