BRENDAN RODGERS has warned his dozy players he will NOT tolerate slackers easing off in the comfort zone as Celtic head for their fourth successive title.
The Hoops boss admitted he was trying to control his anger after his side’s dire display in the 1-0 collapse to rock-bottom St Johnstone at McDiarmid Park yesterday.
Rodgers was furious after witnessing the team’s SIXTH defeat in 21 competitive outings in 2025, four in the Premiership and two in the Champions League.
In five of the six games, the Hoops have trailed at half-time and been unable to respond in the second period.
In the league reverses – two against Rangers and one each against Hibs and the Perth Saints – the defence have alarmingly gifted early goals to the opposition.
LOOKING DOWN…Brendan Rodgers can’t hide his disappointment in Perth.
On January 2 at Ibrox, Kasper Schmeichel was tasked with picking the ball out of his net in six minutes as the visitors nosedived to an inexplicable 3-0 loss.
A month later at Easter Road, the Danish keeper conceded after two minutes as Hibs won 2-1 in admittedly controversial circumstances after VAR official Alan Muir erroneously ruled out a Daizen Maeda goal that would have made it 2-2.
In March at Parkhead, Barry Ferguson’s struggling Govan outfit netted in four minutes on their way to a 3-2 victory.
And it took the Saints just four minutes to claim what turned out to be the winner to delay any potential title party for Celtic when Kilmarnock visit the east end of Glasgow on Saturday.
Rodgers’ side haven’t fared much better in the Champions’ League this year. They were two goals adrift in only five minutes before Adam Idah hit a stunning double to make it 2-2 at the interval. The hosts eventually triumphed 4-2.
And Bayern Munich left Parkhead with a 2-1 victory in the first leg of their play-off after leading 1-0 at half-time and completing the tie in the second-half when Harry Kane claimed the goal that settle the outcome as the Hoops fought for a 1-1 draw at the Allianz Stadium before xiting 3-2 on aggregate.
Rodgers must think he is caught in a nightmarish loop with his defence operating a free gift scheme to the opposition.
The Irishman reflected on the latest banana skin stumble and admitted: “There’s definitely anger. I’m trying to control it.
“Poor start to the game, not the first time. This is something that we will look at, certainly in the summer.
“It’s mentality. There’s maybe a few who are comfortable. When you’re comfortable, you become a bit timid, you lose duels and you lose the fight.
“You can never be that if you want to be a top player. So, collectively, that’s the annoyance.
“It’s easily done, you can go into the game and look for an easy game, top against bottom.
“But the very best players are right on it from minute one.
“And I’m not talking about boys like Callum McGregor, who deals with expectation, who deals with being the underdog in the Champions League and guys like that.
“But there’s absolutely no doubt, around some of our starts, we have some players going in looking for an easy game.
“That’s what we need to look at.”
TAKING NOTE…Brendan Rodgers jots down some observations.
Asked if there’s complacency with the champions 13 points clear and the silverware all but already bedecked in green and white ribbons, Rodgers answered: “It can’t be. I can’t use that as an excuse.
“Ibrox, yeah, when we lost the game there on January 2. Okay, 16 points, I can look at that, or whatever it was.
“But, no, it’s happened too many times. I don’t like when I see this here – and, for me, it’s just happened too many times.
“There’s still work to be done. Listen, I don’t threaten the players. The players have been brilliant for me this season.
“The start was really poor, it was soft, it was too comfortable in the game.
“We haven’t won the league yet. Yes, we’re 13 points clear, but we’ve got six games to go so there’s still a lot of work to do.
“Top teams, they have talent, they have a system, they have a spirit and an ambition to win. The third one has been a wee bit ropey for us.
“Clearly, we have talent. We have a system and structure you see in the second-half.
“But before any of that, there has to be a desire and a mentality.
“A couple of times we’ve been just a little bit timid and that’s one of the big pitfalls to succeed. ”
THE CELTIC VIEW…a frustrated Brendan Rodgers following the fourth league loss of 2025.
Afterwards, Rodgers spent 10 minutes on his own wandering around the McDiarmid Park pitch gathering his thoughts.
The Irishman, speaking to the Daily Mail, continued: “For Celtic, it’s winning in the best way you possibly can.
“Not just chugging your way over the line. So we have no excuse. It’s not about tiredness and it’s not about the pitch.
“St Johnstone did great, they deserve a huge amount of credit.
“But my concern is for Celtic and for the ambition of the team, the mentality and the progress of the team.
“These are interesting games for me to analyse.”
Reflecting on his side’s 49th competitive match of the campaign, Rodgers added: “We have players who are not used to playing so many games.
“And I think you see a bit of tiredness, a bit of fatigue setting in.
“But that’s all part of being a Celtic player. You’ve got to go deep in competitions.
“You’ve got to have an expectation on you. Very few times you’re going to be the underdog.
“It’s easy being the underdog but at Celtic the expectation is there.
“And for some, after a long season, it can be tiring but you have to deal with that.
“But you’re not tired after five, 10 minutes of a game.
“So when you’re out there, and it’s happened away at Hibs, it’s happened here, it’s happened at Rangers, it’s happened a few times.
“There’s no tiredness there – that’s mentality.
“So that’s something that I need to fix.”
