Top Line Summary

  • Positive injury update on Maeda
  • How he handles pressure
  • THAT kit-man Hampden interaction
  • Callum McGregor's ongoing fitness
  • ​Dundee preview

Everything that Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers said to the media ahead of his side's match versus Dundee on Sunday...

How is the squad looking ahead of this game?

It is looking good. On the back of getting to the final, we have had a good recovery and good preparation and we are set for the weekend.

How's Daizen Maeda? Is his recovery time looking quicker than you expected?

Yes. I think I mentioned a few weeks back that the information we were given was that he was probably going to be out until the end of the season or we felt that. He has responded so well and he has gone away and had further scans and ultrasounds. He is out on the pitch and you would think he has never been away. I just don't think he will be for this weekend. He will finish off his rehab at the beginning of next week and fingers crossed he will play some part between now and the end of the season. That is fantastic news for us because he's been consistently very good for us this season. To have him back and his intensity would be a fantastic boost for us.

It is quite remarkable the speed he has recovered, isn't it?

Yes. I was speaking to Tim (Williamson) our head of the medical team and he said in his time here he has never failed to amaze him in terms of his recovery and his overall physicality so he is getting nothing from the tendon issue that he felt after the Rangers game. That is great news but there are still a few more steps to go through. That'll be great news for us.

At this time of the season you can never have too many options, can you?

No. We want to have as many as you possibly can. Having Daizen back will create a really strong squad for us.

I am sure you will be feeling good after the result last weekend. Is it about just carrying that onto this weekend or has there been a refocus back into league action?

It was a really good feeling to get through. The standard of our performance was not what I would have liked. Sometimes in life, it is really important to overcome situations but we achieved the goal which was to get to the final. We also had to overcome a lot within the game. So, the players did absolutely brilliantly to get through that with that nerve and mindset at the very end. Now we see ourselves in the final which is great but now we have got to shift the mindset onto the league. That is where our concentration is.

In the big moments of the season, the mentality of the players will come into it. You saw a lot of that last weekend. Do you think that will be promising for the weeks ahead?

Yes. This is the period where you have to get your trophy head on. You get your focus on what it takes to become a champion. The players here are well-versed in that. They understand the mindset, they understand the psychological traits that are needed at this stage. Physically you have done a lot of your work and you might have one or two players looking to get back in or up to speed. In the main, it is all psychological now and this is the part of the season where this team have been really, really good and this club have been exceptional. You have to do it and that will be our focus each game at a time starting against Dundee.

Did the Dens Park pitch come into your thoughts when you were preparing for this? Some areas are dry and are heavily sanded does that come into your thinking at all?

Not really, no. I watched some of the Rangers game and I actually thought it needed a bit of water on there to be fair! It doesn't come into my thoughts. In all the time I have been here in my two spells the pitch at Dundee has always been in a good place. I did go up there earlier in the season to see Cammy Kerr's testimonial game in September and it was a little bit slippy at that point. I don't have any worries about it as the weather's been good and it will need a bit of water on it so they can stick that on there.

You talk about this being the time of the season to get the trophy head-on. Nobody knows that more than James Forrest at the club. How important is his influence at this time of the season especially?

Very. Very important. I think that he’s a certified winner and he knows what it takes. Having someone of his ability and stature around the team is very important at this stage. You’ve seen it in a number of the cameos that he’s produced recently. He didn’t get so much game-time in parts of this season that maybe he felt he deserved. We were giving other players a chance that were brought in, but the longer it goes on, you see his qualities and what he brings to this team. I think that’s his mindset as well as what he brings to the pitch and that calmness as well as the quality will be really important for us.

There have been times with clubs in the past that an experienced player may not get the game time that they want and fall out of things and lose interest. Is it the polar opposite with Forrest?

He’s a remarkable professional. From the first time I met him back in 2016, I knew there were some noises about him moving or going but I never felt that at all. His professionalism and focus are absolutely phenomenal. How he looks after his body and prepares himself has never wavered. There are times this season where he’s maybe felt that he should have played more and I should have played him more, I don’t know. What I know is I was never going to rule him out because I know what he gave me in my first time here and in the spells this time he’s been absolutely brilliant. He’ll be an instrumental figure for us both on and off the pitch over these closing weeks.

Does his understated nature go against him? Don’t think in the future people will look back on him and realise just how much of a winner he was?

