DEAL CONFIRMED: Celtic has agreed to the deal with Leeds united just now

DEAL CONFIRMED: Celtic has agreed to the deal with Leeds united just now

Brendan Rodgers is convinced Celtic should have had a seventh goal after watching his side rout St Johnstone with a 6-0 victory on Saturday night.

 

Kyogo Furuhashi, Paulo Bernardo, Daizen Maeda, Callum McGregor and Adam Idah all combined to give the home side a battering in Perth.

Maeda was excellent throughout the 90 minutes, and Rodgers acknowledged his efforts in a post-match radio interview, but it could have been an even better night for the Japanese international.

 

The winger netted an excellent volleyed finish only to see what would have been the opening goal ruled out after a VAR review for a perceived Auston Trusty foul on Graham Carey in the build-up.

 

Replays showed Carey colliding with Trusty, but many Celtic supporters feel that Trusty did not foul the St Johnstone man. Rodgers agrees with them.

Brendan Rodgers on Celtic VAR call vs St Johnstone

In a post-match press conference, the manager said: “It should never have been disallowed. If you watch it back, Austin loses his marker, and their player steps into his space and bumps him. Obviously, Carey goes over, he’s hurt.

 

“Daizen ends up getting a really good goal, which was disallowed. So I didn’t think that should have been disallowed.”

It will be very interesting to hear what Head of Refereeing Willie Collum says about the incident in the Scottish FA’s new VAR review show.

We’ll also find out what a five-person panel thinks of it all next week when the governing body publishes its review online in another new communication initiative.

 

It wasn’t the only VAR shocker on Saturday, with decisions in the game between Motherwell and St Mirren drawing particular criticism from fans and pundits. It’s clear that the use of technology in Scotland still requires a lot of work.

 

Rodgers takes the opportunity to hit out at Celtic criticism

The manager also had a pop at some of the first-season criticism that came Celtic’s way last term, taking the opportunity to remind everyone that he’s done a fantastic job with this group of players.

 

He said, reflecting on the Bhoys’ storming performance in Perth: “It’s not bad for a team that doesn’t play good football. I think that’s what we were told last year, wasn’t it?

“I think that was the accusation. We were too slow, and we didn’t play football, and we didn’t score enough goals. And so it’s not bad for a team that’s not playing good football.”

 

Rodgers likes to fire out these digs from time to time, and after watching his team perform at their peak, it’s a well-deserved bit of fun that will no doubt rile up the columnists and pundits who were quick to jump all over Celtic while the manager got to grips with what was needed on his return.