The new Brendan Rogers era is now underway at Celtic. The Celtic manager is well into his preparations in the Portugal training camp.
67 Hail Hail covered a story yesterday that gave a glimpse into how Rodgers was working and communicating with the Celtic players on the training ground.
The Celtic manager looked calm, composed and concise when delivering instructions to his players. And that is pretty much how he came across the first time he took over at Celtic in 2016.
Prior to his arrival, Ronny Deila had already announced he was leaving at the end of the season and we had just been knocked out of the Scottish Cup by a Rangers team that was still playing in the Scottish Championship. It’s fair to say we were in disarray. Until the arrival of Brendan Rodgers.
Former Celtic defender, Mikael Lustig has told how after a horror start to the new manager’s reign, where we lost our Champions League qualifying first leg to Lincoln Red Imps, how Rodgers’ work with the players helped them overcome that result and eventually turn us into Invincible Treble winners.
Lustig said [Daily Record], “Straight after the second leg we just felt that Brendan and the staff were like proper, good people to work with.
“Then, when we got Scott Sinclair and Moussa Dembele started to find his feet we just felt we had a proper, good team. But like I said, no one would have thought after the first game in Gibraltar that we were going to have one of the best seasons that Celtic ever had.
“So much of that was down to the manager and what he brought to the team. He brings belief to the players and that’s so important.
“Some other times, when you work with a manager and he’s saying he wants to work with a high press or whatever, if five or six players don’t believe it’s going to work, then things are going to turn out difficult.
“But with Brendan, you have a proper belief that if you do the things he’s said, then you’re pretty sure that you’re probably going to win the game.
“There were so many times when he would tell us how to play against a certain team and every time he was proven right. Every time. So, for me, when he speaks about an upcoming game you just sit there and think, ‘OK we’re going to have a really good chance to win the game, this guy knows what he’s doing!’.
“That’s the main thing he gives to the players – a proper belief in everything they do.”
Such a simple concept, but one that worked really effectively. Belief breeds confidence and that is something that everyone needs in all walks of life. But none more so than football players. And this Celtic team are already brimming with it after their Treble success last season.
And when you look at what Rodgers inherited in 2016 compared to what he has now, the Celtic fans must be excited for the season ahead to see how the new manager can help kick on what must be one of the strongest first-team squads we have had in years.
Rodgers inherited a very good Celtic first eleven in 2016, but when you drill down to what we had in reserve, it was nothing like what he has at his disposal now.
The new season ahead under Rodgers has the potential to turn into what we witnessed under him in 2017. And that should excite the Celtic support.
In other news, Alistair Johnston injury update; the key Celtic fixtures defender could miss
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