Rodgers off to winning start back with Celtic

Brendan Rodgers is off to a good start back with his old club Celtic. The Northern Irish coach previously left the Scottish side in favor of Leicester City in 2019. However, after a four-year stay in the East Midlands, Rodgers was re-hired at Celtic this summer.

Celtic fans did not exactly give Rodgers a heart-warming send off back in 2019. Select supporters even brought a banner into the stadium that season that read: “You traded immortality for mediocrity. Never a Celt, always a fraud.” Nevertheless, the manager has now returned to try and guide Celtic to glory once again.

Hosts net trio of goals inside the opening period

The Hoops gave their old coach a 4-2 win against Ross County on Saturday. The fairly comfortable victory was essentially settled in the first half. David Turnbull converted from the spot in the 17th minute of the match. Kyogo Furuhashi then added second strike before Turnbull scored another goal just a few minutes from the halftime break.

Ross County did grab a goal back in the 60th minute, but Celtic regained their three-goal cushion 13 minutes later. Furuhashi set up Matt O’Riley for the team’s fourth and final score. James Brown then netted a consolation goal late in added time to finish off the game at 4-2.

Rodgers hopes to see more from his Celtic defense in the near future

After the match, Rodgers claimed to want more of his players. Despite the scoreline, Celtic did not appear to be firing on all cylinders just yet. “We were slow to start then I thought we had some really good moments with the ball, but we need to be much better against the ball,” proclaimed Rodgers in his post-match interview.

“We conceded two goals where we have to be better and some half chances, especially in the first half. It’s never going to be perfect. What is important is to win and when we played well we showed some great moments and collectively we’ll get better.”

Rodgers and his squad will next travel to Aberdeen for their second Scottish Premiership game of the campaign. The Dons finished a distant third in the division last season behind Celtic and Rangers.

Photo credit: IMAGO / PA Images