Brendan Rodgers: Celtic boss calls for unity after conceding club could be 'braver' in market
- Published
Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers poses with new arrival Adam Idah
Scottish Premiership: Aberdeen v Celtic |
|---|
Venue: Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen Date: Saturday, 3 February Kick-off: 12:30 GMT |
Coverage: Listen on BBC Radio Scotland Extra/DAB/810MW, live text commentary on the BBC Sport website & app |
Brendan Rodgers believes Celtic could be "a little braver" in the transfer market but the manager is urging fans against "looking for someone to blame".
The Scottish champions have signed forwards Nicolas Kuhn and Adam Idah.
David Turnbull, Mikey Johnston, Yosuke Ideguchi and Marco Tilio were among the winter transfer window departures.
"The club have worked very hard to try to improve the squad, so there can be no fingers pointed in that direction," said Rodgers.
"We could bring in players that fill out the squad, but that's not what we need. I now know where we're at and I'm really excited and positive about the team that we have, and it's going to be a really exciting four months for us.
"Supporters here will always demand the very best and I'm here to deliver that. It's about the quality we want to bring in. The market has been fairly quiet but it wasn't through a lack of effort and work from the club. Despite the frustration, I know that there's still a lot of growth left in this squad.
"We had looked at a number of players that didn't quite fit or couldn't have improved what we have in certain positions and there were players where it was the other club - you need it to work both ways.
"We have a number of positions we want to improve and what I wasn't keen to do was just bring in a player to be fashionable. If it's not going to work for us longer term, I don't see the point in that."
The Scottish Premiership leaders, who are five points ahead of second-placed Rangers, travel to Aberdeen on Saturday.
'The minute there's a separation then it's a difficult club'
Rodgers, who stressed his happiness with the two new signings and confirmed that a move away for Gustaf Lagerbielke was blocked after Cameron Carter-Vickers' latest injury, added: "You can't label it on the recruitment team - it's a collective responsibility.
"I would go with what supporters think. We could be a little braver in terms of bringing in another level of player but that's up to me to try to fix that.
"You look at the strategy here at the club and you have to be careful, because it has worked - you bring in players for a minimal fee and then they make the club a lot of money. I want to still do that but also be brave enough to hang our hat on a ready-made player. I totally understand the support but that player has to be available.
"We've got to be careful here because I get the sense of looking for someone to blame and that's not what this club's about. The minute there's a separation then it's a difficult club.
"Me as a manager, I will always demand the best possible players we can get here. We are looking to find a balance and get players in that are ready made with ones that are developing."
Our coverage of Celtic is bigger and better than ever before - here's everything you need to know to make sure you never miss a moment