Celtic’s defeat to Dundee has left a sour taste not only in the fans’ mouths, but also Brendan Rodgers’ as he reveals he told his players this is where they ‘have to be a man’.
Rodgers watched his side concede two goals to a team who were one of the lowest scoring sides in the league as Celtic lost 2-0 to Dundee.
The performance was insipid as Celtic looked out of ideas, clueless and toothless in attack in a painful 90 minutes, the travelling Parkhead support will want to forget.
As fan anger over the performance still rages, the Celtic boss shares what he told his players immediately after full time in the Dens Park dressing room.
Credit: Ian MacNicol/Getty ImagesBrendan Rodgers tells his Celtic players ‘you really have to be a man’ after Dundee defeat
At the post-match press conference Rodgers sounded unusually defeated as he shares what he told his players after the defeat to Dundee.
Rodgers told Superscoreboard, “I just said that this is where you really have to be a man, because at Celtic it’s great from the outside when you look in and you win in trophies and playing great football, but you’ve got to deal with pressure.
“And also the result and performance today isn’t good enough or acceptable for Celtic.
“I’ve come here a number of times over a number of years, and that today is not the level, so we have to find it.”
🔊 LISTEN: “There’s no way you’ll go in to a race with keys to a Honda Civic and say ‘I want you to drive it like a Ferrari’. It’s not going to happen.”
🍀 Brendan Rodgers reacts to Celtic’s 2-0 defeat against Dundee. ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/Wc1BtA3Iqk
— Clyde 1 Superscoreboard (@ClydeSSB) October 19, 2025
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What Brendan Rodgers said about Celtic fans’ Dundee protest
The kick-off at Dens Park was delayed by Celtic fans throwing tennis balls onto the pitch as protests against the board continued.
Did the Celtic manager blame that as one of the reasons why the team lost to Dundee?
Rodgers said, “Listen, we had to wait 90 odd minutes after that to be better.
“You know, the protest has nothing to do with defending the corner or giving the ball away and losing a goal on the counter attack. It’s nothing to do with the protest.
“We have to be better, and ultimately, we have to look on the pitch, first and foremost.”
That performance and defeat to Dundee has been coming for weeks. The dismantling of the talent in the Celtic team and failure to replace them properly has led to what fans are watching under Rodgers right now.
However, that is not to say that the Celtic starting XI didn’t have enough talent there to beat Dundee, it did. And that is why the spotlight is now starting to come on to Rodgers this week.