What Neil Critchley has previously said about ‘incredible’ Brendan Rodgers ahead of Celtic vs Hearts clash

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Celtic head to Tynecastle this week in what will be Brendan Rodgers’ first encounter with new Hearts manager Neil Critchley since his arrival in Gorgie.

Brendan Rodgers’ side looks to pick up where they left off before the international break, with tough challenges ahead in the congested fixture list heading into Christmas.

Although this will be Celtic’s first league clash with Hearts since Critchley’s appointment, Rodgers is familiar with the Englishman from his tenure at Liverpool.

Critchley worked in various roles in Liverpool’s youth set up in a seven-year stint in Merseyside before pursuing his own managerial career. It was here he grew an appreciation for Rodgers’ way of working.

Neil Critchley a fan of Brendan Rodgers after Liverpool link-up

The man in the Tynecastle dugout had glowing words of praise to give Rodgers from their time working together in Liverpool.

In a pre-match press conference before his Blackpool side played the Liverpool U23s in 2023, he spoke of his admiration.

Critchley said: “Brendan Rodgers and Jurgen Klopp were incredible at giving young players opportunities.”

He also drew similarities between his and the Celtic manager’s careers: “Brendan came through a similar pathway to me, in terms of his journey of working at U18s and U21s, so he was a believer of giving young players an opportunity.”

Critchley labelled the clear pathway to the first team set out by both Brendan Rodgers and Jurgen Klopp as “inspiring”.

“Brendan came through a similar pathway to me, in terms of his journey of working at U18s and U21s, so he was a believer of giving young players an opportunity.

“Jurgen carried that on. He always wanted to have the young academy players training with him, and some of them are now playing in the team.

“It was inspiring for the coaches to know there was an opportunity at such a fantastic football club in a period when they were so successful.

Rodgers and Critchley face off in Saturday’s league clash

Any pleasantries exchanged pre-match between the pair will surely be gone when the first whistle is blown at Tynecastle on Saturday night, with a highly charged game on the horizon.

The Celtic boss will be looking to avoid a similar result to the one the Hoops suffered in their last game in Gorgie which saw Celtic suffer a 2-0 defeat which was marred by refereeing controversy.

They face a Hearts side that sits 11th in the Scottish Premiership, having only won two games all season, and will be desperate to cause an upset to start clawing their way back up the table.

Celtic ran out comfortable 2-0 victors in the previous fixture at Celtic Park and Rodgers will be hoping to emulate that result against his old colleague in their first clash.