Celtic manager on why Russell Martin will cope with Rangers pressure
But the ex-Scotland internationalist has recruited extensively this summer and his new-look side defeated Panathinaikos of Greece 3-1 on aggregate in the Champions League second qualifying round last month.
Read more:
Rodgers, who is bidding to land a third consecutive Scottish title in the 2025/26 campaign, admitted that he was looking forward to pitting his wits against the ex-Norwich City defender in the months ahead.
The Northern Irishman, who is in his second spell in charge of his boyhood heroes, feels the loan that Martin had as a player in Govan back in 2018 will prove invaluable to his counterpart in his new role.
'I think the challenge always excites you when you come into a new season,' he said. 'I don't know Russell that well, but I've spoken to him. As a young manager and coach through his career, he's done very well. I followed him at Swansea, as a former club, and he did well there.
(Image: Craig Williamson - SNS Group) 'Then moving on, getting Southampton promoted is good. To take a team out of the Championship is hard. It's a tough, tough league. But he was able to do that. Obviously, then it was a difficult season for them in the Premier League, but that is a tough, tough league.
'But Russell, having been up here before, knows the pressures. One of the big things about managing Celtic and Rangers is managing pressure. The football idea and the coaching are obviously very important.
'It is important to have an identity and a style, but managing and playing under pressure is what's key up here. Russell, having been here before as a player at Rangers, will know what's in front of him.'
Read more:
Rodgers added, 'But I think the managers coming into the league make it exciting. Russell at Rangers, Derek at Hearts and Stuart at Killie as well.
'John [McGlynn] has done a brilliant job at Falkirk over a couple of seasons, getting them promoted twice. I know him well, so I know that they'll be giving everything to stay in the league.
'David Martindale is a good man who was in the league for a few years when I was here before. Livingston have come straight back up after getting relegated. Again, they are experienced managers. So I think the league as a whole will be strong and competitive.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
10 minutes ago
- The Independent
Ruben Amorim has 'no doubts' that Man United can win Premier League and Champions League again
Ruben Amorim has said he has 'no doubts' that Manchester United can reach the highs of Premier League and Champions League glory again, echoing bullish comments made by his player Luke Shaw on the club's pre-season tour. United finished 15th last term in a dismal season, their lowest league finish since 1989-90, and lost the Europa League final to Tottenham to finish without silverware. But Amorim, who said the 'hardest part' of his job was going to games 'know[ing] that we are not going to be competitive', felt confident that things could be turned around in his first full season as manager. Speaking to various publications on Sunday ahead of their friendly against Everton in Chicago, Amorim said: 'I know it's a massive gap from where we finished - but it's Manchester United. We need to return to Europe.' Asked whether United can win the Premier League and Champions League again, he said, 'I have no doubts. 'There are some things you cannot buy that this club has: pedigree, history, fans. With all these things, if we have a different culture, we can return to our place.' His comments echoed Shaw's, who said earlier in this tour that, 'The aim has to be to win the Premier League,' he said. 'I know people will be questioning me after last season, but it has to be that.' Shaw also made a comment that there were 'no stragglers' in the United team, with a major clearout of players taking place and several expensive signings heading for the exit door or out of favour. The exiles Jadon Sancho, Antony, Alejandro Garnacho and Tyrrell Malacia were not included in the pre-season squad and have been given the opportunity to explore the possibility of moves away, while Marcus Rashford has been offloaded to Barcelona on loan. Amorim gave a matter-of-fact explanation of the state of affairs at Old Trafford. 'There are players that clearly show they don't want to be here and that is normal. They are not bad and I'm good. I'm not bad and they are good,' he said. 'If the market closes and then they are Manchester United players, we as a club have to treat them in the same conditions. But in this moment I'm just working with the players that I think are going to stay and the other guys are trying to find a solution for their careers.' Of Garnacho, who abruptly fell out of favour at the end of last season, Amorim said, 'He's a really talented boy and sometimes things don't work out. You cannot explain specifically what it is. 'But I have the feeling, I think it's clear that Garnacho wants a different thing with a different leadership and I can understand that. So I think it's not a problem.' The 40-year-old evidently sees his tenure as a long-term project. He said, 'I want to be manager of Manchester United for a while,' later asserting he wanted to be at the club for '20 years'. 'And I took five years to choose this club so I don't want to fail,' he added.
