The 'snarling' Celtic player that has surprised Rodgers most

Brendan, how's the squad looking? What's the latest on Cameron Carter-Vickers?

Cameron will miss out tomorrow, there's a good headline title! He'll miss tomorrow, he's just got a pain in his big toe in the joint there, so we just have to look at that each game. He's been playing with it for a little while, but we've got to try and manage it now because he was in pain in the Bratislava game. So hopefully it'll settle down quite quickly and we'll see where it's at for Tuesday.

How confident are you? Tuesday is not going to be an issue? Do you rate his chances fairly well? Difficult to tell?

It is difficult to tell, just concentrating on this game, really, and then we'll see after this where he's at over Sunday, and Monday.

Alistair Johnston back training though, is he fully fit and good to go?

Yeah, it's great. The Falkirk game gave us a chance to recover one or two of the players that had little niggles before the game and gave the opportunity for other players to come in. But yeah, he's trained all week and been good.

For you and the players that have done this many times, that sort of focusing on the next challenge rather than looking ahead to the Champions League, you're used to that. Is that part of the messaging for new players to get that instilled in them as well? Is that a challenge at all?

It's not a challenge. I always think these are games of perspective and it's how you look at them. For me and the other players, it's pretty straightforward. It's the next game, so we want to win the next game. That is always the challenge of being a Celtic player and being a manager. We understand the Champions League and it's fantastic, but ultimately this is the bread and butter that gets you there. So this is an important game for us, really important, and it's our only real focus at this moment.

Was that quite good, being able to get Auston Trusty and Stephen Welsh some game time? Last weekend, obviously with Cameron out this weekend, was a good opportunity for some of those players.

We felt that that was the case and it was never going to be as fluid as what the team had been right up until that point, but I was well aware of that. I knew the risk in that and I wanted to take the risk in that. I couldn't criticise the players for that. Their attitude was great and those players that came into the team got some minutes in their legs. That will prove valuable for us, I'm sure, over the course of the season.

Is it sometimes harder to know what you're going to come up against in a team that doesn't have a permanent manager in charge?

No, I think professional players will always look to do their very best.  Clearly, it's a shame Craig's (Levein) now left there and a very experienced manager. Andy (Kirk) the guys that are there now are obviously holding the fort and they'll have the team prepared and ready for the game. Clearly, if there's a manager in place, then you know the philosophy, and the football ideas and that allows you to understand it better. I still think looking at how they play and how they've been, we get an idea of how they work. For us, it's really about ourselves and bringing our rhythm to the game and making it really, really difficult for St Johnstone.

How pleased were you to see Elena's (Sadiku) side get through to the Champions League group stages and how good is that for the club as a whole to have yourselves and the women's side both playing in Europe's top competition?

I'm absolutely delighted. I think you see the progress that Elena has made with her staff and with the players. It's been absolutely fantastic. To earn the right to get into the Champions League, I've seen the draw. It's all great games for them and a really exciting season ahead for them.

With Carter-Vickers, Is it a case of trying to see if this issue settles down over time or is it a more significant issue that might require more significant treatment?

No, it's not that. It's just the tolerance of pain. I think he'd gone through a lot and pushed him through a lot but it was not getting any better. There were signs of it. I don't think it was getting worse but he was having to go through too much pain with it really. He's a tough character. We just felt that it's obviously one of those ones that with rest it will self-correct and he will be okay.

It's all about timing, isn't it?

Every game is important. There comes a point when I could just see within him that he just wasn't quite at the level that he would want to be at and I would want him to be at. When it's at that point, you want to take him out and let him recover.

With the Dortmund game on the horizon, would you be wary of playing your full-strength team or is this when you want to play your full-strength team ahead of such a game like that?

Like I said, it's a game of perspective and for me, my look on it is that we need to win the game. We'll put out the very best team that we possibly can to win the game. I say in the best possible way, it is a team. I say all the players as my team. We'll pick a starting XI to go into the game. It certainly won't be the XI that will finish it. It's important for us to win the game and win it well and win it in the way we want to and then we can get ready, recover and get ready for Tuesday.

