Brendan Rodgers on 'bow at his feet' Paul McStay and new loanee hopes
Rodgers admitted that he will need time to assess the 19-year-old's fitness levels before he will be able to determine when his new acquisition will be able to make his competitive debut for the Scottish champions.
However, the Northern Irishman, who already has Cameron Carter-Vickers, Auston Trusty, Liam Scales and Dane Murray in his squad, feels that his latest recruit has many qualities which will suit his Celtic side.
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'He is a very gifted young player, obviously having come through the system there at Manchester City,' he said. 'His profile fits very much with what we want from a centre-half. He's quick, he's dominant, he's a good defender. At Celtic, your centre-halves need to be able to progress the ball and that's a big strength of his.
'We've taken him on loan for a year. He's obviously a little bit behind because he hasn't played so many games over the course of pre-season, but we've brought him through for the rest of the season. Once that's done, then we can measure where he's at. He's been training at Manchester City so we need to just assess that.
'We always need all our centre-halves at Celtic. You play so many games, so many intense games, and he'll join our squad. But all of the players are here to compete. There's always the opportunity for any player to come in and play, no matter how old.
(Image: SNS Group) 'I've put young players in front of international players before. So every player that comes in has the opportunity to start. But, yeah, we'll assess him on where he's at and his fitness and his football when he comes in and take it from there.
'But adding him to our group makes us stronger in that department. There are lots of links with various players, but I would see him being not our last defender, but our last central defender.'
Meanwhile, lifelong Celtic fan Rodgers has admitted that he is looking forward to meeting up with Paul McStay again tomorrow when the Parkhead legend unfurls the league flag before the opening William Hill Premiership game of the season against St Mirren.
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'Paul would probably play in two positions for me,' he said. 'He was amazing. When the club spoke to me and told me that there was the possibility of him coming to do the flag day, I went into my boy mode again.
'What an amazing icon of the club he is. It's just a shame you don't see so much of him, he's obviously on the other side of the world now. But that was my memories growing up - with Paul on the team. He is just an icon of the club, such a humble guy.
'I had the privilege of meeting him for the first time when I was here. He came into my office and it was just brilliant. To see him on Sunday will be amazing. He was such an icon at such a tough time for Celtic. I can't speak highly enough of him.
'I don't know Paul that well, but I know many people who do I was struck by the humility of the guy when I met him. All I really wanted to do was bow at his feet.'
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South Wales Argus
24 minutes ago
- South Wales Argus
Rangers held to draw at Motherwell after late Emmanuel Longelo leveller
Gers skipper James Tavernier headed in from a corner in the 14th minute but Russell Martin's side never really found any rhythm. The Light Blues survived Well pressure for large spells of the second half but only until the 87th minute when Emmanuel Longelo drove in the equaliser. Rangers reached the Champions League third qualifying round by completing a 3-1 aggregate win over Panathinaikos in Athens on Wednesday but carried a fair bit of luck over the two games. And after this unimpressive display in Lanarkshire, there is clearly and understandably still work to do for Martin's side, as they try to implement his possession-based philosophy. Motherwell's new boss Jens Berthel Askou, a former team-mate of Martin at Norwich taking charge of his first league game, will be pleased by the way his side kept going when it looked like it would not be their day. Rangers could quickly fall behind champions and Old Firm rivals Celtic, who host St Mirren on Sunday, following a game that took time to warm up. In the fourth minute Well keeper Calum Ward palmed a 25-yard free-kick from Tavernier around a post and Kieran Dowell headed Joe Rothwell's corner over the crossbar. Rangers were getting their aim in. Attacker Djeidi Gassama – who started in place of Findlay Curtis in the only change – curled a shot wide after taking a pass from Brazilian striker Danilo, who then clipped the bar with a shot from 25 yards. However, it seemed all to easy for Tavernier to head in a Rothwell delivery to the back post for his 131st Gers goal, after Well skipper Paul McGinn had shanked a clearance to concede a corner. While dangerous in attack, the visitors looked fragile in defence at times – this could be a feature of their play this season – and in the 24th minute keeper Jack Butland fumbled an effort from an unmarked Longelo then blocked the shot on the rebound from striker Apostolos Stamatelopoulos. Both sides were intent on playing out from the back and there were numerous turnovers but little in the way of goalmouth action, until Ward made a save from Gassama's header two minutes after the interval. Minutes later, Callum Slattery's whipped-in free-kick, after he had been fouled by Tavernier, found Elijah Just at the back post but he could not control his header and the ball went off target. Motherwell grew in confidence and Butland made a diving save from McGinn's low drive after the defender had burst into the Gers box, with John Souttar completing the clearance. Lyall Cameron and Cyriel Dessers replaced Mohamed Diomande and Danilo and debutant Cameron got booked immediately for a foul on Lukas Fadinger before he tested Ward with a 25-yard drive. At the other end, Stamatelopoulos headed over from just under the bar from a tantalising cross from Just. However, with three minutes remaining Longelo burst too easily into the Gers box and when the ball was repelled, Johnny Koutroumbis returned it into the area, Just chested it back and Longelo drilled it low past Butland for a well-deserved equaliser. And only a fine save from the Ibrox keeper in added time from substitute Tom Sparrow prevented a defeat.
