Brendan Rodgers happy to see Celtic respond to ‘harsh’ words after Dundee defeat

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers praised his players for responding to his “harsh” words as they came from behind to beat Sturm Graz 2-1.

Rodgers likened his task this season to being handed the keys to a Honda Civic and being told to drive it like a Ferrari after a 2-0 defeat by Dundee on Sunday made it six matches this season without scoring.

Celtic endured a difficult start to their latest Europa League clash as hamstring injuries to striker Kelechi Iheanacho and full-back Alistair Johnston sandwiched Tomi Horvat’s spectacular long-range opener for the visitors.

But Rodgers’ side turned the game on its head in the space of three minutes just after the hour mark as Liam Scales and Benjamin Nygren netted following corners.

“Sometimes with players you have to be harsh to be clear, and then you hope that you get that reaction,” Rodgers said.

“These players know that I’m with them always. I spend my life dedicated to making this team better, making the individuals better, helping the club progress. And at the weekend, it’s not good enough.

“So tonight, we weren’t quite the Ferrari, but we’re Range Rover Sport, I’ll go with. Hopefully we have no more Morris Minors in the performance. Not that they’re a bad car, they’re a fantastic car.

“But I think we showed the level of determination, and that’s what I expect to see going forward.”

Rodgers felt the intent of his comments had been misinterpreted.

“Very rarely will I come after players, anything that’s ever (said is) private,” he said. “The boys know that. But I’ve been managing a long time. Sometimes you have to be harsh to be clear sometimes.

“These are men. This is a big club that has huge expectations and pressure. You have to know when a level is not good enough.

“They know they won’t have a more empathetic coach. I’m very much for the players. I always have been, in any team that I work with. But we knew we needed to respond. I’m so pleased with that response.

“I said before the game to the players that we’ve really got to show leadership now. My experience with players is that when those types of players are under pressure, they progress.”

Celtic registered 20 shots and both Nygren and substitute Johnny Kenny could each have had a handful of goals. They  enjoyed a relatively comfortable final 20 minutes with the visitors down to 10 men after Tochi Chukwuani’s red card.

“I thought the performance was outstanding,” Rodgers said. “Obviously we picked up the injuries early on, so that could have disrupted it, but the two young guys (Kenny and Colby Donovan) that came on, they worked their socks off and contributed to the performance.

“We went behind to an absolutely brilliant goal, but I just thought throughout the game we looked really creative and had lots of opportunities to score more goals.

“Everything that you want in a team, the tempo, the speed, the aggression, the energy, everything was there against a good side.”

Rodgers stated it was too early to tell the extent of the two hamstring injuries and flagged concerns over the fitness of Cameron Carter-Vickers ahead of Sunday’s trip to face William Hill Premiership leaders Hearts.

“We wanted to take off Cam but we could only make one substitution in the second half,” he said. “Ideally we would have taken him off, so we’ll see what he’s like.”