Brendan Rodgers takes deep Celtic breath and asked himself a difficult question (2025)

Rodgers wasn't a happy man and admitted he had to swallow some of his 'anger' at full-time

The stands at McDiarmid Park had long emptied – including the three sides that housed the 7,000 Celtic fans who’d pitched up for a party in Perth.

But there was Brendan Rodgers still out there, patrolling the empty park with the look of a man with the weight of his world on his shoulders rather than a 13 point Premiership lead in his back pocket.

Moments earlier the Hoops boss had delivered a stinging revoke of his squad on the back of defeat to stubborn St Johnstone.

The Irishman didn’t like a lot of what he saw on that surface. He accused some of his men of getting a little too comfortable for his liking and warned he won’t accept his team staggering over the league finishing line.

But it was fitting Rodgers was out there on his own. The Celtic manager is also prepared for some self examination when it comes shaking the club out of their recent dip in form.

Maybe he was just trying to calm himself down. A few minutes earlier, Rodgers said: “There's definitely anger. I'm trying to control it.

“And listen, I look at my own self, first and foremost. I'm proud of my career and how I teach players and how I inspire them and how I motivate them. The first thing is I look at myself.

“Am I doing the very best job I possibly can to inspire these and motivate them to get over the line? So that's my first look. But I just think there's a comfort there I don't like.

“And it doesn't matter if you're 13 points or three points. It's not enough. We have to be much better than where we were in our ambition in the game.”

Rodgers won’t let himself off the hook but the boss has shown previously he knows how to keep the foot down right to the finish.

And he wants to see it in his squad. There have been concerns of late. There was the defeat to Rangers at Ibrox at Christmas. The loss at Hibs. Another Old Firm disappointment at Parkhead and now Celtic losing to a side at the bottom of the league for the first time in 20 years.

Rodgers is not a man who wasted his words and he clearly chose them wisely in the aftermath in Perth. It might have been a timely boot up the backside for a few players who might be in cruise mode with the title in their sights.

Rodgers said: “Yeah, it comes from within. It comes from within. My experience in managing many, many games. And that's why the top players, like I say, like Callum and James Forrest and these guys.

“They never look for an easy game. Ever. Their ambition at whatever level they're playing for this club, they go into the game.

“And it's not an easy game they're looking for. They know the expectation and they know the desire. So that ambition and desire, comes from within.

“But like I say, I have to look at myself with it as well. Am I giving them that bit that's made it at this point? As I said, my intention always was here and with the points, is to sprint over the line. And I've done that before and I know what it looks like.

“But I don't like that side of it in this team. Because for Celtic, it's winning in the best way you possibly can. Not just chugging your way over the line. So we have no excuse. We have no excuse.”

Being shattered could be used as one. It’s been a gruelling campaign for Celtic at home and in Europe but the hard work in the previous 49 games has got them to this place.

It’s not something that washes with the boss though. Rodgers said: “It's not about tiredness.

“It's not about the pitch. St Johnstone have done great. They deserve a huge amount of credit. My concern is for Celtic. And for the ambition of the team and the mentality and the progress of the team. Then these are interesting games for me to analyse.”

Rodgers has questioned the mentality – but it’s also about form. There are some Celtic players who have clearly gone off the boil in recent weeks.

Nicolas Kuhn was hooked at half-time and the promising display against Hearts last week was a standout in a period where the wide man’s early displays have faded.

In the middle, Arne Engels lasted longer but couldn’t get a foothold in Perth, alongside equally misfiring Reo Hatate. Rodgers admitted form could be a factor as he said: “It can be. I think that is a part of it. I think we have players that are not used to playing so many games.

“And I think you see a bit of tiredness, a bit of fatigue setting in. But that's all part of being a Celtic player. You've got to go deep in competitions.

“You've got to have an expectation on you. Very few times you're going to be the underdog. It's easy being the underdog.

“But at Celtic, there is expectation there. And for some, after a long season, it can be tiring. But you have to deal with that.

“But you're not tired after five, ten minutes of a game. So when you're out there, and it's happened to the way at Hibs, it's happened here, it's happened at Rangers, it's happened a few times.

"There's no tiredness there. That's mentality. So that's something that I need to fix.”