You won't be facing your old captain Scott Brown tomorrow What does he make of his name being in the frame for the St Johnstone job and taking his name out of the frame? Did you speak to him at any point about it? What were your thoughts on it?

Scott's doing a fantastic job at Ayr and he and Steven (Whittaker) and his staff are doing really well there. They've obviously lifted Ayr into a really good place having joined them last season. I think for Scott there's no rush. I've got no doubt he'll be a really successful manager. He went into Ayr and obviously kept them up last year and had a really good pre-season. I could see that in pre-season. They were a few weeks ahead of us but I could see the ideas of what they were trying to implement and how they've played. They've started the season very, very well. For Scott, it's not about a club for his next step, it's about the right club. I always think that especially when you're a young manager, getting to the right club is important. But not if you're already at a good club. He's at a good club and he's happy. I wasn't surprised that he didn't take it, but I'm not surprised that his name is linked with it.

I guess when you're a young manager it's about balancing ambition and it feels like you might want to make a move with making sure it is the right move.

I was probably in my younger days guilty of it. You're in a rush. When I was a young manager I was in a rush to get to the Premier League because it's the most competitive league in the world and it's a challenge. But obviously when you can sit back and have more information and more knowledge and experience then you can probably look at it a lot clearer. I think ambition is important. I think you have to have that. But the ambition can be for the club you're in and the people you work with as well as yourself. I just see him in a really good place. I don't think there's any doubt he'll manage at the highest level. It's all about timing and at the right time. I'm very, very confident that he will get there. But being a manager and a coach at the highest level is totally different to being a captain. Those leadership qualities will really help you of course. But there are no shortcuts. Being a top coach or a top manager you have to take your time and you have to learn and you have to find those experiences. I see him doing that very, very well at the moment.

Did you see Scott as a potential manager when you first arrived at Celtic or not until you left?

When I first arrived I didn't know him. I only saw this snarling guy on the telly that I used to see and watch. Then when I first met him I found out he was totally different. We obviously clearly had a really, really strong relationship in our time here, which you need - your captain and your manager to be tight. At Celtic that year there were many challenges, so being together is very important. I had no doubt his leadership qualities were immense. I just felt that if he wanted to do that it's something he could absolutely do. He had that first little taste of it at Fleetwood. He'd been really brave coming out of Scotland and going down into the lower leagues in England. He took on that challenge to understand and find that apprenticeship as a manager because that is important as well. You have to learn the trade. He's obviously come back up to here and done a very, very good job so far. He feels and sounds like he's in a happy place. He'll get linked with jobs I'm pretty sure. Numbers of jobs in the future. But there's no rush. Just take your time and work well.

Do you see anyone in your current squad now that you think is going to be a future manager?

I look at the likes of Callum McGregor. I think Callum can be a manager if he wants to be later on. It's the big what if. I think playing and coaching and management are three totally different things. When you're coaching you're giving opinions and you're working with the players. When you're managing you're making decisions. It's a totalset-upferent set up. I look at the guys that I have. I've got some fantastic players here who in their own right may want to go down that route. But it's not always the ones that clearly stand out that become the manager. I'm sure there are plenty of players that will tell you that they would have thought someone was going to be a manager and they've gone on and done ever so well. I would look at starting as a starting point and think that when the time comes for him if he wants to go down that route then he certainly shows a lot of the facets that you would need to manage and coach.

Was Scott quite receptive to the advice you gave him?

I don't know. It's an open conversation and all I ever do is recommend. I would never tell anyone what to do when they ask for advice. It's just recommendations and understanding where he's at. He knows his own mind. He knows that he's got a few people he can reach out to just to get a different perspective.

At some point do you expect to face him in the opposition dugout?

Probably. He's on that trajectory. If I'm still here and want it then we may well do. I've had it before.
I came up against Nuri Sahin on Tuesday and I had Nuri at Liverpool as a young player on loan from Real Madrid. It happens and it all happens so quickly. That's the game. What I know about Scott is that he's doing really, really well. He and his staff. He's had a really good club. Having been there in the summer when we played them and meeting the owner and seeing what it is they're trying to do. I think he knows he's in a really good place. I think for him to manage at the top level here in Scotland it's only a matter of time. Whether that's with Ayr or someone else it's a matter of time.

