Brendan Rodgers has say on Celtic fan protest and rejects notion Aberdeen draw was 'good point'

What the Celtic manager said after the 1-1 draw at Pittodrie

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers at full-time following the 1-1 draw in Aberdeen. (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group)

Brendan Rodgers has challenged his players to disregard the ongoing strife off the park at Celtic after the champions' title bid suffered a setback against manager-less Aberdeen.

The away fans in the 17,002 crowd staged a protest over the perceived lack of ambition at the top of the club immediately after the 1-1 draw at Pittodrie.

Celtic had to rely on an equaliser from transfer window signing Nicolas Kuhn after 63 minutes to secure a point. He had been on the park only for a couple of minutes after replacing Liel Abada.

The visitors had fallen behind after a terrific solo goal from Bojan Miovski and if it were not for a good block by Joe Hart from Graeme Shinnie, although the Aberdeen skipper should have done better, they might have lost.

Celtic were also fortunate to finish the game with eleven men after defender Maik Nawrocki escaped a second booking for a foul on Miovski.

Still, Rodgers rejected any notion of this being a ‘good’ point for Celtic at a ground where the manager had won on all nine of his previous visits.

“I’d never say a point here is a good result,” he said. “I always come here to win, as I’ve always done as Celtic manager. I always expect to do that. I can never say I’ll take the point, I expect to win.”

The supporters felt the same way. The Celtic board rather than players and Rodgers took the heat. A large banner was quickly unfurled after the final whistle: “Celtic Board – On Your Head Be It”.

Rodgers stressed that it was up to the players to blank out such unrest.

“I can only concentrate on the players and what we do on the field,” he said. “You always find that winning games and playing well can ease those situations and that’s what we aim to do.

“Supporters pay their money and have every right to say what they want to say. But for us, we can only control what we do on the pitch. If we do that we’ll be OK. The key thing is not allowing it to become a distraction for us. That’s really important.

“Whatever goes on outside, you have to be able to deal with it. At a club like Celtic, at the biggest clubs, there will always be that pressure there.”