Brendan Rodgers: Celtic job carries 'biggest pressure' of my career

The National

02-05-2025

The 52-year-old, who guided the Hoops to their 55th league title at Tannadice last weekend, admits he thrives on the relentlessness of working at a club where it is unacceptable to even lose a game.
Rodgers is aiming to secure a record third domestic treble as Celtic manager when he takes his side into a Scottish Cup final with Aberdeen at Hampden Park on Saturday, May 24.
The Irishman said: "This is the biggest pressure job I've been in, and that's because you cannot afford to lose a game of football.
"So, you imagine any team that's out there, they'll get a pass for a draw, they'll get a pass for a win. Sometimes we don't even get a pass for a win. We can win and get booed off.
"So, that's the relentless nature of it, and that's what I love about the job. The expectation, the support base, is to always be better, to always improve and that drives you forward. So, you know you can never just rest on your laurels here at Celtic.
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"So, that means that every single day of your life, you have to be on it. You have to be really focused, you have to be prepared, you know that the other team you're playing against are going to give that extra 10-15% physically, mentally, because every time you operate as a Celtic player and manager, you're managing a final scenario. So, that is there in virtually every game.
"So, to prepare the team, to prepare the trainings and the practice and the schedule and everything else that goes with that, to deal with that pressure, to leave you in the best possible position when you play your game, then it's not straightforward.
"There are lots of teams that have good resources in other leagues and throughout the world, but they don't necessarily win all the time. Yes, we've got really good resources here, but we haven't been handed money.
"This is all generated through a model of work in the club, by our supporters, buying merchandise, everything is organic here at the Football Club, and then of course, my job is to look after the core performance of the team.
"It's not easy, it's a highly pressurised situation in which you have to perform every single game and to be at that level, then that's how you train, that mentality has to be in training. So, when you have that every day, you have no rest days."
(Image: Craig Williamson - SNS Group)
Rodgers believes that he thrives when the pressure is on, and he feels that he constantly has to prove himself as a manager.
He said: "That's why you see players come here, some really good players, but they struggle because the mentality to survive within it, it's a real challenge, and players will be really good players.
"Even at Celtic, I've seen other players come up to Scotland before thinking, we'll come to Scotland, it's quite easy, you play for one of the big teams, you'll be ok. No, the demands are totally different.
"Then you can leave and go back into the Premier League and do really well and be a good player in the Premier League.
"The difference is pressure, dealing with pressure and at Celtic, and Rangers for that matter, there's massive pressure.
"I think I need that challenge, especially at this period in my career and what I've experienced now. I can be no good if I'm uncomfortable, and I would never get to be that in here. I think it's something that I thrive on, I enjoy that, and I enjoy the challenge.
"Last season, it was clearly tighter and there were lots of things being questioned of you and whatever else.
"So, I enjoy that challenge of proving people wrong, and there will always be something else to improve or prove in the role. So, if I don't have it, I find it from somewhere, and that's what allows me to be the best I can be."