No shelter from the storm: Rodgers thought club had turned the corner after Motherwell win and supporter peace talks... but fresh protests loom

Given the nature of Celtic’s victory over Motherwell a fortnight ago, there was a feeling that it could mark a turning point in what has been a turbulent season.

Trailing 2-1 at home in front of a disgruntled crowd at Parkhead, Celtic fought back to win 3-2 thanks to a Daizen Maeda goal deep into stoppage time.

With the bulk of his squad then heading off for the international break, it was a result which offered Brendan Rodgers and his players some shelter from the storm. But it didn’t last.

Only 24 hours later, a meeting was held between senior club officials and representatives of supporters’ groups, with the intention of thrashing out some kind of peace deal to stop recent protests.

The Celtic Fans Collective, the mothership vessel which has amalgamated several fan groups and united them into one cause, released a statement insisting the meeting had ‘produced no tangible outcomes’.

They then announced yesterday that they intend to boycott all official club merchandise and will not purchase any more food or drink from around Celtic Park.

The move, which has been titled ‘Not Another Penny’, is the latest form of protest from supporters as they continue to revolt against the club’s hierarchy.

For Rodgers and the players, there is a feeling of exasperation any time this stuff is mentioned. But, clearly, it is not going away.

Not until such times as there is a tangible sign of change in terms of how the club is being run behind the scenes.

With Celtic set to return to action against Dundee at Dens Park tomorrow, Rodgers was asked about the latest move from the supporters’ groups.

‘Well, one, I haven’t seen that,’ he said. ‘Two, I would say, listen, the Celtic supporters are at the heart of this club.

‘That is what Celtic is synonymous with and, hopefully, going forward, we can find that balance that allows that great support to spill onto the field and obviously, we have that harmony throughout the club.

‘But, until then, I’m sure both parties will continue discussing. In the meantime, it’s really about affecting what we can, and that’s on the pitch.

‘I think that, with my experience, you tend to try to focus on what you actually can do. You can go too deep into it and, of course, we want the synergy throughout the whole club.

‘That’s what we all want, what’s best for Celtic. Control what you can, which is the football element and look to do that on the pitch and on the training pitch every single day. That’s really where my focus is.

‘I try not to get too involved. I love Celtic, I love managing Celtic, I want Celtic to be the very best every single season.

‘Of course, there’s a focus there on the general health of the club but, like I said, it’s for me to focus on the performance level of the team and that won’t be clouded at all. I need to make sure that we perform and we make results.

‘We have to control that [the impact any protests might have on the team] or try and influence that as much as we possibly can.

‘I think on a day-to-day basis up here on the training field, of course, it doesn’t [affect the players]. Our focus is very much on training, developing, preparing the team and then obviously bringing that out onto the matchday.

‘Then, from that, we get the great support, and they can hopefully push the team and that’s all you can hope for.’

Earlier this season, Rodgers hit out at what he felt had been a ‘cowardly’ act from someone within the club briefing against him as a source in a newspaper article.

Celtic chief executive Michael Nicholson was asked about the issue in the meeting with supporters’ groups last week, but insisted it was ‘closed’ and that he was ‘busy enough as it is’ without investigating the matter further.

Asked if he was given any feedback from the meeting, Rodgers said: ‘I get to understand and get to hear a little bit but, of course, that remains closed, what we’ll speak about.’

The game against Dundee marks the start of a busy run of seven matches in 21 days for Celtic, a period which sees them face league leaders Hearts as well as Rangers in the Premier Sports Cup semi-finals.

They will also look to resurrect their Europa League ambitions after the hammer blow of losing at home to Braga in their last outing, with Sturm Graz due in Glasgow on Thursday night. 

‘I think it’s a really exciting spell for the club,’ added Rodgers. ‘It can be a little bit stop-start in the early part of the season.

‘But I think when you come into this period, and especially after the break in November, you’re really starting to get into the thick of it then.

‘There’s no doubt this period now, between now and the next break, there are some big games in there, some really important games.

‘But it’s for us to really embrace and really take on the challenge, and let’s just do it. It’s exciting, seven days as well, we begin on Sunday.

‘We’ve shown glimpses in a lot of our domestic games. We just need to find a more consistent level and, of course, that’s something I’m really looking forward to doing.

‘We had a really good victory in the last game against a good team that were unbeaten in the league so far. So, we knew we had to really work for that, and we showed our spirit and our quality by the end of that game.

‘So we want to continue in that vein. The focus is very much on the seven games in 21 days, and that’s my only focus.

‘Our record at Dundee is very, very good as a club over numbers of years, but it still doesn’t make it an easy place to go.

‘I think Steven Pressley will have them really well organised. He’ll have them competitive. They’ve shown already this season that they can get good results and performances.

‘So we know coming back after the international break, we need to get our fluency and get our tempo into the game as quickly as we can and look to make it really difficult for them, hopefully.’