Rodgers messed up with Celtic star

Celtic supervisor Brendan Rodgers has been immensely profitable all through his time with the Scottish giants, in his second spell now with the membership.

The Northern Irish boss received seven trophies in simply over two-and-a-half years at Parkhead between 2016 and 2019 in his first go at it with the Hoops, earlier than becoming a member of Premier League aspect Leicester Metropolis.

Rodgers received two trophies in his first 12 months again at Celtic final time period, securing the Scottish Premiership title and the SFA Cup, and is presently on track to land the home treble.

The Hoops beat Rangers on penalties to win the League Cup within the first half of the season, they’re one recreation away from profitable the league title, and they’re within the SFA Cup ultimate in opposition to Aberdeen.

Which means the previous Leicester and Liverpool head coach might have received 12 trophies in his profession with Celtic thus far by the tip of this season.

The Northern Irish tactician has clearly been massively profitable for the Scottish giants, however that doesn’t imply he has been excellent all through that point. In actual fact, there have been some query marks over his centre-back choices of late, with Liam Scales getting the nod on the weekend.

Celtic’s centre-back debate

The Hoops began the 2024/25 marketing campaign with Cameron Carter-Vickers and Stephen Welsh as the 2 first-choice choices in the suitable centre-back function and Auston Trusty and Liam Scales as the 2 first-choice choices on the left aspect of the pairing.

Rodgers just lately revealed that he prefers to play a left-footed participant on the left aspect of the defence as a result of it “lets you get via the pitch faster”, however he has had issues in that place this season.

Scales and Trusty have each dropped out of the workforce at occasions, with neither capable of definitively say that they’re the primary possibility, and thay could also be due to the errors that they’ve made within the Premiership.

As you possibly can see within the desk above, they’ve each began an analogous variety of matches and have mixed for 5 errors that led to photographs, one error that led to a objective, and one penalty conceded. Trusty has additionally been dribbled previous twice as a lot because the Irishman, as opposition forwards have discovered it too straightforward to get the higher of him.

These statistics present that the 2 naturally left-footed defenders within the squad haven’t been notably dependable on the again, due to the errors that they’ve made within the Premiership.

Scales began the 5-0 win over St. Johnstone within the SFA Cup and the 5-1 win over Kilmarnock within the Premiership, suggesting that he’s presently forward of Trusty within the pecking order.

That’s regardless of Scales (£3m) being price considerably lower than Trusty (£6.4m), as per Transfermarkt, who joined the membership from Sheffield United final summer season.

The Irish defender’s worth might have been greater, nevertheless, if he had extra recreation time on the pitch as a result of he has solely began 17 occasions within the Premiership, which implies that the centre-back has not had as many begins to showcase his high quality as Trusty has had.

However Scales isn’t the one central defender who falls into that class. Rodgers has additionally tousled with Polish stopper Maik Nawrocki, whose worth has plummeted throughout his time at Celtic.

Why Maik Nawrocki’s worth has plummeted at Celtic

The Hoops have been out there for a substitute for Carl Starfelt in the summertime of 2023 and determined to splash a reported payment of £4.3m on the Legia Warsaw squad to bolster their choices in that place.

That was a major outlay, given it was the most costly signing of the summer season as per Transfermarkt, for Celtic and that means that they anticipated him to play a key function on the pitch.

That was not what occurred, although, as Nawrocki went on to play simply ten occasions, beginning seven of these outings, within the Premiership in the course of the 2023/24 marketing campaign.

He received 57% of his duels and didn’t make a single error that led to a shot, objective, or penalty in these ten matches, however that was not sufficient to earn him a daily place within the workforce.

Carter-Vickers has nailed down the right-sided centre-back function and that has left Nawrocki combating for a spot on the left, which leaves him at a right away drawback as a right-footer.

He didn’t make a single look within the league till March of this season, when accidents to Trusty and Scales introduced him with an opportunity to shine in opposition to Rangers and Hearts.

Nawrocki took his probability to impress in each of these matches, as you possibly can see within the desk beneath, by dominating opposition attackers in duels and being dependable in possession.

These performances from the £12k-per-week star weren’t sufficient to maintain his place within the aspect, nevertheless, as he has been an unused substitute for the final two Premiership matches and didn’t make the matchday squad in opposition to St. Johnstone within the SFA Cup.

Because of his lack of minutes on the pitch within the final two seasons, Nawrocki’s Transfermarkt worth has plummeted hundreds of thousands down to simply £1.7m, making him price even lower than Scales and Trusty.

This exhibits that Rodgers has tousled with the defender as a result of Nawrocki was introduced in for a whopping £4.3m and has hardly ever been utilized by the supervisor, regardless of his spectacular performances, and the membership now have a depreciating asset due to it.

It’s going to now be attention-grabbing to see what Celtic do with Nawrocki in the summertime as a result of he’s not price wherever close to as a lot because the payment they paid for him attributable to Rodgers’ reluctance to make use of him, and he doesn’t appear prone to be a key participant transferring ahead attributable to his lack of minutes.