'Either that or manager goes': Celtic reveal transfer window plans as Brendan Rodgers has say on Chris Sutton

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers expects to have a busy transfer window after he admitted that there will be incomings and outgoings at the club this season - regardless of how the season finishes.

Celtic are on course for a domestic treble but have let their standards slip in recent weeks, the nadir coming last Sunday when they were surprisingly defeated 1-0 by bottom club St Johnstone in Perth. However, they can wrap up the title this weekend should they beat Kilmarnock at home on Saturday lunchtime and nearest challengers Rangers lose at Aberdeen the following day.

With the Premier Sports Cup already in the bag, Celtic are also in the semi-finals of the Scottish Cup and made the play-off round of the newly-revamped Champions League. Nevertheless, Rodgers showed his angry side after the loss at McDiarmid Park and expects a reaction from his players against Kilmarnock. And in the longer term, he anticipates movement within the dressing room - because he believes his squad needs to evolve further, pointing out that freshness comes either through player turnover or a change of manager.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers says changes will come this summer. | SNS Group

“I think it's all about improvement,” said Rodgers in his pre-match press conference. “I think naturally what you have at our club, and you guys will have seen it reporting on the club over many years, there is a natural slide of players that move out and come in every three or four years.

“So I think naturally that will happen. It's the nature of our model here, but it's also the nature of players being here and maybe either looking to move on or want to come away from the pressure that's here. Because three or four years of it, it's a lot of pressure. But I just think it's a natural progression for here. But we always have to be ready to replace any players that go. But obviously important for us is improvement.

“We always want to improve the team, improve the hunger in the team. That's always key. Because one of the ways to succeed, across what I've been talking about, is you need the freshness. It's either that or the manager goes. It's as simple as there's no rocket science in it. You cannot be at a club for a long period of time with the same group of players.

“And likewise, the same group of players need a different voice.  I think that's that freshness, that new energy coming into your squad that alleviates any of that sort of complacency. So we will bring players in to challenge the squad and the team for the summer.

“That's natural for any team. However this team does at the end of the season, come the end, we want to improve it. Because, like I said, if you just sit on that, then the team needs the competition. So either way, we will look to improve the squad.”

Chris Sutton Celtic column

Former Celtic striker Chris Sutton claimed in a newspaper column earlier this week that complacency has crept into Celtic’s squad on the back of a quiet January transfer window, but Rodgers rejected such a notion.

“No, I wouldn't like to say that,” the Northern Irishman continued. “Listen, everyone will have an opinion on it. You know, it was clear. I said at the time we wanted a striker. But if it didn't happen, because we couldn't get the right one, then of course I was happy for Daizen [Maeda] to play there. Because he can do. But no, listen, the club and the board have been great. You know, you look at how we've improved in the summer, improved as a squad.

“We will look to do that again in the summer. We can't afford to be complacent. We always want to progress. We can't afford to be content. My ambition and the club's ambition will be to always improve and be better, whether it's facilities, whether it's on the field. And we'll look to do that again in the summer.

“So, yes, I sadly don't quite agree with young Chris. But it's okay, it's opinion and I can disagree.”

Rodgers has been heartened by his players’ reaction in training this week and expects a positive performance when Kilmarnock visit Parkhead for a game live on Sky Sports.

“There's also personal pride in it as well,” said Rodgers. “There's the individual performance. I also understand very well, especially at a club like this here, and for players coming in on their first season, the emotional and physical exhaustion that takes place whenever you are the team that is pushing, not just every single day, but in every single game. That can be tiring physically and mentally.

Brendan Rodgers was not happy with Celtic's performance against St Johnstone. | SNS Group

“And then you get to this point of the season and maybe your form can just quite drop off a little bit. So I understand that. But our job is in the messaging and in the observation of training and making sure that intensity is there, the mentality is there. And then you take that performance level then into training. And I've always said it, the training can't be soft and light. I always worry with players if they don't want to work.

“But that's not this group. It's not this group. They want to work. They're a fantastic group of young guys who have done amazing for this club over the course of this season. They've shown they've improved. But there's just that little thing that I want us to keep building on. And that's that. It's not a winning mentality. It's just a mindset of being relentless.

“That's something that we want to improve on. You have to ensure the whole message gets to the group. And then, of course, you will speak individually with players. But I think the players understand that situation. And, like I said, hopefully it will be that little poke that's needed for us now to push on at the end of the season.”