Brendan Rodgers has suggested Celtic made life harder for themselves by failing to strengthen properly ahead of their Champions League play-off defeat to Kairat Almaty.
The Hoops crashed out of Europe’s top competition after two goalless legs, before losing on penalties in Kazakhstan. Rodgers has now reflected on how the squad was left short of the necessary quality to progress, despite showing signs of development in Europe last year.
His assessment highlights the feeling that Celtic didn’t do enough to build on last season’s progress. While refusing to directly criticise the board, the Celtic boss made it clear the situation was avoidable, using the phrase “manufacture your own stress” to describe the current reality.
With the transfer window closing on Monday night and a trip to Ibrox looming on Sunday, Rodgers now faces the dual task of patching together a response in the league while hoping for late movement in the market.
He said: (BBC Sport), “As I said, we all know what we want to get to. We showed last year like I say, the strides I feel we made.
“But you have to build on that. The last thing you want to do in football is manufacture your own stress. That’s exactly what you don’t want.
“I think now we’ve just got to look at where we are as a football club, and, like I say, decide which direction we want to take.
“But right now, we can still have a very good season.
“The Europa League, some will say we deserve to be there this year. But for me, we’ll go away with this group of players, see what the final days of the window bring, and then focus on a really big game at the weekend.”
Rodgers’ comments will hit home with fans who’ve been worried about the lack of action in the transfer market this summer. Not bringing in the right players before such a key tie has proved costly, and it’s not just about the money lost by missing the Champions League.
His line about “manufacturing your own stress” will be felt far beyond the dressing room. It points to a bigger issue, this wasn’t just a poor performance on the pitch, but a failure to prepare properly off it. Rodgers clearly thinks more should have been done.
With the transfer window closing soon, attention now shifts to the club’s top figures. From Dermot Desmond to Michael Nicholson, the pressure is on to back the manager and show real intent before it’s too late. If not, the same problems will keep coming up, and the gap between the dugout and boardroom could grow even wider.
Rodgers is now trying to regroup with the squad he has, with a huge test coming on Sunday at Ibrox. But his message is clear, Celtic can’t keep making the same errors in Europe and expect things to change.
