Brendan Rodgers Addresses Celtic’s League Cup Final Readiness, Motivation, and Rival Comments

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has been speaking to the press as his team prepares for Sunday’s League Cup final against Rangers. The main points from his address are as follows: The team is in good health, and Rodgers expects Alistair Johnston to be fit, expressing hope that all players will be available for the weekend. He recognizes that Sunday’s final is a “special” occasion but underlines that for Celtic, it represents “the next game and the next game we want to win”. The Celtic manager believes that clinching the first trophy of the season would provide “a great way to have something tangible” to demonstrate their impressive start. After exiting the League Cup early last term, Rodgers’ squad is “very hungry” to secure the trophy on Sunday. Regarding the potential achievement of his 10th trophy as Celtic manager, Rodgers commented that the silverware count “doesn’t count for much”, adding: “Just because you’ve won doesn’t mean you can turn up and not prepare”. In response to Philippe Clement’s statement that Celtic is financially in a different league than Rangers, Rodgers asserted: “This is a club that’s been organically grown, we haven’t been handed money. The club is in a brilliant position but it’s all been earned.” Addressing Rangers’ restricted recovery period before Sunday, the Northern Irishman insisted that Celtic has faced similar circumstances previously and played “very good games”. He further stated that “every team arrives in the final” irrespective of their preparation time. On the possibility of surpassing Rangers’ total of 118 trophies, Rodgers indicated that this thought does not influence his approach, as he is solely focused on winning as much silverware as possible. Rodgers acknowledged, “It’s not like any other game”, understanding the profound importance of Sunday’s cup final to supporters and appreciating the “iconic” nature of a Celtic versus Rangers encounter – declaring, “this is what we’re built for, the tougher the challenge that’s what we relish.”