You can’t please everyone in football, and that’s just the case with Celtic.
In recent times, expectations at Scotland’s most successful club has gone through the roof, and that’s because of the non-stop success on the field of play.
From waiting decades and decades to win a Treble, and then it happens under Martin O’Neill, to now winning it in your sleep.
You can understand why the Celtic Park faithful, at the start of the campaign, predict or expect Trebles to be won, and Rodgers might deliver another before the season is out.
But, whenever there is a drop in form, or the players go through a bad run, like they have done in patches during 2025, then the reaction can be over reactionary.
That was the case following Celtic’s 1-1 draw at Rangers on Sunday at Ibrox.
Brendan Rodgers’ style of play at Celtic shot down
It can’t be argued that, when Rodgers returned to Celtic for his second spell, that first campaign didn’t go the way he liked, especially with how the team played, yet the double was delivered.
Things have been far better this term, especially during the first half of the campaign, and the progression in the Champions League.
That’s why Mark Wilson was annoyed at this ‘false’ and ‘nonsense’ narrative that is going around about Rodgers’ style of play at Celtic, from the slow-placed nature of it and the so-called lack of variety to it, as he told Clyde 1 Superscoreboard.
“It certainly doesn’t,” responded Wilson on Celtic’s points and goal tally doesn’t marry with accusations of a slow style of play.
“It’s just false. That narrative came on the back of some of the defeats in that little blip they had. Fans saying that, it wasn’t good to watch, then it’s been a ‘tedious’ title for Brendan Rodgers. It’s just nonsense. It’s just false.
“By the way, in the last two games, they proved that was false by moving teams in different ways and scoring some outstanding goals.
“Last weekend at Dundee United and against Rangers, you see the ball that Engels gets for the goal, and he shifts it straight out to Maeda last week at Tannadice.
“They worked on that several times against Rangers. You can’t accuse them of overplaying. That’s direct, and a different approach they identified could get them some success. Isolating Maeda one-v-one.
“Last week, they got a goal from it, and now, they didn’t get joy from it in the first half, but they are still trying something different”
Celtic fans have ‘very high standards’
When Celtic won the title at Tannadice, that was the club’s 14th in their last 15 seasons, which is beyond remarkable and utterly dominant.
The best thing about it all is that Rangers are far away in the distance, and unless the Hoops fall off a cliff and shoot themselves in the foot, then nothing is changing in the coming years.
That’s why Wilson touched upon the high standards at the club, including how the players do vary their style of play when needed.
“Celtic fans have got very high standards. They think direct play is going just long over the top,” added Wilson.
“By the way, Viljami Sinisalo did go long a few times into Idah against Rangers, so they did mix it up, so that’s an on-the-pitch decision from the goalkeeper. You have seen that happening.
“But, again, it would have been worked on in training. More often than not, when they play through their midfield and work it wide, get under laps to the byline, they score plenty of goals and they do it quickly.”
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