Brendan Rodgers on Celtic’s Golden Generation and praise for Dermot Desmond

The Celtic Star

·26 April 2025

Brendan Rodgers on Celtic’s Golden Generation and praise for Dermot Desmond

Brendan Rodgers spoke to the media ahead of this afternoon’s potential title-clincher for Celtic against Dundee United at Tannadice…

Tannadice Park, Dundee, home of Dundee Utd. Photo Celtic FC

Celtic need just a point to wrap up yet another Scottish Premiership title in the Golden Age for the club. Long may it continue. The Celtic support at the game today will have memories to last a lifetime if we get a result and that is what watching Celtic home and away is all about.

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Here’s everything that was said at Brendan’s media conference yesterday afternoon as the Celtic manager spoke to the mainstream media…

Celtic Park welcomes Brendan Rodgers in May 2016. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

Q: Brendan, are you able to convey your emotions at the moment when you’re just one game away, potentially, from winning the title?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yes, it is another game for us, so I think most of the concentration has been on, actually, the performance level. I think we carry into the game a level of performance which is a really high standard over our last two, and we want to maintain that. We know it will be difficult. Jim, I think, has had a brilliant season this season. He’s a guy who has a couple of challenges in some of his other jobs, but he showed when he went into Dundee United and then getting them promoted and then keeping them in the top six this season. I think he’s done so, so well. They’re a team that don’t give up many chances. We’ve seen that when we were up there the last time, when it was 0-0, but we know where we’re at. We know what we need to do and we know we want to leave Tannadice as a champion. So, for that, we need to perform.”

Q: And they did that when they had their first attempt last season at Rugby Park?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yes, absolutely. So, listen, we would have liked it to have been at home. That was our grievance a few weeks back, but that was well put behind us now. I think any time you win the league, of course, it’s special, and you would love to do it if you can in front of your own supporters. But ideally, really, whenever you win it, you win it. So, we don’t want to delay it any longer than we have to. But for that, we have to perform.”

Q: Squad news?

Brendan Rodgers: “No, no real change. Similar squad. Kasper is not back, Yang is not back, Dane Murray is still out. So, yes, pretty much the same.”

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Q: You’ve won many titles Brendan, is it a case of every one is as good as the last? Every one is better than the last?

Brendan Rodgers: “Well, I think that’s what retains the hunger. I think that this season has been so satisfying in so many ways for me, and I’ve loved seeing us evolve as a team, develop as a team. From the beginning of the season, I’ve enjoyed seeing us bounce back from the setbacks that we’ve had. I’ve enjoyed seeing the players now get very close to feeling the reward for all the sacrifices that they make, because it’s an incredible group of professional players that come in to train and to work every single day.

“They don’t look for any easy days. They don’t look for any easy games. Sometimes we haven’t been at our best for whatever reason, but it’s certainly not through the honesty of the group. So, yes, we’re at that point of the season now. We’re very close, five games to go, a cup final to look forward to, and we really want to finish the season strong. And I’ve always felt from my first time here, if you’re going to win, try and win in the best way that you possibly can. And that’s what we want to do this season.”

Q: People on the outside maybe underestimate the difficulties in meeting the high expectations that the club has set over the years. Is that something that you talk about the sacrifices the players make to get to this stage? Is that the thing that people don’t see in dealing with the pressure and the demands of winning every game as well?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yes, I just think you obviously see reports around a bit more Celtic winning and this and that, but people actually don’t understand what goes into being that consistent to win. I know that from the outside, looking in, it can maybe feel like that, but the work that goes in, on and off the park here, the Celtic Football Club, from so many people, from the very top, you know, Dermot Desmond, whose experience and knowledge and influence to manage everything and see it from a sort of second position as such, and his intellect and what he brings from the very top is so important.

Dermot Desmond prior to the Celtic vs St Mirren Cinch Premiership match at Celtic Park on May 20, 2023 (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

“And then you get that right the way through the club. That then moves to me in terms of looking after the core performance. And then from that, you know your responsibility as a manager here, where you have to drive the players to deal with expectations of our supporters, which we cherish because that always pushes you to be the best you can. So, to live with all of that and deal with all of that 24 hours a day, seven days a week, that is a challenge.

