Brendan Rodgers didn’t hold back this afternoon after Celtic slumped to a dismal 1-0 defeat away to St Johnstone. The result not only dents the Hoops’ hopes of wrapping up the title next Saturday but also exposed some glaring issues within the squad — and the Irishman made his frustrations clear.
Rodgers criticised the mentality of several players, accusing some of looking for an ‘easy game’ instead of rising to the occasion.
His comments were sharp, and it’s clear he expects a significant improvement in attitude and performances from certain individuals.
He said: (TCW), “It’s easily done. You can go into the game and look for an easy game, top to bottom. But the very best players are right on it from minute one.
“And I’m not talking here about boys like Callum McGregor, who deals with expectation, who deals with being the underdog in the Champions League and guys like that.
“But there’s absolutely no doubt, around some of our starts, we have some players going in looking for an easy game. And that’s what we need to look at.
“Yeah, it comes from within. It comes from within. My experience in managing many, many games and that’s why the top players, like I say, like Callum and James Forrest and these guys, they never look for an easy game. Ever.
“Their ambition or whatever level they’re playing for this club, they go into the game and it’s not an easy game they’re looking for. They know the expectation and they know the desire. So that there, ambition and desire, come from within.”
It’s clear that Rodgers feels let down by certain members of the squad who have failed to show the desire and ambition required to play for Celtic in recent months.
In contrast, McGregor and Forrest stand out to him as examples of players who know what it means to wear a Celtic shirt proudly.
The message is clear: if players aren’t prepared to fight for every ball, every match, and every point, they’ll find themselves on the outside looking in.
