BRENDAN Rodgers has stressed there are no issues between him and Alexandro Bernabei despite the Argentinian left back being left out of the Celtic squad for the Ross County game last week after sleeping in and missing a team meeting.
Bernabei was named on the replacements’ bench for the cinch Premiership match against Aberdeen at Pittodrie this afternoon – but the defender was not among the four substitutions which his manager made during the 3-1 win.
However, Rodgers made light of the opening day disciplinary matter after the victory and stated that he has enjoyed working with the South American player since returning to Glasgow during the summer.
READ MORE: Instant reaction to the burning issues
“His alarm is working now,” he said. “He has been brilliant in pre-season in terms of mentality and attitude and I felt for him. The very morning of the first game of the season, whatever happened, the alarm did not go off.
“I don't have time to wait. If you start late in the game and you are not quite ready then the game could be dead. It's gone. We draw a line under it. He's a good guy. You’ve got to learn and you've got to be ready.
“His professionalism is fantastic and there is no worry. When you come into a club the standard of your performance on and off the pitch is vital. We all make mistakes, but you learn from them and you'll be better for it.”
Rodgers handed game time to three summer signings against Aberdeen – Maik Nawrocki, Odin Thiago Holm and Yang Hyun-jun all featured – and he believes they will all benefit from being involved in such a difficult outing.
“It was a tough game for us,” he said. “Barry (Aberdeen manager Robson) has made them very hard to play against. They are direct and get up on to your defensive line very quickly. So you have to fight for second balls. And the pitch was a bit longer than normal.
“Overall, it was a really good win for us. There were spells of really good football. We took the goals really well and in those moments of adversity we stayed strong. It was a really good three points against one of our rivals.
“I think it will be great for their spirit because they had to come through tough moments in the game. You’ve got to be strong and aggressive and defend the box well. And in the moments of quality you need to show that to get the goals.
“It will really be a good boost for the players, and the new players getting used to the league and how we want to work.”
READ MORE: Celtic on Cameron Carter-Vickers injury alert vs Aberdeen
Rodgers was particularly pleased with how his centre backs Stephen Welsh, who replaced Cameron Carter-Vickers at half-time, and Nawrocki performed against Aberdeen.
“I thought Stephen was excellent when he came in,” he said. “I like him. I took him with me one pre-season as a young player because I really liked him. But for whatever reason he maybe hasn’t played the games.
“He is a Celtic boy, he wants to be at the club, I want him to be at the club. I can’t guarantee how many games he is going to play, but I know he is always ready. He trains really hard every day. He came into the game and played with composure. He’s aggressive.
“He (Nawrocki) still has a way to go on his fitness. He is aggressive, he defends the first ball well whether in the air or he steps in. He’s good with the ball at his feet. For centre-halves it’s all about the partnership, but I am really pleased with him since he stepped in and he’s only going to get better.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel