Falkirk man hails Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers for 'classy' gesture
Celtic ran out comfortable winners in their recent Scottish League Cup outing in the end but were given a good game
Falkirk defender Coll Donaldson has said Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers came into their dressing room after their game on Sunday afternoon. The Hoops won 5-2 in the end after a brace by both Adam Idah and Nicholas Kuhn, whilst Paul Bernardo got their other goal.
It wasn’t plain sailing for the Hoops though and their Scottish Championship opponents proved to be a tricky test. They got on the scoresheet twice at Celtic Park in front of their sizeable away following through Ross MacIver and Finn Yeats.
Falkirk were also reduced to 10 men near the end when Michael McKenna was sent off. Celtic had 63% possession and had 17 shots, 10 of which were on target.
Donaldson, who played the whole game for the visitors, hailed Rodgers afterwards for his classy gesture and revealed on the Big Scottish Football Podcast: “I think the biggest mark of respect was Brendan Rodgers actually came into our changing room.
“[He] just said how impressed he was, not only in the way that we played during the game but in his analysis of us building up, he said it was a joy to look at how we play and that we play the same way every week. So I think these compliments are nice but I think as a professional footballer, we were still disappointed with the way that the last 20 minutes went.”
Donaldson, who is 29-years-old, joined Falkirk in 2022 and has been a key player for them over the last two years. He has scored six goals in 90 appearances for them to date from the back.
Prior to joining his current club, he had spells at Livingston, QPR, Dundee United, Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Ross County and Dunfermline Athletic. He is an experienced operator and can be proud of his performance against the Hoops.
Celtic are now in the semi-final of the competition as they look to win it. Their rivals Rangers won the trophy last season.
Rodgers said after they beat Falkirk: “We had to work very hard in the game. And that’s what we expected beforehand. We lacked a bit of fluency in the first 60 minutes, and that’s on me because I need to see players and give them game time.
“We got minutes in to the legs of some players, they got the opportunity to play at Celtic Park and then we have the opportunity to make some changes. Obviously you want that contribution to take place and we needed it. The guys who came on changed the direction of the game for us.
“It’s the third game in what has been a busy week for us, full of emotion and physicality, but the players have come through it so well. I was pleased with how we finished the game overall and we’re in to the semi-final which is nice.”
Celtic are back in action this weekend with an away trip to St Johnstone. Their upcoming opponents have recently parted company with Craig Levein after a slow start to this term.