Adam Idah. St Johnstone v Celtic, Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park on Sunday 20 April 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

“For the players then to come through that challenge and be successful with it, that’s what you would want from your club. So, on top of that, you’ve got to do it consistently and the consistency is there. It’s not an easy thing, this job managing this club and for the players to play for this club. It really isn’t easy. And that’s why I tip my hat to when I am here and I see how hard the guys work and get those rewards, then that obviously makes me very pleased.”

Q: Do you reinforce that message to the players, Brendan, because I think this will be the 19th title in 25 years and it’s over 40 trophies in that period as well. It’s quite a historic period for the club. Do you reinforce that to the players, to say you need to cherish this?

Brendan Rodgers: “No, not so much of the overall, like the record you just said. I know we’re in a golden era here at Celtic and people always say you’re miles ahead and everything else. I always think you’re never too far behind and you’re never too far ahead. And I think that’s what’s key. If you think you’re too far ahead, then you’re too content and then you stop growing and you stop developing. What we tend to want to do here is focus on ourselves, focus on very much in the now.

Daizen Maeda celebrates. St Johnstone v Celtic, Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park on Sunday 20 April 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

“There’s been a generation and a period now that’s had amazing success, brilliant for the supporters. What I love about our support is we celebrate it like it is our first. So there’s nothing taken for granted. But for us and how we work, we’re in a great period. But that only comes from keeping aggressive, putting in the work, because that’s ultimately what it boils down to. It boils down to hard work, hard work consistently and performing.”

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Callum McGregor, St Johnstone v Celtic, Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park on Sunday 20 April 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Q: You spoke about a golden era. I know you put a statement out to the fans today, just ahead of the next season. It seems if you’re very motivated to take the team to the next level, not just be content with as is.

Brendan Rodgers: “Listen, my desire here to be at Celtic is very much professional. And emotional. My professional feeling is that I wanted to come back. I love the club. I missed the club. So I’m back and now I’ve enjoyed every second of it, apart from the beginning!

“But in the main, it’s gone really well. Clearly, my emotional attachment to the club is for the supporters, for family, for friends that are Celtic supporters, to do the very best for them and represent them the best I can. So, yes, I’m very happy here for the now to finish this season well. And we can go into the summer and really celebrate a fantastic season. And then really look forward to the challenges again going into my third season.

Callum McGregor. St Johnstone v Celtic, Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park on Sunday 20 April 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

“Your bread and butter is your domestic football. You’ve got to look after that. You could never think straight away to Europe. You have to look after yourself at home. And then from that, alongside that, we wanted to develop in Europe and we did that this year. So, can we keep that strong hold and get into European football and get into the Champions League?”

Q: Does that emotional attachment help you in some ways to never take it for granted? Because as a supporter, going back a few decades, Celtic weren’t always winning and you’ll remember those times.

Brendan Rodgers: “Yes, listen, you look back to the eras here, the 60s and 70s, Celtic winning so much. And then we have eras here where winning a trophy was a real challenge and really, really difficult. And then you look to the early 2000s, Martin coming in and then the growth then after that. And it’s just continued. But it’s a great testament to every manager that’s been here, every coach that’s walked, every player that’s played. But the emotional attachment allows me to understand the club and know that you cannot take it for granted. Every morning I drive up that hill there, I know I have to be the very best that I can be in order to justify my position here as the manager.”

St Johnstone v Celtic, Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park on Sunday 20 April 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Q: I think a result tomorrow, Brendan will give you 11 major honours as Celtic manager, makes you the greatest living Celtic manager in terms of honours. Can you still feel that kind of hand of history on your shoulder?

Brendan Rodgers: “Not really. I’m a long, long way behind Big Jock and Willie, so I’ll never… No, I’m just privileged to be in my position, to have the opportunity. I think it’s one of the things that I’ll always be eternally grateful to Dermot, for bringing me back. Because without his support and his belief in me, I wouldn’t have this chance to have the opportunity to win the trophies. So, for that, I have so many people I need to make proud. And that’s always in my thinking, really, as opposed to the personal.

“The titles and the piece of metal or silver that we get, that’s not really… When I see that, I only see the hard work and all the ideas that we present every day and the values that we work to as a club. That’s what I see. And that’s my only intention, to keep on that road and keep on that path, to keep the success with the club. And hopefully then, when I leave, then I can look back and think, well, I’ve either done OK or not.”

