BRENDAN RODGERS‘ 800th game as a manager didn’t quite go according to plan as Celtic fired blanks in the home scoreless stalemate with Kairat Almaty in the first leg of the Champions League play-off last night.
There were no celebrations for the team boss who has seen service at Watford, Reading, Swansea City, Liverpool and Leicester City and is now in his second stint at Parkhead.
Instead, there was the grim reality of a vitally important return game in Kazakhstan on Tuesday with £40million up for grabs for the victors.
Rodgers was clearly disappointed in his side’s dismal display in which they could only muster two shots on target in a game that had 10 minutes of stoppage-time.
Plus there was a heart stopping moment just before the hour mark when Kairat’s Brazilian forward Edmilson seized on an uncharacteristic error from Cameron Carter-Vickers to attempt an ambitious 40-yard lob that just cleared the bar with Kasper Schmeichel scrambling back to his line.
The angry fans took their feelings out on the board mainly through the lack of activity on the transfer front with the squad clearly requiring quality recruits.
Kyogo Furuhashi still hasn’t been replaced, despite leaving in January and Adam Idah made no impact against the Kazakhs before being hauled off at the interval with Yang Hyun-jun coming on and Daizen Maeda moving to the attack-leader slot.
Later on, Shin Yamada, signed in the summer for £1.3million from Kawasaki Frontale, took over the role with his countryman switching back to the left wing.
The chopping and changing was to no avail and Rodgers admitted: “I accept the responsibility as the manager of the club.”
Curiously, the Irishman quickly added: “I can’t tell you anything which I would like to, but there’s only so many ways I can dress up that we haven’t got any players in.
“But I accept responsibility to stand here and tell you where we’re at. The privilege is mine to be here. If it’s my role to do that, then, of course I will do that.”
Despite all the merchants of doom already writing off the champions, the Hoops gaffer is still convinced the team can gatecrash the later stages of Europe’s most prestigious tournament.
Rodgers, speaking to the Daily Record, said: “We’re disappointed with the result and first-half performance. We didn’t start with the intent and mentality we wanted to. We were quite passive.
“The second-half was better, we started well, but couldn’t find the breakthrough in the final third of the pitch.
“At the end of the game, we have to shuffle things about to try and make it work.
“But the players’ endeavour in the second-half was really good. But at this level, it’s more than that.”
Rodgers added: “Of course, you want to take the advantage. I’ve been here before, having drawn 0-0 in a qualification game – against Rosenborg, a very good team.
“We went there to qualify and we did, played very well and won.
“There’s no doubt we can go there and win. It’s still very much in the balance.”
