Brendan Rodgers reveals his conversation with Liam Scales before big Celtic breakthrough.
Brendan Rodgers has been speaking about Liam Scales as the Celtic defender’s brilliant rise continues.
Scales is now a Republic of Ireland international, having started his country’s fixtures against Greece and Gibraltar during this international break.
That recognition came after a stellar couple of months at Celtic that has seen the defender become a regular starter and a good performer at UEFA Champions League level.
Rodgers recently described Scales as one of the “biggest surprises” of his management career. Now, he has expanded on those comments and detailed what he told the former Shamrock Rovers man before his big breakthrough.
“I hadn’t seen a lot of Liam,” Rodgers told Celtic TV. “I saw him score in the Dundee United game, then when he went out to Aberdeen, I didn’t see a lot of him.
“I think probably the feeling probably was for him, and maybe around the club, that he wanted to go out and play. Over the course of pre-season, he had played, but maybe with one eye on thinking he was leaving.
“I said to him, ‘You just never know. Just stay, work hard, stay focussed.’ Since he’s come in he’s taken his chance.
“It’s not so much in Scotland, because he’s played in Scotland with a really good club in Aberdeen. So he’s obviously shown he can play. The big surprise to me was when he stepped up to the Champions League level.
“He looked accomplished and he did very, very well. So he’s gone from maybe thinking he was leaving Celtic to playing regularly in the team, playing in the Champions League and making his international debut.”
Scales has certainly taken on the “work hard, stay focussed” message from his boss. Even in that uncertain pre-season period, he was offering refreshing takes on his future.
“Look, I don’t know what’s ahead of me,” he told Celtic TV after our draw with Wolves in Dublin. “I just want to do as well as I can and make as good an impression as I can on the people here, and do my best.”
Since his big breakthrough display at Ibrox, he has grown in confidence and proven a lot of people wrong, including this daft writer. I genuinely think he has more levels to his game and could become a regular first-team member even once everyone is back from injury.
Scales making it at Celtic is likely to come down to his ability and suitability for the team. His temperament and maturity won’t be an issue. We’ll see how things go for him.
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