BRENDAN RODGERS last night paid a warm and unexpected tribute to the work done by his predecessor at Celtic Ronnie Deila who the new manager believes left him a base which helped him reach the Champions League.
The Norwegian, who failed twice to take the club to the group stages, would have been one of the last names on the minds of supporters when the final whistle went in Israel which meant the 2-0 defeat at the hands of Hapoel Be’er Sheva was a good enough result.
Deila’s reign was tainted by his shortcomings in the competition, while Rodgers got through qualification at the first time of asking; however, the Northern Irishman was quick to heap what he believed was deserved praise on the man who came before him.
Read more: Celtic in line for 'Brexit' boost to Champions League riches
“I would like to say thank you to Ronny,” said Rodgers. “Because I don’t get the chance to qualify for the Champions League if he doesn’t win the league – and he won the league last year.
“So amongst the thanks I want to say a particular thank you to him and his staff because that gives me the chance to come into the club when he decided to move on and try to take the team forward.
“They have made huge strides, but they will still be a way to go before they will be where I want them to be.
“I think Tuesday night showed all the work they have been doing, the long hours, all the tactical work, all the psychological work in terms of getting that resistance to anything thrown at you. You get your rewards on the field and that’s where we want to see them.”
Rodgers has added four players so far but only two of them, Kolo Toure and Erik Sviatchenko, began the match against Hapoel. He has been forced to work with those who have not played well at this stage in the previous two years and, so far, has got the best out of most of them.
Read more: Celtic in line for 'Brexit' boost to Champions League riches
“All I know is there were some good players and I have respect for other coaches and managers,” said the Celtic manager. “This is a huge job, a very, very tough job with the expectation of the club and where the club wants to be. With the riches now in football it’s very, very difficult.
“We haven’t spent nearly anything at all but we needed certain types of personalities in here and add them to the boys here. It’s just to give them a different way of thinking and working and they have responded magnificently. It’s a pleasure to work with them and hopefully it’s only the start for them.”
Rodgers now has the luxury of spending more money on more players given that the club is going to earn between £25m and £30 from the group stages, and that is on top of the transfer kitty he had anyway which he as he said he has hardly touched.
The club are not now going to rip up their philosophy of working with certain limits; however, Tuesday night was a game-changer in terms of the calibre of player that could be lure to the east end of Glasgow in the immediate future.
Read more: Celtic in line for 'Brexit' boost to Champions League riches
“There is a bit of work to do,” said Rodgers. “We’d obviously spoken about it (signing players) if qualification happens what it is we need, but the most important thing for Celtic is that it keeps improving what we have and keeping that momentum.
“Our club has built great momentum in a short period of time and we have to keep moving forward. That’ll mean bringing players in who will improve us, but we have done an awful lot of great work in this market.
“There is a bit of time to do some more and we’ll take some time over the next days to reflect on that and, hopefully, make some improvements.”
Celtic at the moment may be good enough to qualify for the Champions League, which was far from a sure thing, but the performance in Israel confirmed what most supporters already knew and that is the squad remains short of experience and some class.
However, Rodgers won’t be content with just being in the group stages and hoping to pick up a win here and there. He wants to get through to the last 16 just as Gordon Strachan and Neil Lennon did before him.
“I think we have to refocus on our goals,” he said. “We want to come out of the group. We are not in it just to participate. In order to get out the group you have to get in it. So our first job, which was a massive job, was to qualify. It’s an amazing experience to have gone through it.
“But now we are actually in it, it’s most probably going to be a difficult draw. We are in now with Europe’s elite. But we will be in it to try and qualify.”
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