Before his halftime team talk before today’s William Hill Premiership match against Ross County in Dingwall, Brendan Rodgers highlighted to his Celtics players how warning them they could not afford to “feel sorry” for themselves had ignited their comeback.
The Scottish champions were far from their best in the first forty-five minutes of their top level contest, losing 7-1 to Borussia Dortmund in their second Champions League league phase match on Tuesday night in Germany.
Two minutes before halftime, Ronan Hale put the visitors ahead 1-0 with a penalty kick that referee Kevin Clancy ordered be retaken because Kasper Schmeichel had stepped off his line before he made his first effort.
But in the second half, Callum McGregor and his teammates were much better, winning by a slim margin of 2-1 thanks to goals from Nicolas Kuhn late in the game and Alistair Johnston.
Rodgers acknowledged that some hurtful remarks had been made at halftime. His team is currently tied for first place in the table with Aberdeen, who defeated Hearts 3-2 at Pittodrie yesterday.
He declared, “We deserved to win the game.” However, we were too passive and slow in the first half. It was not excellent. As a team, we are incapable of looking for an easy match. We didn’t produce enough, and everything just seemed a little slow and cumbersome. We inject new life into the game in the second half, particularly with the introduction of the substitutes.
Immediately following the midweek match, I declared that I had complete faith in this team’s tenacity. That requires courage, fight, and resolve, all of which we possessed in spades. The players demonstrated that, as we had to.
We will gain knowledge from today’s game as the new players will realize that there is no easy game and that it is impossible to find one. You must put in the work, and within the course of the ninety minutes, we put in the work and achieved the desired outcome.
We play a running game; we’re a running team. As soon as we begin doing that, the game seems differently. Ross County has had a great start to the season and is making things tough for other teams. We understood we would need to put in a lot of effort to succeed.
It’s a Celtic custom, isn’t it, said Rodgers. It’s the way this club plays the game. In Dortmund, we had thousands of fans show up. Even though what they witnessed wasn’t ideal, they nevertheless provide us with excellent support as the game is about to end.
They now have to travel here for the kickoff at twelve o’clock. Running till the very finish with all of your heart is the very least that you can do. That is the purpose of this club. It’s what this club is made of. You continue till the very end.
That’s what I stated at the half. It doesn’t matter if you’re looking for a simple game to play or if you’re just feeling low. To restore the game’s energy, we must step in and enforce our style of play. And we were definitely lot better in the second half. We’re off to a fantastic start with seven victories in a row.
Following the final whistle, Rodgers gave special recognition to German winger Kuhn, the match winner, whose critical contribution brought his season total to six goals for 2024–25.
“That second goal was excellent,” he remarked. “Nicolas performs exceptionally well. For low finishes, we suggest a lot of square balls. However, he is offside if he plays it to Furuhashi’s Kyogo. He so remains focused, chooses well, adds a little something extra, and executes it flawlessly.
“He has been utterly outstanding. I believe that he is now more fit and robust, which is significant. He is winning games with abandon and appears to be a serious danger to us. His contribution is substantial. Your wingers must do all of the above—create and score goals as well as handle the dirty work in the game. He’s doing an incredible job at it.