BRENDAN RODGERS has praised the benefit of the Scottish winter break as his team prepare to get to work in the Dubai sunshine.
The Celtic players have been out in the United Arab Emirates with their families but are now turning their attention to a training camp in a bid to recharge and refocus before the second part of the season commences.
It was a jaunt which proved beneficial to the SPFL Premiership leaders last season, who returned from the middle east revitalised enough to secure a sixth league title while have enough gas in the tank to squeak by Aberdeen at the death in the Scottish Cup final.
For the Celtic manager, it’s more of the same this time around.
“From throwing snowballs to working in the heat,” joked Rodgers.
“It’s work. If you see any of the sessions out there, the players are doing a lot of work. But it gives us a chance to reset and get in some really good coaching.
“That was the benefit of last year. Think where we’re at now. The Rangers game was our 38th game. Up here and down south that’s a season. Someone pointed out to me I had 96 games as manager of Swansea City. The Rangers game was my 97th game as Celtic manager in a lot less time.
“The Rangers game brought to an end an incredible year. An iconic year for the club. The trip away allows us to go and reflect as staff but also to impose some of our ways, especially our defending principles.
“Not just in football life but in normal life the old Vitamin D cheers you up. When you live in Glasgow it’s like 50 shades of grey up here – it’s just about which grey you get!
“It breaks the cycle and it’s nice. The players will have had a week with their families to do what they want and relax.
“Then we get into that second week where they work really hard and it gives us a chance to eat together in a different climate.”
While those south of the border are forced to play on through the winter frost and rain, Rodgers is a big fan of the break which he not only believes comes at the right time for players but punters as well.
“Everyone will tell you in normal life if you have a break from what you do on a daily basis you go back re-energised and refocused,” he said. “For me variety is important. It’s one of the great things up here.
“It’s my second season, my second mid-season break. It’s vital for clubs like ourselves. It’s unfortunate for the guys in the Championship they don’t have one but I understand there’s a financial aspect to it there.
“But from a financial perspective for supporters I think it’s important. They come out of it for a period. Think of the poverty in Scotland, as far as economics go it’s tough for lots of people.
“Thankfully we have a lot of working-class people who are still supporters here. It gives them a bit of respite for three weeks in what can be a very difficult month financially. It might not be great for clubs because they need the money but people need money too.
“If they can get a respite from that it gives them a breather too. So across the board it really helps.”
Only just in January and Celtic already stand at 38 competitive games this season. When those south of the border criticise our league and perhaps the performances of our representative in this year’s Champions League, they’d do well to remember that. However, Rodgers remains pragmatic.
“There always will be and always has been since I grew up that you look to Scotland and it’s maybe not as competitive as the English Premier League. The English Premier League is the most competitive league in the world. Of course if you compare to that it’s very difficult,” he said.
“The difference is finances. If you have six or seven billionaires who come to Scotland and put their money into clubs, I guarantee you it will attract lots of players. It’s financial.
“It doesn’t stop there being some very, very good players up here. The support that teams get that’s relative to their operations, look at some of the crowds, they are incredible. It’s al relative, but it’s always been that.”
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