On Graham Spiers’ Press Box Podcast, Scotsman journalist Andrew Smith offered a staunch defence of Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers amid criticism of the team’s performance levels this season.
Rodgers has contended that little has changed tactically since Ange Postecoglou’s departure, a point that Smith supported by highlighting the impact of key player absences on the team’s form.
Smith pointed to Celtic’s struggle last term when star players were sidelined, referencing that the team was forced to field players like Bernabei, Kobayashi, and Oh, who did not meet the required standard. The absence of dynamic wingers such as Jota and a fully fit Aaron Mooy, who was pivotal in the midfield before his injury in March, were significant blows to the team’s effectiveness.
Injuries have hampered Celtic this season, with Hatate, Carter-Vickers, McGregor and Maeda all spending time on the sidelines.
Smith further argued that the perception of a drastic shift in play style under Rodgers compared to Postecoglou is overplayed. According to Smith, even Postecoglou’s approach was affected when key players like Cameron Carter-Vickers were unavailable towards the end of his tenure, leading to a dip in results.
“The principal difference was personnel. Jota was a better winger than Celtic possesses amongst all their wingers now, you’ve got a lesser winger on the left-hand side. You had Abada there too. You have Maeda there just now but he’s been in and out with injuries. So there’s your wingers right away, you don’t have the same pace, power and directness. You look at the back four, and for all he was maligned, Starfelt was better than any centre-back with the exception of Carter-Vickers.
“The middle of the park and Callum McGregor doesn’t look like a man who has shaken off any of his injuries at the moment, Hatate is drifting in and out because he’s hardly played all season. Until March last year, you had Aaron Mooy who was a revelation for Celtic last year. Once he got fit he was their fulcrum for those four months, then he got injured and Celtic were never the same after him. His injury was in March.
“I do think it’s overplayed the speed of play and it’s not the way Ange was. Ange wasn’t the way that Ange was in the last couple of months of the season because he lost key players. He lost Cameron Carter-Vickers and I think Celtic lost two out of their last four games. Once your personnel changes, everything else changes with it.”
Smith’s comments suggest that the issues facing Rodgers are less about tactics and more about the quality and availability of players, pointing to a need for stronger backing in the transfer market to regain the team’s high-performance standards.