It's a very tight turnaround from Saturday night to Tuesday night travelling as well. Is that a frustration, a concern? Is there anything that could have been done to alleviate that - in terms of moving fixtures?

I think for all British teams it is a frustration. I'll watch Borussia Dortmund play tonight, they'll play Bochum on Friday so they're able to move the game that day early. It gives them three full days to prepare for our game and the game at home. For us, we'll probably not be home until after midnight from the game tomorrow. Then it's a very, very quick turnaround travel and then you're out playing the game. I think it's for most British teams. The TV and the slots and everything seems to take priority over the game and preparation. But we're not the only team. That's happened to others having seen it for a number of years. The European guys will have their slots and they'll find agreements to help their teams prepare the best they can.

We saw the same broadcaster show Motherwell versus Dundee United last Friday night. It was a very successful turnout of fans as well. Is that something we should look at for the weekend?

Yeah, I think if there's a Friday night slot then that would and could work well. A Friday night game can be a really good game to open up the weekend. But of course, it's with telly and everything else.

Is there any flexibility at all up here in terms of moving fixtures? Do you find that you're at a brick wall any time you've been requesting that?

I think it has to be beyond the clubs. I think there has to be something in place with the federations and then of course linking in with the TV. I think in fairness in Germany there are more Friday night slots for their TV games which means they can request that which gives them the extra recovery. It may be in the future but it's been ongoing for years I've got to say. I've been in the Premier League and seen it there and seen it across many years. That at times takes the priority over the well-being and the preparation of footballers.

At St Johnstone last season you had a go at the players at half-time. I'm thinking about your previous spell. That was a goal you scored up there. That was one of your favourite team goals?

Yes. I think firstly at the point when we arrived there last year when I was there we definitely weren't on the same page. But that's my job as the manager to ensure that we were and that our standard was better than that. I look at the second-half response and then I look to where we're at now a year later. We're in a much different place. The team's gone in the direction I wanted to go in. Playing with the intent and the technicality and the physicality and the coordination and the hunger in the team. It's night and day from that first-half performance last season. We've done well up there in my time going to St Johnstone I've always enjoyed going there but purely the supporters there. We scored some fantastic goals like the one you mentioned. I think James Forrest scored four goals in one half of a game which was an incredible achievement for a player. In all of that, you have to work really hard.  It doesn't just come to you. I think for us the mantra right over the course of this pre-season and into this season is to make our organisation and our attitude and our talent really difficult for the other team. If we can show all of those things and bring that into the game then it can be a difficult game for an opponent. That's what our aim is again. The goals you mentioned were fantastic goals and some really good goals that day.

Brendan, Craig and Steven have just lost their job within a few days. Do you have much of a grace period?

No, I think it's a shame. For Craig, he's a really experienced manager and he dips in and out of the media and has done other roles. For him, it won't be a surprise. Sometimes no matter how well you can be doing if an owner wakes up one morning and you're not to be the manager then you're out. It's as simple as that. All you can do is do your best. For Steven in his first job, there's always empathy there for a coach and a manager. It's one of those ones where he'll go away and learn from that experience. He was a fantastic player. Steven had a really good career in the game, moved into coaching and then into the lead role. He'll go away and look at it and find the areas in which he can be better in and develop and improve and then for sure he'll come back in his next job and be a better manager. Sometimes it takes that. It's not nice when it comes but the strength is then going again and learning from it. That's the guys that succeed in the game. When you can pick yourself up, identify where you could have been better alongside all the good things that worked really well. I looked at Hearts last year and I thought they were very good, very well coached, good idea of the game and finished third in the league and did really well. Sometimes the momentum at the beginning of a season just didn't quite go with them and then all of a sudden you're on the back end of what he had lost. I never felt they were as bad as that but sometimes people feel the need to change and they did do.