Glasgow may be paradise for Celtic, but they were welcomed to Hell yesterday.
The team coach arched its way out of Trondheim Airport, bending up on to the main road to let Brendan Rodgers’ team get their first sight of a typical Nordic landscape of sweeping green slopes, bright summer skies and vast lakes. It all seemed quite picturesque until you looked up at the hill staring back, with the words ‘HELL’ emblazoned on the side like some odd Scandinavian Hollywood tribute act.
It may have just been a rather unusual way of letting the Scottish champions know the place name of the wee village on the outskirts of the airport boundary, but it was a stark notice to where they may feel like they are heading if the right result is not garnered in Norway this evening.
Okay, it would be the Europa League play-off round, but you get the drift.
It is incredible to think that Celtic, the treble winners of Scotland, have yet to kick a domestic ball and already the mood of their season rests on a defining 90 minutes – please don’t let it be 120 – of football against Rosenborg, the Tippeligaen winners who, at the very least, have knocked any thoughts that this would be another walkover for Celtic right out the park. The 0-0 draw in Glasgow for this third round qualifier first leg against a team half way through their own domestic campaign was nervy, frustrating, and concerning to most of the 50,000-odd in attendance. It left more questions than answers, including some rarely associated with this Celtic side. Where will the goals come from?
But not for one man.
For Brendan Rodgers, there is a calmness which flows from him over his players. That was evident at least in the 5-0 defeat of Sunderland at the weekend. Even without a recognised striker for the first leg, his players believed in his methods and change of focus, and delivered up a bounty of goals as a reward at the Stadium of Light. The response from a week ago has been a far cry from the panic which set in around a year ago in Israel, with Celtic desperately hanging on against a Hapoel Be’er Sheva team who had the Scots on the rocks in the play-off round. As Rodgers composes himself ahead of a game tonight that could open the door back to that very stage, his hand steady.
“We have to enjoy it and the pressure of planning to win,” he said, speaking at the team hotel here in Trondheim. We don’t plan to disappoint, we plan to win. We come into a game where there is a wee bit at stake but we know we have the game to win, so we won’t worry about it. We won’t go into the battle and think about it night and day. We have to stay calm and we know as we play as a team we can get through. It is my job as the coach and the manager to install that into the players and to try and find a way.
“You have to come into these games and feel that, if you can impose your game, you can work well. They are never easy. And you can never come away from the pressure. You can’t run behind a tree and say there is no pressure because there is. But how you regulate the pressure is important. And how you distribute that flow of pressure. That’s for me to worry about in the players that I send out to play.”
Rodgers can still recall that night in Israel last August when at 2-0 down on the night but 5-4 up on aggregate, his team were just one goal away from the Europa League. He remembers the panic and frantic nature of the game, but is confident the peace and serenity of the picturesque surroundings in Norway will mirror his team’s composure in the Lerkendal Stadium.
“I just think you have to think clearly. Inside you can be like a tumble drier. In Be’er Sheva there was no calmness. It was a test. My heartbeat was in my head that night.
“That night we couldn’t pass it - we just tried everything in that game. But that’s an example of nervousness from a team which, naturally, hasn’t qualified for a time, trying to find a new way of working. But there’s night and day difference now.
“The best way to cope with it is have the ball, press hard, be aggressive and just do your best. We all know the consequence if we don’t. We want to win, but we will do it as a process.”
There does seem a different mindset about this group under Rodgers. Indeed, there was a relaxed atmosphere as his team made their way through heavy crowds at Glasgow Airport yesterday, an inner confidence and contentment shining through. It felt, well, not Scottish.
“It’s the nerve of the managers,” explained Celtic’s. “If they get under pressure and they put that pressure onto the players then naturally the players will get rid of it.
“But you want your players to pass it and there’s a difference between getting rid of it and passing it. In Scotland you like to get rid of it. Most teams, not every team, but that’s what you try and do.
“Then you wonder why, 20 years later, you haven’t qualified for a World Cup. So there has to be an ability for coaches to accept the pressure and get your teams to play. If not you’ve be crying every year, asking ‘why are we not technically good enough?’
“Because you encouraged them to get rid of it and not pass it.
“You have to be calm.”
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