Brendan Rodgers copped flak for not changing the Celtic way in Dortmund the other night.
The Hoops boss shrugged it all off and he reckons there IS more than one way for his team to play. And they showed it in the Highlands. The Celtic Way is not just all about swashbuckling football – it’s about going right to the final whistle as late winners are every bit as much the fabric of his club as the silky stuff.
There wasn’t too much of the latter for long spells in Dingwall. This season has been a stroll for his side but this time it was a slog. County dug deep and in numbers and they made a weary Celtic outfit look pedestrian for the first time on the home front this term. Yet the Hoops found a way to reward the 2500 fans packed in the away end for an early kick-off a few days after dragging themselves back from Dortmund.
Rodgers said: “You have to. It’s a Celtic tradition, isn’t it? It’s how the game is played at this club. Because if you look over the course of this week, we had thousands of fans turn up in Dortmund.
“They’ve seen what they’ve seen, which wasn’t great, but they give us great support at the end of the game. Now they’re having to come up here for a 12 o’clock kick-off, so the very least you can do is run your heart out right to the very end. That’s what this club’s about. It’s the fabric of this club. You keep going to the end.”
Celtic could have written this one off as one of those days. They might be few and far between under Rodgers but they do happen. Back in 2016, the Irishman’s side spilled points in a 2-2 draw with Inverness over the Kessock Bridge just a few days after being battered for seven by Barcelona to end their unbeaten start to the season. It looked like it was heading the same way in Dingwall until the late push paid dividends. Rodgers admitted his men refused to accept anything else.
He said: “Aye, well that’s it. You can’t be looking for an easy game or feeling sorry for yourself. But whatever it is, it’s not enough. I said we had to go and impose our way of playing and get the energy back into the game again. And then obviously the second half we were much better.”
They also had the quality of Nicholas Kuhn to bag his sixth goal of the season to go with his eight assists. Rodgers said: “He’s been absolutely brilliant. I think his fitness, he’s looking more robust now, which is important. Churning out the games looks a real threat for us. So you always hope and you want them to settle.
“But yeah, he’s contributing in a big way. And that’s what you need your wingers to do. They need to create goals and score goals, but also do the dirty side of the game. And he’s doing it really, really well.”
Alistair Johnston teed the winger up for the winner after he managed to nab the leveller – even if he was unintentional. The Canada ace said: “Honestly, I just tried to get away! It’s been funny though, as for about a season and a half I’ve been back for corners and the coaching staff were all joking about me being in the box so I was excited for that.
“Then I found out I was just being stuck on the goalie for every single corner so it was a bit of a buzz kill. But at the same time, Cal [McGregor] just whacked it, I tried to get out the way but thankfully it went in.
“Cal told me afterwards his shot was just going wide but I think he’s just trying to be nice about that. It’s a nice feeling and it kickstarted a comeback for us and it was needed. I’ve no clue what time we got the winner but it felt late and it was massive.
“We were knocking all second half and the subs made a big difference when they came on. But it’s not been an easy week – three matches and all of them away. But it doesn‘t matter when you’re at a big club like this – you have to win.
“I’m really proud of the guys who came on because they showed their level. They showed we have the best squad in this division. The fans also gave us that energy to get over the line. We just needed a lucky one to get going and thankfully it came off my left thigh.”
Rodgers was all smiles by the end too – even joking about fellow Northern Irishman and County striker Ronan Hale’s penalty opener. He said: “I was just more surprised that Ronan scored against Celtic. I said to him, I just said to him, ‘are you scoring against Celtic? A Celtic boy!” I’m glad they’ve got a boy from Belfast who (Northern Ireland boss) Michael O’Neill can call upon.
“Normally he can’t. It’s great for him. He’s obviously done great back home at Cliftonville. He’s come over at a good age with good experience. And he’s shown here, like we’ve seen his goal against Hearts, which is a brilliant finish.
“So he shows he can score goals. And games like this will help him in his career. But delighted for him and Michael that, as I said, he can call him up. And if you’ve got a finisher at an international level like him, then hopefully he can do really well.
“He’s made a great start to his life in Scotland. Overall, Don Cowie’s had a really, really good start this season to his career and managing. And thankfully we produced a really good second half to get the result.”