Rodgers is brave, in a way. He sticks to his guns, regardless of the noise. He is completely convinced that things will change quite quickly.
What he sees, few see, but when it is his turn to confirm it closer, he wishes for some encouragement on nights like this. He wants some ammunition to attack all the skeptics. Combative effectiveness is needed.
That kind of spectacle becomes even more difficult when you take into account Celtic’s tendency to implode under force, their ruinous addiction to conceding goals in bunches.
In Dortmund they conceded the first two in four minutes and the next two in three minutes. It used to be the continuation of a brutal pattern.
They conceded in the 82nd and 85th minutes against Lazio in Rome’s last season.
They conceded in the snub 60 and 66 against Atlético de Madrid.
Postecoglou’s crew also suffered from this disease. Real Betis. Real Madrid and Leipzig scored two goals quickly in games under his direction.
It was also a component of Rodgers’ early necromancy. Barcelona scored 3 goals in 10 minutes. PSG scored in the 34th and 40th and in the 83rd and 85th in a single game and in the 22nd and 28th and in the 75th and 79th in the other.
Salzburg scored two goals in six minutes in a Europa League match under Rodgers. Leipzig once again scored two out of four. What perspectives do you get when that happens?
Celtic do not want to get anything more out of this sport in terms of problems – easier matches await them later – but the recovery of satisfaction after the debacle in Dortmund is a necessity. For the crew and for Rodgers himself.
Rodgers has been a great domestic manager, but in European terms he has been decidedly second-rate at Celtic, the owner of one of the most egregious losses in the club’s history.
EU’s most notable victories were the home and away wins against Lazio in 2019. Lennon was in charge.
Celtic need more of those performances and resilience under the force is part of that. Too often in this type of sport, they have made it easy for warring parties to play against them in crucial moments rather than being the nightmare rival that Rodgers wants them to be.
McGregor can be in the middle for Celtic. For his sake, viewers wish he was the spearhead of a compelling show instead of being the only ones chasing shadows once again. Rodgers says he’s excited. That’s a word of honor for it. There are others.
