Rodgers has no remorse for criticising officials following Celtic’s defeat.

Brendan Rodgers, Celtic manager, will face a hearing on March 28th.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has no regrets about criticising match officials following last weekend’s defeat by Hearts, despite receiving a Scottish Football Association disciplinary charge.

Rodgers is scheduled for a hearing on March 28th after being accused of violating a rule that prohibits criticising match officials “in such a way as to indicate bias or incompetence”.

The Northern Irishman claimed the “level of incompetence” made him concerned about the game as he criticised referee Don Robertson and video assistant John Beaton in particular, citing Yang Hyun-jun’s red card and a penalty for handball against Tomoki Iwata as major complaints.

Rodgers faces a touchline ban for Celtic’s Premiership match against Rangers on April 7, but when asked if he regretted his comments, he said: “No, not at all. My job is to defend the team, defend the club and that’s what we will do in this case.

“We will defend it vigorously and when the date comes we will go from there. I will sit down with the club and the lawyers and we will look at it from there.”

Rodgers added, “It was my observations over many games, primarily around the inconsistency of decisions.

“I never talk so much about referees and haven’t done over the course of my career. I understand they make mistakes. But I felt the ones last week were clear, clear errors.”
Celtic lost an appeal against Yang’s red card for a high boot on Alex Cochrane, which was upgraded after a VAR review.

Rodgers stated, “I have seen incidents worse than that, and I thought the on-field decision was correct, a yellow card.

“We had a report back that the studs and the boot was in the face of the player, which clearly a couple of days later when we get that report and it says that, it is clearly not the case when you watch it.”

Yang will be suspended for Sunday’s Scottish Gas Scottish Cup quarterfinal against Livingston, and fellow winger Luis Palma is doubtful due to a knock.

Captain Callum McGregor will miss the game again due to an inconclusive scan after experiencing pain in his Achilles/calf area.

“We had it in our mind anyway he would miss through until the international break and then take it from there,” he said.

“He travelled for the scan but nothing really showed up so much. We will assess it over the next couple of weeks. We will just have to see how that feels on a day-to-day basis really.

“It’s something he has felt most seasons of late, towards the back end of the season, but he has had to play through it or was able to play through it. It’s not something new but it’s something we have to look at and be mindful of.”

Alexandro Bernabei also leaves the squad after being loaned to Brazilian club Internacional for the remainder of 2024.

Despite the fact that he didn’t have a regular left-back to cover for Greg Taylor, Rodgers was content with the Argentine’s departure.

“If I didn’t want it to happen it, it didn’t have to happen, but I’m confident enough in what we have in the squad for the remainder of the season, we will have coverage in that position,” he said. “Liam Scales has played there and we have other options.”

In other news, Adam Idah might cost Celtic in the summer