Brendan Rodgers has defended his August 2024 signings against the growing criticism that they have come under.
Going into August last year Celtic hadn’t signed an outfield player, by the end of the transfer window Adam Idah, Arne Engels and Auston Trusty had been signed with money still left over from the transfer of Matt O’Riley.
Rodgers didn’t negotiate the fees, contracts or timing of the deals but the £26m spent has been increasingly used to criticise the Celtic boss.
Certain well placed messengers have painted targets on those players backs and blaming them for not living up to their price tags.
Last season Celtic had their best Champions League campaign in over a decade with Trusty, Engels and Idah heavily involved.
Engels started nine out of 10 Champions League matches and came on as a substitute in the other, Trusty had the same stats while Idah scored three goals from starting three matches and coming off the bench in the other seven.
The former Norwich man created the winning goal against YB Bern, without him there wouldn’t have been three points, a Play Off place and another 60,000 sell out crowd for the visit of Bayern Munich.
Rodgers gave a spirited defence of himself and his players at today’s media conference with one message especially aimed at the snipers around the club.
My ambition is for Celtic. It’s not for me. My ambition is for Celtic to be the best that it can be.
I’ve been in the game quite a long time now. So I think I understand what we need to succeed. We did that last year. We brought in certain players that helped our profile when we moved into the Champions League. And those players really helped us in the Champions League.
So my ambition now is to keep us going in that direction. And that’s what our conversations are about.
The criticism of those three players is effectively a criticism of Rodgers and his decision making.
Not a peep will be heard from the same sources about the £20m wasted on Odin Thiago Holm, Marco Tilio, Yang Hyun-jun, Kwon Hyeok-kyu, Maik Nawrocki, Gus Lagerbielke and Luis Palma.
It isn’t too difficult to join the dots for the real motivation for the criticism and attacks on Idah, Engels and Trusty.
PL needs brought down a peg or three.
An odious toad of a man.
But you also have to include DD in criticism.
No way he doesn’t know on a weekly basis what is going on at the club.
You don’t create the wealth he has by not knowing what’s going on with your financial interests.
What puzzles me is, why would he allow a top class mgr, that he has personally brought into the fold twice, to be treated in such a way?
He knows, his silence condones.
Mind boggling how any type of business want to see the best they can get walk out the door to replace them with a lesser individual, cos that’s what’s gonna happen.
saint stivs
August 1, 2025 7:32 pm
if there is a faction that do not want to support brendans ambition who are they. please name names and tell us why they want rid of him
i have explained why DD as the principal shareholder is the king maker. Are we now to belive he doesnt want brendan after year 3 ?
and as to john or shaun absolutely they will not be Celtic manager.
no chance
Editor: As long as Celtic are solvent DD is barely bothered. Since 2004 every appointment at the club has been approved by Lawwell or by someone that he brought to the club. DD’s biggest concern is the pin positions for tomorrow’s 18 holes.
We all know they have lined Brendan’s replacement up. Totally undermining 1 of our most successful managers, Lawwell and Co, why don’t you f#ck off and let Celtic be the best football club it can be.
They won’t because they’re on a gravy train with no guard to throw them off. There’s no mechanism for “sacking” Lawwell et al. Just like DD they have jobs for life.
Lawell and Nicholson are the Whites and Kellys of the younger generation. GET THEM OUT NOW!!!!
They are waiting to see if Sevco qualify or not…
That’s one fuckin dangerous game for sure !
Couple of weeks ago Gordon Strachan and Pat Nevin floated the Damian Duff,Shaun Maloney dream team nonsense.Your not going to tell me Strachan,whose two sons are employees of our club,was not asked to do this to see if it would fly,and what kind of vibe it would recieve.Seeing as it went down like a cup of cold sick,what now from our illustrious leaders?in 30 days time will know,one way or another.
Very well said. Rogers delivered last year. He deserves to be backed again. I hope we get the transfers done soon.
Jim
We are in a state of managed decline. Again!
If the board get a free ride again tomorrow then the fans inside the stadium need their heads looked at.
They should use this time to vent every bit of anger and frustration they have and let the board know exactly how we all feel.
The board have allowed this disharmony to settle and it needs stamped out NOW!