Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers can be a bit of a wordsmith at the best of times. One can only hazard a guess if he likes poetry. However, the Irishman did his best Rudyard Kipling impersonation this week by 'keeping his head' when a vast majority of the Celtic supporters were 'starting to lose theirs'.

Celtic are entering eight days which could define their season - a match against St Mirren, the last days of the transfer window, the Champions League league phase draw and the first Glasgow derby of the season - at home and abroad. Rodgers wasn't certainly about to let social media 'gossip and speculation' become gospel and derail the club's fantastic start to the season.

The Celtic fans are a demanding bunch. They demand that the club sign quality players...always. They also demanded this week that the club didn't sell star striker (No. 8) Kyogo Furuhashi to the likes of Manchester City in the process.

The Celtic fans are just beginning to get their head around the fact that prize asset Matt O'Riley is on the brink of completing a Scottish transfer record move to English Premier League side Brighton and Hove Albion. The manager is aware of everything that is going on at Celtic which is why he did his best to quell the disquiet. After all, the 51-year-old does not want the next eight days to become hateful ones.

This is why Rodgers kicked off the preview to the St Mirren game with a joke before addressing the more pressing issues of incomings and outgoings in the days that are left in the summer transfer window. There is many a truism told in jest. Rodgers has been steadfast in his message all along though. Celtic will be stronger by the end of the current transfer window. The Celtic supporters have to take him at his word but he was adamant that there will be no fire sale of the club's best players as the clock ticks down on this window.

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Rodgers said: "No, I wasn't surprised by the Manchester City links. He is a wonderful player and just obviously looking at all the links and the gossip this week, I thought I was preparing for a five-a-side game at the weekend because we are going to lose all these players! There is always going to be that speculation around, especially going into the last week of the transfer market.

"For any of our players, it is not going to go right down to the wire. We have got a big week next week after our game at the weekend. We will be preparing for our last game in this block of games. I wouldn't want that to be interrupted at all. We are pretty clear on where we are and what it is we need to do. However, if we want to improve as a club we will have to improve the squad and that has been very clear for a while.

"That doesn’t mean it makes me any less ambitious. This is the club that I want to be at and I want to do the very best because I represent the supporters, to drive the team and move forward. Every coach or manager will have a moment in the window where they’re frustrated because you want to get players in so you can work with them and give them time.

"As a Celtic supporter, you may look at the team and go ‘Wow, they’re playing so well and if we can add the few that can really elevate that then it can be a really exciting season’. That is my intention here as well. It can be frustrating but experience tells you that you have to be patient and wait and judge it when the market closes."

However, Rodgers reiterated his message to those upstairs that for Celtic to 'compete and not just participate' at the Champions League level then new blood was required. He admitted that domestic success wasn't enough to satisfy his needs and that making an imprint at European football's top table remains his objective. Those words will be sweet music to the Celtic supporter's ears.

Whilst Celtic at this moment in time will never match the gold star standard of Jock Stein's all-conquering Lisbon Lions side of 1967, Rodgers believes there is no harm in trying to be the best you can be both at home and abroad. He said: "For us to be competing in all competitions domestically and not just participating but competing in the Champions League then we will have to do some work in the market.

"I totally understand the Celtic supporter's frustrations, I get it. Their ideas are the same as mine. They want to improve. This is a football club with an incredible potential. For some players, we won't be the end game and we get that. It still doesn't mean that our benchmark is domestic football. We have got to have a high bar and our high bar was set when this club won the Champions League/European Cup.

"I don't want us to be a club and a team that just participates, takes the money and comes back out and is just happy with domestic success. The benchmark for me is much higher than that. We want to be in there competing, fighting. We don't have the resources of a lot of them but we can certainly be in there to compete. Before that, you need to have improvement and that is what we want to do every single season. We want to improve.

"When we won the league last season I planned to come into this new Champions League format and see if we can break this barrier of reaching the knockout phase. That is the challenge. That is still very much our plan. This club for the last number of years have played very well in games and we haven't been able to take that next step. To do that as a manager and coach you need to know the improvements that you have to make. Last year we were close in a lot of the games. We want to develop that and move forward. I know what we need to do that, so let's hope that we can.

"I think sometimes you may miss out on players in the market. There is also availability and affordability. There are still players that we can get in here that will allow us to grow and develop. I don't want to go into it too much as we will be judged at the end of the market. Sometimes that is when things really wrap up in this final week. We want to improve and we have to improve. For a club of ambition and if we want to be better then that is something we need to look at.

"Time will tell. We have a big eight days ahead of us. We will see come the end of the window where we are at but I have always been confident that we can improve the squad by then."

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(Image: Social Media)

With Mark Lawwell and Joe Dudgeon having left their recruitment positions, Rodgers was at pains to stress that there is 'tireless work' being done behind the scenes in terms of scouting new players. He gave the fans a valuable insight into what the club's current transfer strategy looked like.

Rodgers said: "We have got a recruitment team who have worked tirelessly over a number of months. The guys that are currently here have worked tirelessly on identifying targets and players that can fit into the model here. It is through no want of trying. Once those guys go through that list of players who fit into the profile of how we want to work that will then come to me to ratify the player that we would want and then that will go forward to the board to look to do the deal. That's how it works.

"I can assure you it is just getting the right level of quality. What I don't want to bring in is players who just stiffen up our squad. If we are going to improve then we have to get another level of player to come in to add to that. That's the search. Sometimes those guys aren't always there at the beginning of the window because they have gone away with British, European or Asian teams for pre-season and then it is the latter part of the window when they get told if they are staying or going.

"That is sometimes why there is a delay and there is a mad rush in the last week. That's what we are hoping we can do and exploit that moment and bring in the players that we want. I know in my own mind and I am very clear and focused on what we need to do if we are going to improve. It's not as if nothing is happening."

Rodgers did his best Kipling impersonation all right. If Celtic are going to improve then everybody will have to rely very much on the man at the helm.

Rodgers remains a manager who 'can talk with crowds and keep his virtue' as well as being someone who has 'walked with Kings' but somehow 'never loses that common touch'.