Brendan Rodgers has insisted that there is no divide in the Celtic dressing room as Kilmarnock striker Kris Boyd said. Boyd had earlier commented,”You only have to look at their performances. Are they really that bothered to be playing in a Celtic jersey right now? Not for me. I know there was a meeting after the Champions League exit. And, when you look at that, there is a divide in the dressing-room, there is no doubt about it. It was quite clear.”
Brendan Rodgers isn’t someone who would take such scathing attacks by backing down and recently came out and said,’’ When teams lose games the logic used to be and clearly still is, there is a split in the dressing room. Sometimes there is no plan B – that is another accusation. For us, we are very much unified as a club.”
“We’ve set such a high standard over these last couple of seasons. Yes, we haven’t started as well as we wanted in our season but we are very much together. It is something I am very calm with. We have a blueprint which is very stable in terms of the way we play football and normally when we execute that – which we have shown – we have a winning strategy. Sometimes we won’t win games and we have to accept that.”- Rodgers added further.
However, one cannot overlook Boyd’s comments as there was some disruption in the dressing room during some earlier games. Dedryck Boyata, even though he was fit enough to play, made himself unavailable from a Champions League qualifier. Moussa Dembele went on to leave the club on the last day of the transfer window and even Olivier Ntcham was close to leaving the club when West Ham United were reportedly interested in him.
Obviously, all these incidents would not have had a good effect in the dressing room but Rodgers believes his side is still unified and can deliver with the results in the coming games. Missing out on the Champions League would have been a massive blow and the Hoops would have been looking to set things straight in the league. But with just six games into the season, they already find themselves 6 points adrift from the top of the table.
The pressure would be mounting with every result and it is clear that Rodgers might have to look for some reinforcements in the January transfer window. Until then, he needs to ride the tide and make do with the resources he has at his disposal.
The clubs faithful would hope that a loss against Kilmarnock was just a one-off result and if one still looks at the Hoops’ squad, they can still muster up a good challenge for the title. Coming out and clearing the air about a feud in the dressing room is undoubtedly the right move from Rodgers as it keeps the supporters from falling into various media speculations and rumours which are often negative for the club.
