“This is one of my most favourite results of the season,” Brendan Rodgers | OneFootball

Brendan Rodgers spoke to the media after Celtic’s hard-fought 5-2 victory over St Mirren last night. Subsequently, the Hoops are now three consecutive wins away from securing four-in-a-row…

Brendan Rodgers applauds the away support. St Mirren v Celtic, Scottish Premiership, Saturday 1st March 2025. Photo: Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Q: With the double substitution, you seemed to bring so much more energy into the team?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yes, listen, this is one of my most favourite results of the season. Why? Because we’re coming to a team that you see how difficult they are to play against. The surface was very, very difficult on the back of their third game in the week. We were so good in our attacking play. And like you say, we needed the freshness, we needed the energy. The guys then coming into the game brought that and then made the football smile for us. It was so good to come here and get five goals. Yes, I’m so pleased.”

READ THIS…Sandman’s Definitve Ratings – Celtic at the Corleone’s Country House

Yang celebrates. St Mirren v Celtic, Scottish Premiership, Saturday 1st March 2025. Photo: Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Q: You must be delighted for Yang, Brendan?

Brendan Rodgers: “Aye, it’s just time. Aye, listen, I think it will help that his girlfriend’s here at the moment! So I said to the guys, see if we can keep her here! See if we can get that visa sorted! Everyone knows he’s in a really good mood and he has been for a little while. He has two goals. His pass for Daizen Maeda’s goal to see it and then to execute it. Wow, what a pass. And like I said, he’s a young player who’s developing and improving. And like you say, he’s played a really, really important role for us. There’s obviously been starters ahead of him, but you need guys like this in your squad. And I thought he came into the game and was so direct. Gets into the areas, he was so good.”

Yang scores. St Mirren v Celtic, Scottish Premiership, Saturday 1st March 2025. Photo: Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Q: His first goals textbook, the movement and then the header?

Brendan Rodgers: “Aye, brilliant. And Jeff obviously makes a great cross in his second one. But the first one, like you say, lovely ball by Reo and he was there. And it’s what we want. Our wingers will always score goals if they get into the right areas. We constantly preach. Second post, second post, second post. And he was there for them.”

Everything Brendan Rodgers said to the media after Celtic’s brilliant 5-2 win at St Mirren continues on the next page…

Yang celebrates. St Mirren v Celtic, Scottish Premiership, Saturday 1st March 2025. Photo: Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Q: Does it feel like a big night? It’s now three wins from a title. Does it feel like a big night tonight?

Brendan Rodgers: “Well, we always knew that this was going to be a tough place to come. And we can only look after our own selves. I’m just so happy for the players that they’ve come through what I mentioned a few months ago was going to be a really, really busy period of intensity, of runs. And I think that’s just a little bit that we’ll get back now. Because for me, that just a little bit of freshness. As I said to the players, the freshness in our defending is just a fraction off it. Why? Because we’ve played so many games and the players physically, mentally, they’re pushing themselves to the limit. And when you come up against teams like here, you know, great free kick by Declan John, wonderful free kick. And then obviously the second one, they get a wee bit of good fortune. So that’s the only thing that’s, if I’m being super critical, we need to just get back. But we’ll get that because now we can recover better. We can do some work on that on the training field. And then going forward, really, with one game a week, apart from probably the last week, we’ll be right there in our pressing and offensive play, which is still at such a high level.”

Auston Trusty gets treatment for a head-knock. St Mirren v Celtic, Scottish Premiership, Saturday 1st March 2025. Photo: Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Q: How’s Auston Trusty?

Brendan Rodgers:  “He had five stitches, so he’ll be okay.”

Yang score but it’s offside. St Mirren v Celtic, Scottish Premiership, Saturday 1st March 2025. Photo: Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Everything Brendan Rodgers said to the media after Celtic’s brilliant 5-2 win at St Mirren continues on the next page…

Q: There’s talk of Yang potentially earning a recall to the South Korean national team as well. I’m guessing on the type of form that he’s shown at this moment in time, he can hopefully kick on and secure his place in the national team?

Brendan Rodgers: “That would be a great reward for him. But he also knows that just keep making an impact here, whether you start, whether you come off the bench, and he can do no more. He’s done fantastic. He’s come in at Champions League level, been effective, come in domestically, been effective. And to have a young guy like that who brings that enthusiasm and quality and now he’s starting to get goals, yeah, hopefully that can happen for him.”

Yang leads the celebrations. St Mirren v Celtic, Scottish Premiership, Saturday 1st March 2025. Photo: Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Q: After the game was over, he had a moment with the supporters as well?

Brendan Rodgers:  “Aye, aye. I think he’ll stay there all night. But it’s so good for him. He’s such a great kid. He works so hard every single day. He doesn’t moan. He doesn’t groan. He’s tough. He’s a tough boy. He’s physical. It hasn’t always come off for him because he’s adapted to the intensity and the pressure. But now you’re starting to see a young guy evolve as a football player and as a person. So I’m so happy for him.”

Kasper Schmeichel at full time. St Mirren v Celtic, Scottish Premiership, Saturday 1st March 2025. Photo: Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Everything Brendan Rodgers said to the media after Celtic’s brilliant 5-2 win at St Mirren continues on the next page…

Q: Is there a real sense, Brendan, in the players just to get the title done as quick as possible, as emphatically as possible?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah, I think I’ve always wanted to sprint over the line in any of the competitions that we’ve been in. So we sit in a great position, 16 points clear with the goal difference, you can say, as an extra point. But we’re in a really, really good place. And the players are so deserving of it. But we still have a lot of work to do. We want to get into the semi-final, a tough game next week. But we’ll be ready for that. And then we want to finish the job in the league as quick as we can.”

Luke McCowan and Yang celebrate. St Mirren v Celtic, Scottish Premiership, Saturday 1st March 2025. Photo: Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Q: You’ll be glad to have no game in midweek, give the boys a couple of days rest?

Brendan Rodgers:“Yeah, they totally deserve it. They’ve been absolutely outstanding. Professionalism, mentality, dealing with pressure, quality, resilience, grit, everything you want. That’s what’s in this group. And a number more so to come here and score five goals. So they deserve a wee breather. And then we’ll get back in and prepare for the quarter-final.”

Q: You knew the Rangers result before you took to the field – did that feature at all in your team talk?

Brendan Rodgers: “No. No, it actually didn’t. Because I think when you start to concentrate on other teams, then that’s your measure. My measure here at Celtic is beyond that. I want us to be the best that we can be. I said to the players that there’s a price to pay when you’re a Celtic player. There’s great moments, but the price to pay is that this will be a team, St Mirren, who will come and give everything to you. So you’ve got to stand up to it. So that was the team talk. And the players did that so, so well.”

Callum McGregor has a word with Luke McCowan. St Mirren v Celtic, Scottish Premiership, Saturday 1st March 2025. Photo: Vagelis Georgariou (The Celtic Star)

Q: Is Callum McGregor okay?

Brendan Rodgers: “Yeah. He just felt a little bit of tiredness in his calf. So I didn’t want to take any risk with him. And Luke coming in was fantastic. Arne Engels just dropped back in.”

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