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Celtic have been the moving window for a long time, but Brendan Rodgers insists any newcomers will have to pass their eye test.
Hoops fans haven’t been too happy with the shopping in the January sales so far with wide man Nicolas Kuhn the only new face in the door going into the final frantic 24 hours. A couple more could arrive on deadline day with striker Adam Idah ready to check in from Norwich on a loan deal with a view to permanent move and Celtic attempting to push at least one more over the line.
It remains to be seen whether fans will be satisfied with this deal, with the name on the line and the first Champions League bonus that comes with it. But no matter what, fans can rest assured that their coach has given the green light. And he put his private touch on the negotiations. Rodgers is a decidedly slick coach who utilizes all available equipment when it comes to transfers. Celtic have a fleet of scouts and analysts who read the photographs and analyse the numbers.
But knowledge can’t say much to Rodgers. He likes to take a closer look at players and look them in the eye to see if they have what it takes to succeed at this club. He knows it’s not easy. Last weekend, the grumpy enthusiasts booed after beating Ross County, but Rodgers will go beyond the numbers.
He said: “Listen, there will be some clubs that will take a look at the investigation aspect. But there are things that can never be noticed through research, except by being in a stadium, watching the player and seeing what his movements look like. “, seeing how it handles the environment.
“I say that the analytical aspect doesn’t tell you if someone has a center and a personality. When you play for a club like this, you have to have center and intellectual toughness. You have to notice those things and see them live. Obviously statistics will give you a lot, but they don’t motivate me. That’s anything that really supports us.
Rodgers also likes the one-on-one approach. The basketball coach rarely takes much interest in players and their agents because he needs to know what they’re made of in person. After more than 700 games as a coach, he knows very well what to pay attention to, and admitted that he had been burned in the past.
That has made him all the more determined to talk to the targets himself. It was the case with Kuhn, who admitted he knew within minutes of talking to Rodgers that Celtic was the perfect next step in his career. And it will be the same when it comes to the late arrivals hoping to pitch up at Parkhead.
Rodgers will be front and center and said: “yes, just to feel his own ambition. I think that’s very important. If players come to a club and the agent or the player doesn’t need to communicate with the coach or not if you consider it important, then that’s a red flag for me, but this is very rarely the case. I’d like to communicate with a player and find a way to do that so you understand their ambitions and what they need to achieve. as well as what we can give them.
“Because it’s a matter of mentality. You try to perceive this mindset as much as possible. Did I back down on some? Yes, there are probably a few that I wish I would have done it with as well!There are a lot of communicating about smart play.
Rodgers probably wouldn’t reveal much in the way of names, but he’s content to talk about general strategy. He knows Celtic fans need permanent signings and building signs for the future. The coach would like that too in an ideal world.
Unfortunately, football is not an ideal world and you have to be flexible. This means that you have to turn to the loan market with short-term gains needed to strengthen the core of the team.
Same thing in his first race. Patrick Roberts returned from Manchester City, Odsonne Edouard was a transient agent before being hired full-time and Filip Benkovic, Charly Musonda, Oliver Burke and Timo Weah all played their part in treble triumphs.
Rodgers said: “Ideally you want to have players that you know are going to be here for a couple of seasons to grow and develop. But there will have to be a balance between loan players and permanent signings. Permanent signatures are not possible. Having experienced it here before, there will be that revolving door.
“You’re going to have that core of players that you need to stay here, but if you look at the movement of groups here over two- or three-year periods, that’s going to happen. In the modern game, you have to be able to adapt to that. It’s not like the old days where we’d say, “Well, this is the team and we’re going to keep them together for five or six years. “
“First of all, it doesn’t work anyway. You want to re-coach your team every 3 years. You must do it. Even if it was a team that had won 3 hat-tricks, this fourth year it would have to be replaced because of hunger. That’s what experience tells us. There’s going to be that and that’s okay. It’s just a matter of attracting smart players.