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Callum McGregor of Celtic celebrates scoring the opening goal with James Forrest during the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup Semi Final match between St Johnstone and Celtic at Hampden Park on April 20, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: James Forrest, right on the cusp of becoming the most decorated player ever in Celtic’s history. That’s pretty incredible, isn’t it? What can you say about James?

Brendan Rodgers: “Probably not too much that hasn’t been said before, but a remarkable player. Obviously, you see all the clips of him as a young guy, coming on at 17 years of age. And now, you see him now, this experienced man amongst the group. Again, fortunate to have a player of that ability to work with. In 2016, there was doubt whether he was going to be here or not, but he stayed. He was brilliant for me in the first spell.

James Forrest and Callum McGregor early in their Celtic careers. Photo social media.

Come back in the second spell, there’s maybe other players ahead of him, but he eventually grew and developed and felt the confidence and was absolutely instrumental in us getting over the line last season. And likewise this season. His football brain is so good. He’s a fantastic player. I see it on the pitch every day. I think the other players, he’s a great reference just for sheer quality in the games. You know, some of the players that are new here. He’s such a big reference for the players.

James Forrest. St Johnstone v Celtic, Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park on Sunday 20 April 2025. Photo by Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

And to this day, he’s still one of the first ones in, eats well, rests well, sleeps well, doesn’t do silly things and is the ultimate professional. And a guy with such humility, he’d probably be embarrassed to be given the accolades, but he absolutely, thoroughly deserves them because he’s a winger. Any position to play that number of games and be in the position to win titles in any position is a challenge, but to be a winger at Celtic and stay the course, wow, some achievement.”

Q: Brendan, you said earlier, thanks to Dermot for bringing you back. When you are that close to winning another trophy, you see your club progressing in Europe, getting to knock out playoff stages in the Champions League. Does that kind of reinforce, in your own mind, you were right to come back?

Celtic Park welcomes Brendan Rodgers in May 2016. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

Brendan Rodgers: “I was right to come back. Whether I’d won nothing, it was really just about that point, having the energy and, obviously, the close proximity to me leaving, whether the feeling would have been too difficult for supporters to accept. In the main, most of the supporters have been really, really good. Of course, you can’t please everyone, but my focus then, as soon as I was to come back, it was to make the club as successful as we can be. And we’ve progressed and worked very, very well. And now we’re on the cusp of finishing the season as successful as you can be. I think once I had spoken to Dermot, of course, and the guys laid out the plans, and once I’d committed to it, then I was really motivated to come back and do the very best I could.”

Q: Callum had mentioned yesterday that the investment going in at Rangers and perhaps a stronger challenge from Ibrox next season would motivate you just as much to stay on top of the pile. Would you be extra motivated or welcome a stronger challenge?

Brendan Rodgers: “Listen, competition is always what drives you as an individual and as a team. Of course, you have your own motivations from within, but listen, every single team in this league motivates me to win. We’ve got some great coaches up here, some fantastic managers who are very passionate about their work and their job. So, any team provides the motivation and the drive for me to succeed here. And, yes, if there’s an investment going into Rangers, then great. That’ll be good for the supporters, good for the club. But my focus is very much on Celtic.”

Brendan Rodgers at the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup Semi Final match between St Johnstone and Celtic at Hampden Park on April 20, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Q: I think you’ve only been at Tannadice once before. It’s a storied-old stadium. Is it a worthy place to win it if you do win it tomorrow against a good United side?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yes, it was a really difficult game when we were up there the last time. Both teams were in the midst of a really, really busy schedule. Of course, us with European football as well. It was a really windy day. We had players out and we just didn’t quite manage to get over the line. Dundee United defended so well, very strong, and we just couldn’t win. But, of course, there’s been a couple of great moments here in the club’s history of winning the title there with Ange and, obviously, with Gordon for Tommy and everything back then. So, it’s a real poignant place. And it’s one of the great stadiums up here in Scotland.

“Growing up, listening to it on the radio and being at Tannadice when Celtic played there and obviously seeing some of the games on telly. Their history itself is very rich when you look back to how well they were doing in the 80s and everything else. So, yes, I was so pleased because it was one of the few grounds I hadn’t been to in my time up here. I’ll be even happier tomorrow if we can get a win and finish off the job.”

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