Daily Record
10 minutes ago
- Daily Record
Celtic dominance isn't just due to Rangers failings as ex Premier League star throws down gauntlet
Nigel Reo-Coker believes the Premiership's other 10 clubs are not pulling their weight Scotland's other 10 top-flight teams need to take the pressure off Rangers by shouldering more responsibility to try and halt Celtic's dominance in the Premiership. That's the view of former English Premier League captain Nigel Reo-Coker, who reckons that the rest of the league are not pulling their weight when it comes to facing the Hoops. Besides Steven Gerrard 's Premiership triumph with Gers in the 2020/21 season behind closed doors, the Hoops have won every title since 2011, with the last team outside of Glasgow's big two to lift the title coming with Sir Alex Ferguson's Aberdeen in 1985. And while the Dons caused a huge upset to lift the Scottish Cup for the first time in 35 years when they edged out Celtic on penalties back in May, Reo Coker - who starred for West Ham, Aston Villa and Bolton in England's top-flight - firmly believes that the other clubs that make up the Premiership should be making the league 'more competitive'. Speaking on CBS Sports Golazo, he said: "Common sense will tell you that Celtic should be the favourites, Brendan Rodgers is a very accomplished manager who knows what he is doing. "For the manager that he is, I expect Celtic to go and win the title again. "When you look at Rangers and talk about Russell Martin coming in as the new manager, he was very stubborn in his time at Southampton and didn't want to change his style of play. "It is going to take a while to implement the style of play he wants at Rangers. A great signing they have made is Mikey Moore, a young lad on loan from Tottenham. "I think it's going to be so beneficial to that young talented player to get that first team experience playing week-in, week-out. "We always talk about it being on Rangers to beat Celtic. But I think it's on all the teams in the Scottish Premiership to be more competitive. "You talk about the last time a different team that wasn't Celtic or Rangers to win the Scottish Premiership was Aberdeen under Sir Alex Ferguson. "Since then, there has been 40 title winners and it's been shared between Celtic and Rangers. I think the bigger conversation is a lot more competitiveness from other teams, really trying to push Celtic and Rangers to make it more entertaining." However, ex Leeds United and MLS winger Mike Grella then quickly pointed out to Reo-Coker the reality that faces the rest of Scotland's top-flight. He replied: "It's difficult because of the following that Celtic and Rangers have and also (because of) their history, how much they've won and the money they make from European competitions. "They are very marketable so as far as the other teams being able to compete over a period of time, Celtic have really dominated over the last 10 years."
BBC News
11 minutes ago
- BBC News
McInnes can't wait to get league campaign started
Hearts head coach Derek McInnes is looking forward to starting the Premiership season with a "tough" game against Aberdeen on Monday night. The new boss is targeting all three points from his first league game but knows it won't be an easy test against a Dons side "buoyed" by their Scottish Cup success. "We've been given a nice home game," the manager said. "There are lots of ingredients in it, but obviously it's a tough game. Aberdeen are a tough opponent and they're a good side. They'll be buoyant after their Scottish Cup success last season as well."They've got a lot of good players. It's not without its challenges, but we've got to make sure it's every bit as tough for them coming to Tynecastle."I think we're all looking forward to it."But the manager knows all their hard pre-season work will be forgotten if they don't get the job done on Monday night. "We've been pretty busy in the sense of trying to get the players ready for this moment," he added. "We had to get that process accelerated to get players ready for the League Cup. The benefit of that is you play competitive football."We finished the pre-season work off with a good performance last weekend against Sunderland."But all that gets quickly forgotten about unless you go and get that first win as quickly as possible. We're all under the same pressures as managers."With all the optimism, it doesn't matter how many signings you've made, you just want to try and get that first three points as quickly as possible."
