A man who has been there and done it in a title race has backed the Northern Irishman to stay calm and prevails
Paul Hartley played for a Celtics team that was jeered by supporters when it seemed like the championship was going away, but they turned things around and took the league.
The former midfield player believes Brendan Rodgers is this time’s version of Gordon Strachan, who was the perfect person to have in charge back then because he was cool under pressure. With several games remaining, the Cove Rangers manager claims the Northern Irishman is “far too good” to be panicking because they have given up their advantage and let Rangers to go ahead by two points.
After last weekend’s stalemate with Kilmarnock, Rodgers was forthright in acknowledging that things weren’t good enough, and Hartley believes he is the perfect guy to stay in charge. In his personal perspective, winning every game meant securing points at all costs; performances were incidental. However, there are parallels in that they are unable to afford to make any more mistakes.
Brendan won’t panic. He is far too good a manager,” Hartley told the Scottish Sun. “He was very honest after the Kilmarnock game last Saturday, and admitted Celtic didn’t put in the performance he wanted or expected. But he has good players and he is the ideal man to settle things down again.
Brendan has won so much in his career and he will stay calm and clear. Gordon was the same in 2008 — he made things really simple.
“We knew it was a case of fighting and battling to get the wins. Myself and Barry Robson played together in midfield against Motherwell and it worked well.
We won that game 4-1 and it was a real turning point. We had to play Rangers twice soon after, and we won both of them.
Suddenly we had the momentum in the title race and we never looked back. Brendan will know that Celtic will need to be better moving forward, but there is a long way to go this season.”
Captain Callum McGregor has dragged the team through different scenarios in the past and is capable of doing so again, but Hartley says he needs other players to step up around him.
He added: “Callum is a leader and he will have to drag players with him. He’s been a brilliant captain for Celtic, and there is no chance he will give up the title without a fight. But he also needs help. This is a time when every player needs to stand up and be counted.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re a new signing or an established regular, everyone needs to play their part. That was a big reason why we won the league in 2008.
“From Artur Boruc in goal to Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Scott McDonald up front, everybody contributed in that run-in. Players really stood up and delivered. That’s what Celtic need between now and May.
Injuries have hampered them this season and any team would miss key players like Cameron Carter-Vickers and Reo Hatate. But Celtic still have enough quality in the squad to go on a strong run in the last few months of the season.”
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