Ten days later they lost 2-1 to Kilmarnock, having already lost to them in the League Cup. Six days after that they lost 2-0 at Hearts with a display that, according to Rodgers, lacked desire and passion.
These were things we had never heard from him before.
“I want to apologise to the support base,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve ever had to do that with regard to performance.” He called his team “really, really poor”.
In two separate transfer windows, Rodgers called for quality signings that he never really got. Not the kind of quality he wished for, that is for sure.
“We could maybe be a bit braver in terms of bringing in another level of player,” he said after the January transfer window.
In February, Celtic were toiling against Motherwell at Fir Park when Rodgers took off Tomoki Iwata and replaced him with Paulo Bernardo.
The Celtic fans booed the decision, an illustration of how stressed things were at the time for the champions.
“When you get booed for taking off a defender and putting on an attacker… that seems strange,” he remarked. “It’s a negative reaction, which I don’t understand.”
Celtic won the game 3-1 with two late goals.
Those storming finishes were a feature of the season.
In September, they were drawing 1-1 with Motherwell until O’Riley’s winner in the 97th minute. In February they were drawing 1-1 with Hibernian until Adam Idah popped up in the 92nd minute.
And then there was the game with Motherwell that was heading for a 1-1 draw until Idah and Luis Palma scored to make the game safe in the 94th and 96th minute.
Those late winners were the difference between three points and nine points.