I think so, and it normally is the case. You are judged once you move on, and you’re sometimes judged harshly when you’re still in the post. I think if you look at the longevity of his career, to have played here through the many players that have been here. You think of the wingers that have come to this club in the years that he’s been here, for him still to have been the stalwart and a really important player. Even now in the latter part of his career, still to be as important. I think people were surprised when I mentioned him being the best winger here a number of weeks back. I think you see now what I meant. How he looks after the ball and takes care of the ball. His game understanding, how he protects it. He’s one of the best wingers I’ve ever worked with at receiving the ball so close to the line under pressure because he very rarely loses it. He can create and score goals. Now the challenge for any player as they grow older is the intensity at which the modern game is played, especially in a team where intensity is the demand. That’s how this team works and how my teams have always worked. That doesn’t take away the contribution that he can have, whether that’s to start a game or come into a game. I see it every day in training, he’s a brilliant player and has been over many years for the club. He’s someone I know will really be important for us till the end of the season. 

How is Callum McGregor shaping up in terms of playing 90 minutes?

He's certainly getting there. The plan with Callum wasn't to chuck him in. We know how important he is but you have to also look after him as well. Manage his minutes. That's what we've been looking at doing by introducing him for 20-odd minutes, and then a bit longer. He had 60 minutes at Hampden. He looks like he's getting up to speed. He was out for a long time before the Rangers game where he'd just come in and only had a couple of days' training. He did so well just to make that game. Now, we're just building back up. I see him every day in training, and he's looking much brighter, much sharper. His fitness is coming along really well.

What are you expecting from Dundee and will they play with more freedom?

I think they've had good results throughout the whole season. I think Tony [Docherty] has done a brilliant job, him and his staff. There are stronger squads, I'm sure in the league, that will feel they could have made the top six. But if you look at what Tony's done, or the likes of Stephen Robinson at St Mirren or Derek [McInnes] at Kilmarnock, they've really shown their coaching and managerial qualities. In particular, Tony, as this is his first season as a manager and in the Premiership. The job he's done is absolutely brilliant. I expect them to play how they've played all season, which is with a collective spirit. They work very hard for each other and they'll give any team a problem. We've played really well against Dundee this season, but it's no guarantee of anything. It only guarantees that we need to be focussed, and if we have that focus, and mentality and show that ambition in the game from the first whistle then it gives us an opportunity to get the three points.

Do you put any extra work into the psychology of the game at this time of the season or draft any externals in to help?

It's always in the background. Sometimes it's the body language you're portraying at the words you're using with your players. I just think this period of time is very important, that aspect. The psychology of football is always there, but in particular this period of the season. It's just making sure the players are calm, prepared and have clarity around their job. Nobody external or anything like that, just a calmness around the environment. 

What's the message to the players in the short amount of time you have before penalties, and more generally, the pressure the run-in brings?

I don't like a kitman near them! Stevie got a wee bit of a blast from me, didn't he? Bless him. He's a good guy, Stevie, he's Celtic-daft, he's Celtic-mad, but you've got to know your place. At that moment, the work was prepared in terms of who was going to be taking the penalties. So, we virtually knew as soon as the whistle went, what the order would be for the players on the pitch. Everything else that had gone on before, because we had to come from behind, and then we've had disappointments of being in front and conceding equalisers, so that could really affect your mentality. But that's gone. Don't worry about that. Now we've got to focus in on taking the opportunity to get to the final, which was to stay clear and stick to the plan which was put out there in the days before. Commit to that penalty. The players did that brilliantly. The level of penalties - I know we've missed some this year - the quality was very, very good.

Great for the younger players/players who haven't been at the club so long to see the impact of James Forrest off the bench?

It also lets them see that there will always be an opportunity for them with me here. I look closely at training, I observe it and I take it seriously. I'm not the type of coach where you can just turn up every day and you can do what you want but you'll still play on a Saturday because you're a good player. It's what you doing on the training field. For young players, he's a fantastic role model, James. Like I said, the younger guys will see how he prepares, how humble he is, how he looks after his body. That's why he's had the career that he's had. That's why it allows him, at this stage of the season, to come alive. This is what the top players will do. He's absolutely brilliant for us, and has been for so many years.

How do you feel about the consistency side of his game?

It's something that I've always been impressed with. When I came here the first time, and then when I left and went to the Premier League, I had no qualms about saying to people that he's arguably the best player that I've worked with receiving the ball on the touchline. How he takes the ball, his body shape, how he feints when he receives it, whether that's on the right side or the left side, that's something that our younger wingers can learn from. You need players of that quality that allows you to keep the ball in those areas of the pitch. When you have talented players, they have a love of the ball, they keep the ball. That allows your team to move up the pitch, and none more so than your defenders because they get relief. From a tactical and individual perspective, I always say to younger players to watch how he takes the ball. When you're a right-footed player playing on the left, sometimes you come inside to create the space. He does all of that magnificently well. I'm lucky I get the chance to see it every day.