Celtic are finally starting to hit their stride under Brendan Rodgers after a stop-start first few weeks of the season.
The club had some struggles in the early stages, but a massive result at Ibrox seems to have galvanised the Celtic team who have been in decent form ever since.
Appointing Rodgers provided the certainty Celtic needed rather than the potential gambles associated with the appointment of some of the other candidates quoted at the end of last season. We knew the quality that the Irishman possessed, and his team are beginning to show the hallmarks of a typical Brendan Rodgers side.
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Players back on form
One of the stumbling blocks in the early stages of this campaign was the fact that a lot of last season’s key players were underperforming. The likes of Greg Taylor and Callum McGregor weren’t having the greatest starts to the season, but both now look to be returning to their best.
The captain was one of the standout performers in the derby game at Ibrox and he carried that form over to the Scottish national team, ensuring McGregor was back to his brilliant best for the fixtures against Dundee and Livingston in the league.
Taylor has been encouraged to return to the inverted full-back role a lot more often in recent weeks and it has benefitted his performances greatly, highlighting the strengths in his game (his passing), whilst covering-up the deficiencies in his game (his physicality).
Game management
As previously mentioned, the appointment of Brendan Rodgers came with a certainty about it. His quality was known, and his tactical tweaks in games where it looks like the going is getting tough have strongly benefitted the team.
Celtic didn’t field the strongest team for the trip to Ibrox to take on Rangers, but Rodgers set the side up with the perfect game-plan to ensure the Hoops came out of the game with the three points.
The most recent example of this would be the trip to Livingston at the weekend, a notoriously tough ground for Celtic to visit. Going down to 10 men despite Celtic being a goal to the good might have had fans worried, but the way the team set-up in the second-half nullified any potential opportunities that the Lions may have had.
The performances may not be the prettiest, but the team will get the job done at the end of the day.
Unfazed at the injury crisis
As previously mentioned, the current injury crisis the club faces has meant that the opening few weeks of the season haven’t exactly been as settled as many would have expected.
It would have been easy for the team to crumble in the face of injuries to key players. Instead, the club has navigated its way through a tough few weeks relatively unscathed, the exit from the Viaplay Cup against Kilmarnock being the only major blip.
The injury crisis has also seen the emergence of some new heroes at Celtic, with the likes of Liam Scales and Gustaf Lagerbielke stepping up with some top domestic performances when the options at centre-back were nearly non-existent.
This pair, Scales in particular, will give Brendan Rodgers a dilemma of a different kind upon the return to full fitness of Cameron Carter-Vickers et al.
JAMES MCKENZIE // Follow James HERE
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