CELTIC manager Brendan Rodgers would prefer to see the winter break for Scottish football’s top-flight clubs extended in future seasons, even if it meant enduring a shorter close season as a result. The Scottish champions return to competitive afternoon this afternoon when they take on Albion Rovers in the William Hill Scottish Cup at neutral Airdrie, their first match since defeating Rangers in the league on Hogmanay.
Rodgers took his Celtic squad to Dubai for a week’s warm-weather training, a break he feels has been wholly beneficial. Now he would like to see that three-week hiatus extended by an additional seven days.
“In an ideal scenario you would have three full weekends off,” he said. “That is where you get your recovery. For supporters, finances, everything: for me it works better. It is no longer going to be the old school way of five or six weeks off at the end of the season. That is gone now.
“If you have Champions League or Europa League [first round] qualifying games you are playing in June. And so if you don’t have a winter break everyone suffers. You used to get four or five weeks off in the summer but they don’t necessarily have to have it at the end of the season. Here, if anything you would say extend the winter break because that is where you are going to get your recovery.”
Celtic’s season will not finish until May 27 should they reach the Scottish Cup final, while several of their players could then be involved in the Scotland versus England World Cup qualifier at Hampden on June 10. With Celtic likely to play their opening Champions League qualifier on July 12 or 13 that could mean a short summer recess for some players but Rodgers is accepting of that.
“You have the Scottish Cup final on May 27 and then you have a few weeks and then you are back in again, if you have European football,” he added. “That’s fine, it is what it is.”
Full-back Mikael Lustig also felt the winter break had benefited the squad. “We had a lot of games, especially in November and December, so it was good for us to get away and take it easy for a while.”
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