South Wales Guardian
24 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Rangers held to draw at Motherwell after late Emmanuel Longelo leveller
Gers skipper James Tavernier headed in from a corner in the 14th minute but Russell Martin's side never really found any rhythm. The Light Blues survived Well pressure for large spells of the second half but only until the 87th minute when Emmanuel Longelo drove in the equaliser. Rangers reached the Champions League third qualifying round by completing a 3-1 aggregate win over Panathinaikos in Athens on Wednesday but carried a fair bit of luck over the two games. And after this unimpressive display in Lanarkshire, there is clearly and understandably still work to do for Martin's side, as they try to implement his possession-based philosophy. Motherwell's new boss Jens Berthel Askou, a former team-mate of Martin at Norwich taking charge of his first league game, will be pleased by the way his side kept going when it looked like it would not be their day. Rangers could quickly fall behind champions and Old Firm rivals Celtic, who host St Mirren on Sunday, following a game that took time to warm up. In the fourth minute Well keeper Calum Ward palmed a 25-yard free-kick from Tavernier around a post and Kieran Dowell headed Joe Rothwell's corner over the crossbar. Rangers were getting their aim in. Attacker Djeidi Gassama – who started in place of Findlay Curtis in the only change – curled a shot wide after taking a pass from Brazilian striker Danilo, who then clipped the bar with a shot from 25 yards. However, it seemed all to easy for Tavernier to head in a Rothwell delivery to the back post for his 131st Gers goal, after Well skipper Paul McGinn had shanked a clearance to concede a corner. While dangerous in attack, the visitors looked fragile in defence at times – this could be a feature of their play this season – and in the 24th minute keeper Jack Butland fumbled an effort from an unmarked Longelo then blocked the shot on the rebound from striker Apostolos Stamatelopoulos. Both sides were intent on playing out from the back and there were numerous turnovers but little in the way of goalmouth action, until Ward made a save from Gassama's header two minutes after the interval. Minutes later, Callum Slattery's whipped-in free-kick, after he had been fouled by Tavernier, found Elijah Just at the back post but he could not control his header and the ball went off target. Motherwell grew in confidence and Butland made a diving save from McGinn's low drive after the defender had burst into the Gers box, with John Souttar completing the clearance. Lyall Cameron and Cyriel Dessers replaced Mohamed Diomande and Danilo and debutant Cameron got booked immediately for a foul on Lukas Fadinger before he tested Ward with a 25-yard drive. At the other end, Stamatelopoulos headed over from just under the bar from a tantalising cross from Just. However, with three minutes remaining Longelo burst too easily into the Gers box and when the ball was repelled, Johnny Koutroumbis returned it into the area, Just chested it back and Longelo drilled it low past Butland for a well-deserved equaliser. And only a fine save from the Ibrox keeper in added time from substitute Tom Sparrow prevented a defeat.
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Scotsman
24 minutes ago
- Scotsman
Russell Martin rages at Rangers flops - 'too much ego, self-preservation and selfish decisions'
Rangers head coach calls out team for 'unacceptable' Fir Park performance Sign up to our Football newsletter Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Russell Martin launched an astonishing attack on his Rangers squad following their 1-1 draw with Motherwell, accusing some of playing with 'too much ego, too much self-preservation'. James Tavernier's first-half header looked like getting Martin off to a winning start in the league only for Well to claim a deserved equaliser through Emmanuel Longelo three minutes from time. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Martin admitted his team barely deserved a draw, never mind a victory, and warned those players who can't get on board with his style that they wouldn't have a future at the club. It was a third season in a row in which Rangers have dropped points on the opening day and Martin felt he had inherited a mentality problem that has debilitated the team under previous managers for several years now. Rangers head coach Russell Martin at full time after the 1-1 draw with Motherwell at Fir Park. (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group) | SNS Group He said: 'I'm very disappointed and it hurts a lot the stuff I saw. I said to the players in there that the problems haven't been tactical yet, really. 'They've been mentality; that energy, that courage, the intensity, and aggression to play. Every time we get into the final third, we turn the ball over. They're either selfish decisions or they're based on anxiety. So we need to get to the bottom of that. Because there was far too much stuff that we haven't worked on or haven't seen before. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'We have too many guys that slip into self-preservation mode. And I think it's been a factor that's been there for the last few years, for sure. So, when it's going well, you're all in. You want to run, you want the ball. It's nice. 'But when it's not going well, you don't want to run so much. You pick and choose when you want to compete and mark your player from a throw-in or a corner. 'You pick and choose when to run back. And that's unacceptable at this club. Too much ego, too much self-preservation. You're either all-in all the time or you're not. And if you're not, you just won't play very much. 'I completely understand the supporters' reaction. We have a point that we didn't deserve. I was as angry as they were. I've said from day one, I'm not going to try and play any game. I'm going to be really honest with them about certain things.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad Food for thought Martin admitted the performance would give him plenty of food for thought ahead of Tuesday night's Champions League qualifying tie against Viktoria Plzen at Ibrox. He added: '[Changes] won't be personal. It'll be about what we think is best for the team in terms of energy, freshness, and players in certain positions who want to take the ball. 'So, I'm sure if we make some changes for Tuesday, which I'm undecided on - unfortunately I'll have to watch that back a few times and pick out what we really want to take from it – it won't be highlighting one or two single people. It'll be from what we think is best for the team.' Rangers' Kieran Dowell is dejected after the 1-1 draw at Motherwell. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group) | SNS Group Martin still hopes to make further additions to the squad but was coy on reports that Rangers are about to complete the £3m signing of Go Ahead Eagles winger Oliver Antman. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad But he felt that those players currently at the club could still remain a part of his plans if they show a desire to adapt. He added: 'We need some better players to help us, for sure. We need some players that we feel will do what we're asking them to do all the time. But the ones who are here are good enough to do it. They just need to make a choice that they want to do it.' Motherwell manager Jens Berthel Askou felt his team had been well worthy of their point.
