{"id":239869,"date":"2025-09-19T21:33:16","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T21:33:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/239869\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T21:33:16","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T21:33:16","slug":"brendan-rodgers-has-one-word-for-celtic-investigation-amid-curious-case-of-simpson-pusey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/239869\/","title":{"rendered":"Brendan Rodgers has one word for Celtic investigation amid curious case of Simpson-Pusey"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Celtic boss had plenty to say going into the Premier Sports Cup showdown with Patrick Thistle<\/p>\n

16:47, 19 Sep 2025Updated 17:52, 19 Sep 2025<\/p>\n

It was Box Office Brendan last week. This time around it was more reflective Rodgers \u2013 at least for a while.<\/p>\n

But the Celtic manager is essential viewing and while nothing was going to get near his blockbuster media conference last Friday, the Irishman was worth watching yet again.<\/p>\n

Here are the main takeaways after he sat down to preview Sunday\u2019s clash with Patrick Thistle.<\/p>\n

\"CelticCeltic boss Brendan RodgersGoing to bat for Russell<\/p>\n

The Hoops boss knows how Glasgow works and doesn\u2019t need to be told about the rivalry with Rangers.<\/p>\n

But he was at his blistering best here again, and this time it was in defence of the under siege Ibrox manager.<\/a><\/p>\n

Rodgers was in no mood to join the stampede of critics mocking the Gers gaffer for their team building trip to Loch Lomond on Monday.<\/p>\n

In fact, the Celtic<\/a> boss revealed his side ALSO went on a team bonding job this week, with a group get together with the players and their wives to help the new recruits settle in.<\/p>\n

Celtic Manager Brendan Rodgers and Rangers boss Russell Martin<\/p>\n

And Rodgers also put the boot in to the sideline snipers who have been criticising Martin\u2019s performance in the dugout.<\/p>\n

A bit like last week, there were no names mentioned but he made it clear he wasn\u2019t happy with the pundits who had been in management and coaching roles lining up to dig out the current man in charge.<\/p>\n

This is a gaffer with more than 800 games as a boss \u2013 and if there\u2019s something he doesn\u2019t like, he simply comes out and says it.<\/p>\n

Drawing a line under choas<\/p>\n

Rodgers <\/a>said plenty seven days earlier in his now famous half an hour epic where he dismantled Celtic\u2019s transfer window and branded a club insider a coward for briefing against him.<\/p>\n

This time around he was keen to move on. There was a question about the good performance and result against Kilmarnock \u2018but\u2019 the fan chants that followed, he slapped it down and insisted there was no need for anything after the but.<\/p>\n

When also pressed about the investigation in to who was speaking out of school, it was a one word answer \u2013 done.<\/p>\n

And he wouldn\u2019t elaborate. Rodgers clearly wants to draw a line under some of the recent carry on and get down to the job of getting the best out of his side.<\/p>\n

Squad issues remain<\/p>\n

That said, Rodgers was interested in the shape of his squad. When asked about the impact made by Michel-Ange Balikwisha<\/a> and some of his struggles on the right wing at Rugby Park, he admitted that was on him.<\/p>\n

He insisted Balikwisha was a left sided winger and the reason he was brought in along with Tounekti was because they expected Daizen Maeda to go.<\/p>\n

Obviously that didn\u2019t happen amid the deadline day striker panic but it doesn\u2019t sound like Balikwisha will be over that side too much in the future.<\/p>\n

Who will be is up for debate. Rodgers almost admitted he wasn\u2019t sure.<\/p>\n

He has James Forrest and Yang out there, but he doesn\u2019t see Maeda\u2019s best role on that flank.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s going to be a case of watch this space.<\/p>\n

Where’s JSP?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a question a lot of supporters have been asking, where is Jahmai Simpson-Pusey.<\/p>\n

It doesn\u2019t sound like he\u2019ll be seen any time soon though.<\/p>\n

Rodgers admitted it\u2019s been tough for the on-loan Man City defender to break in to a defence that\u2019s only lost one league goal all season.<\/p>\n

GLASGOW, SCOTLAND – AUGUST 20: Celtic’s Jahmai Simpson-Pusey arrives ahead of a UEFA Champions League Play-Offs First Leg match between Celtic and Kairat Almaty at Cetic Park, on August 20, 2025, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Craig Williamson \/ SNS Group)<\/p>\n

He also revealed the centre back has been viewed as one for the medium to longer term over his 12 month stint in Scotland.<\/p>\n

In the meantime it\u2019s about adapting to the club and getting fully up to speed after missing out some of pre-season down south.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s another one to keep an eye on.<\/p>\n

No Daizen doubts<\/p>\n

While it remains to be seen how best Rodgers will deploy Daizen Maeda or if he might away in January, there won\u2019t be any concerns over his commitment.<\/p>\n

Maeda was quite at Rugby Park for long spells but popped up with a crucial opening goal.<\/p>\n

It was a stunning cross from Marcelo Saracchi and and a tremendous diving header finish.<\/p>\n

Rodgers knows it\u2019s been a tough time for the Japanese ace having been all set for a move away over the summer.<\/p>\n

But the Celtic manager won\u2019t lose any sleep over the attacker putting in 100 percent every week.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Celtic boss had plenty to say going into the Premier Sports Cup showdown with Patrick Thistle 16:47,…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":239870,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[34431,7754,128307,128306,128303,128304,128308,128305,9792,7756,221,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-239869","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"tag-brendan-rodgers","9":"tag-celtic-fc","10":"tag-daizen-maeda","11":"tag-jahmai-simpson-pusey","12":"tag-james-forrest","13":"tag-loch-lomond","14":"tag-michel-ange-balikwisha","15":"tag-premier-sports-cup","16":"tag-russell-martin","17":"tag-scottish-premiership","18":"tag-soccer","19":"tag-sports","20":"tag-united-states","21":"tag-unitedstates","22":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115233109367417710","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=239869"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/239869\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/239870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=239869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=239869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=239869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}