There are times when Brendan Rodgers just wants to get something off his chest.
This was one of them. It was clear the Celtic manager was pleased to get an immediate response from his team after the shock stinker thrown in at Ibrox a few days previous. But it was also obvious there was something else eating at the boss aside from that uncharacteristic display in the defeat to the old foes.
His players might have got a bit of flak from their gaffer in the Ibrox dressing room. It was the supporters who were in for a strongly worded telling off though. Rodgers was seething at the singing about former hero Kieran Tierney towards the end of the 3-0 stroll against St Mirren. But it was some of the groans when it was still 0-0 after half an hour that really got his back up.
Rodgers said: “I have a big respect for this group of players, especially on a day like today, because when it was 0-0 for the first 20 minutes, and when we’d make a backward pass the crowd would be onto the team. That cannot happen. One, if you know about football, and two, if you can understand it when teams come here, they’re going to make it really difficult.
“You can’t turn up every single week with three, four an hour in 20 minutes. Teams are well organised, teams are well set up, you have to work the game.
“So sometimes you have to play a backward pass to change the point of attack. We make a backward pass, and then we go to the players, and that’s why I was proud of the players. I don’t need the cheers when it’s 3-0, and the support when it’s 3 or 4-0, or 5-0. This team needs it.
“It’s just the amount of games that they’re playing, and how we play. You only need to look at the facts and how this team plays to know they’re an attacking team, a creative team that creates goals and scores goals. So when we decide to go back to change the point of attack, clap the players, don’t panic. Don’t start getting on to them. Because we’re trying to get another level.”
This is not a new thing around Parkhead though with fans who have become used to constant success. Rodgers said: “The best example we have of that this season was against Brugges.
“We’re in the Champions League. Daizen Maeda is going forward, he turns, he plays a backward pass to change the point of attack. The pressure on that guy when he did that, thankfully he coped with it.
“But the noise, the negativity around that. We then change the picture, he then gets a back again, and now he’s free. He cuts inside, he gets a shot. And they’re on target.
“But that’s not what football is. So for us, we play a backward pass. A sideways pass is to change the point of attack. And the players deserve more. The players deserve the trust. And that was my feeling today. We need the support when it’s 0-0. Especially amidst a run of games where there are so many games where you might be a fraction just fatigued. But we don’t mention that.”
Rodgers wants two things he believes his team has earned – patience and trust. But he knows the former is in short supply in these parts. Rodgers said: “Our idea is to start the game and be fast and aggressive. But it might take you 15-20 minutes, 29 minutes or so, it might take you 85 minutes. Trust the team and how they’re playing. You’re not going to be 3-4 or 5-0 up before half-time every single game.
“And that’s not because the players aren’t trying to work. It’s because maybe the other team defend better or just not quite there on the pass. But make no mistake, our mentality is to be offensive and creative in our numbers.’
“Just trust the team. Trust the management. Trust how they play. We’ve seen it consistently now. The consistency of the team has been incredible. The level of the team has been such a high level. Be supportive. And then you get even more out of the team.”
It might seem like Rodgers was a tad grumpy, and that wasn’t far off. But there was also a lot of pride in the way his Celtic side responded to Thursday’s thumping across the city.
It would have been easy to allow the derby defeat linger with the games coming thick and fast. But instead Celtic got right back to business and back to winning ways. Some edgy supporters might get jittery, but the manager has complete faith.
Rodgers said: “I just think it’s the course of life. I trust the team. If you look over the last 12 months or so, you can tell by the results and the performances. It’s not about feeling, it’s about the facts, and the fact is that this team has been absolutely superb for a long period of time. That little bump that we had, of course you’re disappointed, but I wasn’t going to dwell on that so much. We analysed it, and you see it as a learning opportunity for us. Because of the mentality and the culture that we have, it’s on to the next game. That’s what the players have done.”