Brendan Rodgers last night accepted responsibility for his part in Celtic’s troubled start to the season — but also aimed a thinly-veiled dig at the club’s board for weakening his squad.
Rodgers came under fire from a section of the Celtic fans at full-time following the 2-0 defeat against Dundee at Dens Park which leaves them five points adrift of Hearts at the top of the Premiership table.
There were also renewed protests against chief executive Michael Nicholson and chairman Peter Lawwell, who are viewed as culpable for Celtic’s poor summer transfer window dealings and early exit from the Champions League.
The match was delayed for five minutes after tennis balls were thrown onto the pitch by travelling fans just after kick-off.
Rodgers admitted his team’s performance was ‘unacceptable’ as Clark Robertson’s header and a Cameron Carter-Vickers own goal gave Dundee their first win over Celtic at Dens Park since 1988.
The Celtic manager again committed himself to improving the stuttering champions’ form but chose a motoring allusion to question the quality of tools at his disposal.
Rodgers admitted that his Celtic side are counting the cost of not strengthening their squad
Clark Robertson (second right) is hailed after heading the opening goal in his side’s triumph
Callum McGregor , James Forrest and Luke McCowan troop off after defeat at Dens Park
‘The challenge from the summer, where we lost a lot of firepower, now leading into here is that we lost a lot of goals out of the team,’ said Rodgers.
‘And there’s no way you’ll go into a race and be given the keys to a Honda Civic and say, I want you to drive it like a Ferrari. It’s not going to happen.
‘So until something changes, I have to find the solutions. Because, like I said, goals, speed, everything has come out of the team. And we need to find a way to be better.
‘I’ll always look at myself first and analyse myself and where I can be better. It’s my responsibility to try and find a way to get what I can out of the players that we have at this moment. That’s always the first port of call.
‘The result and performance today wasn’t good enough. It’s not acceptable for Celtic.’
Rodgers refused to use the ongoing protests by supporters as a mitigating factor for Celtic’s first league defeat of the season.
‘We can’t use that as an excuse.’ he added. ‘We really can’t. It doesn’t stop you giving the ball away and losing a goal on a counter-attack. It doesn’t stop you getting blocked off on the pitch.
‘Of course, it’s been simmering all summer and into the beginning of the season. However, we can only focus on the pitch and we can be better on the pitch, for sure.’
Dundee manager Steven Pressley savoured a signature result which will enhance his standing among supporters who did not welcome his appointment in the summer.
Rodgers and the Celtic bench were unable to find the answers to a determined Dundee side
Dundee boss Steven Pressley enjoyed a statement win that helped win over some doubters
‘I’m exceptionally proud of the group of players,’ said Pressley. ‘I think to beat Celtic on any given day, you have to carry a degree of luck.
‘You also have to show a real resilience and a real determination in the way you play.
‘You can talk all you want about the tactical elements, but the delivering of them is ultimately down to the players. I thought they were exceptional today.
‘They showed the courage to play under pressure at times. They also showed the energy to counter at the appropriate times.
‘I couldn’t be prouder because it’s been a difficult couple of weeks for us on the back of the 4-0 defeat at Aberdeen.
‘We had to respond in the right manner. We’ve spoken a lot over the last couple of weeks, but it’s words. We had to show action and I thought we did that today.’
