Gone was the anger which followed their 3-1 win over St Johnstone seven days ago but he was next to the party as he explained the defeat.
Disappointed Brendan Rodgers rued sloppy Celtic for coming apart at the seams in the second half of their sobering 2-1 defeat to Kilmarnock.
Gone was the anger which followed their 3-1 win over St Johnstone seven days ago as the boss reined it back but it was hard to hear on TV as the Kilmarnock dressing room party raged in the background. Sam Fender tracks ‘Seventeen Going Under’ and ‘Will We Talk’ blared out as Rodgers offered his take on a disastrous day which blows the title race wide open.
The Celtic boss, speaking to Sky Sports said: “I though performance first half was very good. I thought we we were good value for our lead. Second half, we never got started. We played the game they wanted to play. We never made passes. From that, we failed to look after the ball, you are giving them opportunities to break through. It’s a really disappointing second half. We missed what looked like good chances, we control first half but second half we didn’t. We have to be resistant to the press and instead of playing sidewards and backwards, you want to play forward. That meant we got stuck in the game and couldn’t press through.
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“We didn’t create anywhere enough in the second half and it ended up costing us. We defended the wide areas not so good. It’s one where we expect the second half to be what it was where they are going to come after us. We have to deal with that better. We have to have a greater take on the ball and connect the game. It’s the first defeat we have had in the league, it will hurt. but ultimately we didn’t deserve anything from the second half performance.”
And Rodgers was not up for questioning the mental make-up of his side after they suffered their second consecutive defeat at Rugby Park. He added: “I don’t want to say that (mentality) these players have shown up into this point of the season they have, domestically, they have that bit between their teeth. We just didn’t play our game in the second half, mental health is something which is very important as a professional player and these guys have it.”
