Brendan Rodgers is a tough man to please.
That’s why Celtic have been trophy crazy under his stewardship because, even if the club is securing the silverware, he still isn’t shy to call out the team and drop key players.
Rewind back to April, and with Celtic about to wrap up the title, they were beaten 1-0 at now-relegated St Johnstone.
Rodgers called out his players, including axing certain stars from the XI, but one man on the bench couldn’t get himself in, despite the negative result and performance.
Maik Nawrocki told he ‘should leave’ Celtic
The week before Celtic’s defeat in Perth, Maik Nawrocki started against Hearts, helped secure the points and the clean sheet.
Yet, he was dropped the following match against St Johnstone and was hardly seen again, despite Rodgers being unhappy with some of his players.
Every time Nawrocki has taken to the pitch, Ross McCormack thinks he has ‘impressed’ and looked ‘pretty solid’.
This is despite Liam Scales and Auston Trusty making ‘errors, yet his manager continually ignores him, and McCormack told Clyde 1 Superscoreboard that it is now a signal for the centre-back to ‘leave’.
“I have been impressed by him, especially this season,” said McCormack. “Like you said, every time he has played, he hasn’t let anyone down.
“I think Scales and Trusty both have had some errors in them this season. Nawrocki has looked pretty solid to me.
“But football these days just comes down to whether the manager fancies you or not. It really looks as simple as the manager doesn’t fancy him.
“For that reason, it looks like the writing is on the wall and he should leave.”
Brendan Rodgers’ interesting comments on Nawrocki in Celtic training
Many have stated that, on the pitch, Nawrocki isn’t doing much wrong, so you have to question, what is happening in training?
At the end of the day, the Celtic Park faithful can argue all they want about the Poland star, but if he is looking off-colour in training, then Rodgers has the right to treat him like he has done.
But the issue here is that’s not the case, and the Celtic manager himself has praised Nawrocki’s efforts in training, yet he hasn’t picked him.
Go back to Celtic’s thumping Scottish Cup semi-final win over St Johnstone, Nawrocki, alongside youngster Johnny Kenny, weren’t in the squad because of the limit of players you can pick.
Speaking to BBC Radio Scotland, at the time, Rodgers wasn’t a happy man, and his comments on Nawrocki in training made for interesting reading.
“I look at two players who aren’t even in the squad,” Rodgers told BBC Radio Scotland before the semi-final.
“We have a man less on the substitutes bench. We don’t quite get why you go from eight subs in a Scottish Cup game, then you have nine in the league.
“We lose out two players in Johnny Kenny and Maik Nawrocki, who are absolutely brilliant in training, working so hard, and they aren’t even on the bench.”
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