Celtic's Brendan Rodgers convinced performances will improve

A few new faces in the door since we last spoke. Tell us a bit about Luis Palma and Nat Phillips, and what they’ll bring to the squad?

Luis was someone we were looking to bring in for the attacking front of the game. He’s an exciting player, who is very good in the 1v1 situation. He works hard and he’s quick, but we still feel that there’s a lot of potential there. We’re really excited about being able to work with him. I think a few of the other guys were just waiting to confirm. Nat is someone who comes in with big club experience. A really clever guy who has done fantastic for Liverpool, and he’ll add that experience for us in a position that we’re struggling in with injuries.

Paulo Bernardo is expected to join as well. Is that one close and what can you tell us about him? What will he add to the squad? 

Again, a young player who is coming into the team with potential. Hopefully that will be confirmed. He comes in with the opportunity to give us more strength in depth in that midfield area, and we’ll see how he develops.
 

How many - if any - will be able to go straight into the match on Sunday?

We’ll assess and see over the course of the next 48 hours. Again, the players have come in and have to have that time to adapt and we’ll just assess it from there. We’re not just taking them in for the weekend’s game, it’s over the course of a season.

Are any other incomings expected before the midnight deadline?

I’m not so sure. I don’t think there’ll be many more coming in.

What about outgoings? There’s been a lot of talk about Sead Haksabanovic and his social media post this week. Is he expected to leave the club?
 

I would think so. I think I said a couple of weeks ago that there would be players who would want to go out and play games and start, so Haksa’s one of those that will look for game time and want to be a starter. I would expect him to be moved on.

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What’s your thoughts on what he had to say on social media?

Yeah, to be fair I’m not on social media, so I don’t know, but I did speak to him on it. I was a bit surprised, to be honest. I think that certainly from when I came into here he’s been offered nothing but respect by everyone - and certainly by myself - in terms of communication with him and the conversations. This is a new generation, and a new wave of players, so it doesn’t matter to me. 

Do you expect a few more outgoings you mentioned, as well as Sead? 

We’ll see what the rest of the day brings. I wouldn’t anticipate too many, but you never know.

Is it key you hold onto some of your top players - reports yesterday that a bid had been turned down for Matt O’Riley? 

When you have good players, there’s always going to be interest. Matt is a player that I want to have here and to be a part of what I’m doing. I’ve been really impressed by him over the course of the short time I’ve been here so far. We’ll look forward to continuing to work with him.

Especially this close to the deadline, you really wouldn’t want to be losing any of the players that you would consider key to what you’re trying to do here? 

Yeah, well I don’t anticipate that. We’re trying to put strength into the squad rather than deplete it.

A busy day today, but a big game on Sunday as well. A fixture you really enjoyed in your last spell here. Are you looking forward to it again?

Yes. It’s an iconic game and a fantastic one to be involved in. We’ll go there and look to perform and play to the level that we want to play. If we do, then we’ll have a great chance of getting a result.

Maybe not the form you would’ve wanted to go into this game with, but is this the type of game that form maybe goes out of the window, that players have that type of motivation about them - being a big derby match?

You certainly don’t need to motivate the players. I think it’s a fantastic game to be involved in. In our opening three games, we’ve won two and drawn one. More for me, it’s the performance level. When I analysed the game last weekend, we could have won the game four or five nil if we got the early goal. The keeper makes a great save. The performance level, I looked at the speed of the game and the position of the game that needs to improve, but I analysed the game and the fix of the things we need to improve on I’ve already seen over the course of the week.  I think we’re only going to get better. You certainly don’t win the league in August, but it’s something that we will improve on for sure. 

In your first spell as Celtic manager, did you always feel that the first derby game of the season was one that could set the tone for the rest of the campaign?

Not really no. It is where you stand at the end of the season. Of course, you want to play well and put a marker down but it is not the be-all-and-end-all. I think it is a game that we want to go in and play well in and perform in and look to get the result. 

You are back in the Champions League. What did you make of the draw for the group stage?

Yeah, it is always exciting, of course when you watch it and you see the teams and the groups and to be a part of that is fantastic. It is great for players to place themselves against the best players in Europe. The supporters are going to go to some great cities and some great stadiums and we want to be in there and be competitive and fight to get through the group.

You won't have had a lot of time to analyse it yet, but specifically, what do you make of the tests of the teams that you have been drawn against?

Whoever you are going to play they are the best teams. Whatever group you are going to be in they are champions and established teams and fantastic teams. I'm just excited by the games. The players worked very hard last year to win the title and earned the right to be in there. We will play the teams that we do and there are some very good teams with fantastic managers and we accept that challenge when the games come.

The general consensus among the Celtic fans is that it could have been a lot worse when you consider the calibre of the team that is in there. How much can you see Celtic progressing from this group be it last 16 or third spot to qualify for the Europa League?

I will think of that when it comes. For me, it is all about arriving there and you play who you play against. Every team is a fantastic team in their own right. They have earned the right to be there. You can sometimes look at a team and say it is not Real Madrid or Barcelona, so it will be an easy game. There is never an easy game at that level. We want to go in and perform and be competitive and if we can do that then it would give us a great chance to qualify. I think the overriding aim for me is to make sure we can be in Europe after Christmas. That's what we would like to do. Then anything above that would be fantastic. 

Can I take you back to last week's game and your analysis of the performances in general? Do you feel some players are taking a wee bit of time to adjust to the tweak in the style of play and you arriving as the new manager? Daizen Maeda was saying last week that Ange's (Postecoglou) tactics were instilled in him as he had worked under him longer than the rest of the players. Ange brought in a lot of these players and is it just taking a wee bit of time for some players to adjust?

I think it will do. I am not here to jeopardise the strategy of the team or lock the team and myself into anything that would fail or not work. It is just time. I don't want to go on about injuries but there are injuries to key players that could make the system function. I have absolutely no doubt, I know how to win and I know what it takes to win and I'll show the players how to win. It might not be in the first game of the season but over the course of the season and the course of my time here, I believe we will do that. It is just little details of what will improve with the players as we work forward. My teams have always been based and my body of work, hopefully, shows that my teams have always been aggressive and on the front foot and attacking and creative. They have also been fast and powerful. This team will be that over time as well. In the meantime, we need to continue to get results and work and look to improve.

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This is the first derby of the season and both teams have changed quite a lot over the summer. Is it always a bit different going into this game as there is a touch of the unknown about it?

Not really. I think we analyse the opponents we have played whether it's Rangers, St Johnstone or whoever. We always analyse. Obviously, Michael (Beale) has been in, and he's been looking to establish his way of working on the group having come in last season. They have had a number of changes as well, but I think that's how the squads will be. Certainly, for Celtic every two or three years, there is a cycle here where the players change and that has been no different this summer. There is a change, of course, and you then add injuries to that and all of a sudden the make-up of the group looks slightly different. In terms of style, our style will always remain the same in how we want to work and how we want to play and it is just getting up to speed with that and getting that intensity in our game.

Do you have players coming back like Oh (Hyeon-gyu) or anybody else?

Yeah, Oh is back in training so he'll be available. No the guys who were out slightly longer term will be back in after the international break.