Celtic's Nawrocki has 'come to the fore' says Rodgers

Can you bring us up to speed on where you’re at with regard to reports of a bid from Atletico Madrid for Matt O’Riley?

There was a bit. Matt is a player that we don’t want to lose. He won’t be going anywhere in January. I think he’s been absolutely brilliant this season, and it’s a great testament to him and what the club can do for a player. He’s made his first cap this season, and a club like Atletico Madrid is a big club in European football. He’s very much a part of what we’re doing and he’s been a joy to work with. I had a good chat with Matt this morning and he’s someone that will be with us for the second part of this season. 

Is he in the right mindset after speaking to him?

It’s been one of the things that I’ve been really impressed with Matt, his mentality and how he approached his profession with his professionalism. He has a real respect for Celtic. He had an opportunity in the summer, but he was very happy to extend here and be here which is great. Atletico Madrid is a huge club, but he knows he’s in a great place here. He’s kicked on in his progression, and he wants to continue with that. For us, we’ve got no want to sell and we do not need to. He will be here for the second part of the season.

Do you expect more bids, regardless of whether they’ll be welcomed or not, given how well he’s playing?

I’m not sure, but it doesn’t really matter. He’s not someone we want to sell. 

Looking at the economics of Scottish football as well, you want to win the league from a football point of view but there’s riches by keeping your best players and getting into the Champions League too. It would take something special l, I take it?

They won’t be going, it’s as simple as that. January is a month that is difficult anyway, whether it’s bringing players in or looking to sell players. It’s not something that we want to do and we’ve got no interest in that.

Do you think that the rejection of bids sends out a message?

Firstly, I think you have a value of the player, and in the time I’ve been here bids have been nowhere near the valuation for the quality of player he is. Even if it was, we’re in a position where we don’t want to sell. It’s great, it shows you that players are developing, which is what you want. When you have a club of the European calibre of Atletico Madrid coming in for one of your players, then it shows you that the players are doing something right.

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How much confidence does it give you, knowing you’ll have Matt for the second half of this season?

I enjoy working with players. It’s a big part of my philosophy, developing players and working with them and having that joy in seeing them improve. To have him here, and knowing that he’ll continually get better is great. He’s on 10 goals and numerous assists for this season, and I expect that to grow even more in the second part of the season.

Are you closer to any more incomings?

Not at this moment. There’s work going on behind the scenes at the moment, of course. It’s not easy when you’re trying to get players in. I’ve talked about quality before, and I always will do, because that’s the nature of what I want to build here. We have a lot of quality players in our squad that are improving and developing. I want to add more to that, but when you’re trying to get quality or trying to add it’s never easy because other clubs don’t want to lose quality players. It’s something that is continually been worked on, and I hope before the window that we’re able to do that.

Do you have that confidence that you might be able to get one or two over l, or are you preparing yourself for the squad you have till the end of the season?

Both. I’m prepared for hopefully being able to bring some players in to add to the squad, but on the same token, it’s how I work, in my faith and trust to develop players and the players that are here. That’s what I’ll also look forward to. I understand the need for progression, and I understand what the team needs in order to improve. I don’t want to be in a rush to just bring in any player. It also has to be the right player. I’m conscious I want to be here for a period of time as long as - of course - I’m successful, so I want to also create an opportunity for young players to come through here. Everyone talks about the signings and bringing people in, and I always say you might have someone within your academy, but you need to have the space for those players to flourish and develop. I hope that we can add to the group, and I am confident that we can, but also I’m someone who wants to develop the talents that are here and continually grow them.

Is that a similar situation with outgoings? I know you mentioned that the squad felt a little bit bloated. Is it a frustration that it may be tricky getting others out in this period as well?

It’s not frustration, it’s life as a football manager and at a football club. We know the work we need to do and we know that we won’t do it all in this window because it is a process. That will happen and we’ll get to that point eventually.

For the weekend, are Cameron Carter-Vickers and Nicolas Kühn close?

Yes, they’ll be involved. They’ve had a good week’s training and it’s great to see Cam back again. He’ll be involved.

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Maik Nawrocki’s came in and did well. Does this give you big decisions to make at the back with central defenders?

Maik’s done very well. Scales has been outstanding since he came into the team and developed and been our most consistent performer, with one or two others who have constantly been in the team. At centre half, we’ve had injuries based around Cam and Maik and Welshy, so that’s made it difficult sometimes to have that partnership there. Having Cam back, he’s a fantastic player, but it’s great to see Maik come to the fore, and it’s exactly what we thought when we were bringing him in at the beginning. He was in to challenge Cam and Carl Starfelt, that was the plan. Sadly, he was injured for a long period, but he’s coming back and he’s shown in the games that he going to be there to compete. That’s what having a top squad is about, it’s not about just having starters, you want players who are there to compete with the starters.

Derek Adams had a good start with Ross County, but he’s been frustrated with some of the results and performances, and he’s expressed that as well. Is that something you can take advantage of?

We always respect whatever point and feeling there is in the opposition team. It’s irrelevant to us, and we have to play to the level that we want to. That’s what we’ve focused on, and I think that now we’re starting to see that consistency of mentality and quality in the team. We know that every opponent will always be a challenge for us, Derek will come and organise his team well and be competitive. For us, we need to bring the game to the level that we want to. From what I’ve seen from the players this week, the tempo and intensity are really just a continuation of what it’s been over the last period of time. We’ll look to bring that to the team on Saturday.

How beneficial is having one game a week to you in implementing what you want to happen in this second part, having that time during the week?

When you have that coaching time it’s invaluable, really. You go through the first part of the season where - apart from pre-season - you don’t spend a lot of that. It’s still important that we use it wisely because you can overcoach players as well, and overtrain. For me, it’s all about the balance. I’ve got a brilliant coaching staff here that set up the training, and we work very well. Bedding in new players, you’ve got young players as well, so it’s just about that continuation of building on the structure of the team, reinforcing a lot of the areas that we want to, and some remedial work. Every game, there are always ideas that you can be better at and learn from, so having the time to coach that is really beneficial.

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We found out this week that there’ll be no winter break next season. Is that a disappointment, or is it a reality of the increasingly hectic schedule? 

I think it’s both. It’s disappointing. We’ll have to find periods within the season to recover the players, because they’re not robots. We see in modern football that there’s so much more being asked of players, especially top players. You think of guys like Callum (McGregor) and the others that have international football. That’s something that we need to be mindful of. The season starts earlier as well, so we have to keep an eye on the physicality of the players. From my time being up here the first time, and now, the winter break has worked really well. We’ll adapt and take that on board next season.

Callum started every game for Celtic last year. Do you think he can benefit from that, giving him a rest?

Yes, it’s just for freshness and physicality. He’s an incredible professional and it's great just to be back here for this second time and seeing him in this phase of his career. When I came here first he was 23 or something like that. He was brilliant for me back then, but to see the maturity of him as a captain and seeing the influence he has, his professionalism is second to none. He’s a top operator and performer, but I need to look after him because it’s going to be about longevity for him. I think his numbers over the last few years have been incredible, up there with anyone in European football, but from time to time we need to give him time to recover and refresh. Hopefully, we’ll then get the benefits later.