That seems to be the message from manager Brendan Rodgers as the players returned to Scotland all refreshed and ready to do the business at the business end of the season.

“Mapping out from June when I first came in and seeing the fixture list when it came out, I felt this was going to be an important period for us especially if we could progress how I hoped we would progress.

“This has been a chance to press the reset button and the message has been very, very simple: We need more and we need to be better. We’ve had a good period, but we want more.

“If we are going to be better, that means improving our game, improving the levels of our game and to keep pushing. 

“That’s been our clear message since we’ve been here. The players have been fantastic. They are absolutely giving everything.

“The attitude and mental fitness is now strong.

“Pre-season I talked about reclaiming that working mentality, to work and to have this mindset that allows you to win games and win in the style that we want to win them in.

“But there are still areas. We need to create more chances. My philosophy is non-negotiable. We attack.

“But we can defend better to allow us to attack more, so we are talking about creating more pressure with speed, power and aggression in our game we can create more chances through defending better in better moments, as a collective. 

“Those are areas we have to work on tactically.

“Technically there is a level we can be better in, but the players are ready, they are soaking it up in order to be the best they can be. That’s what you want.”

That puts me in mind of a quote by Bill Shankly about Jock Stein, and whilst a few of us made comparisons between Ronny Deila and the great man, the most obvious diference is that the norwegian hadn;t done enough to earn the respect of the players, whereas Rodgers has a hold on them not unlike the grip Stein employed.

The quote…

Shankly on Stein video

Demanding excellence is one thing. Getting the players to respond to it is entirely another ball game, but the manager reckons the players have bought into it.

Whilst domestically Celtic are way ahead of the competition, in europe there is still a bit to go, and a lot of that, Rodgers thinks, is down to the mentality of the players, which in turn is not helped by the media.. on the champions League he said;

“We’re not saying it’s easy to get there because it’s not. You know how hard it is to qualify and then to come through the group stage is notoriously difficult.

“But you saw how we progressed in the Champions League. It’s as much a mindset as anything else.

“Listen, you can play the ‘poor man’ and you can be beaten before you even begin, but it’s not a mentality that I’m used to. You have to take on the challenge and enjoy it and accept it.

“For us, where Scottish football it is a great challenge for a club like Celtic and, of course, it prepares us for the next challenges.

“Obviously we have to adapt at times, but one, you have to get there and, two, it’s then about the mentality and the belief to play in it.

“This group of players will grow in that belief as they work more together. You have to have talent, but it has to be working talent.

“The ambition of course is beyond that. You have to work to that level every day, your standard has to match that.”  

If the players aren’t up for it, they won’t be around for long…

 “Sometimes at big clubs, especially a club like Celtic, your talent can hide you in among other good players. 

“You can be hidden and you can be protected a little bit, which means you don’t have to work quite so hard because your ability takes you there.

“No chance. If you’re not working here you will be out, regardless of your talent.

“Some players will struggle to keep up. Their talent is there, but they can’t keep up with the demand. So your talent won’t be protected.

 “You can be a good player, but it’s not enough.

“If you want to be elite and you want to be the best, then you have to align the work mentality with the talent.

“That means you push, every single game you play, and the next game is always the critical one.

“We will have strategies to guard against that complacency, but I don’t think it’s in the mentality of the group now.

European success may be a dream too many, but don’t be surprised if we end up in the last eight or even the last four of a European tournament next season, and its Europe that is the key to keeping the manager here longer than the press would have you believe.

Rodgers loves a challenge. At Liverpool he came within a whisker of winning them their first League title in decades. At Celtic he knows the domestic scene is under the clubs heel, but instead of settling for that, he wants to use the league as a practice for the European stage, and with the sort of determination that pushed Liverpool so close, he could just as easily take Celtic close to our own ambitions.

We’ll wait and see, but it promises to be fun while we’re waiting.

One of the more partisan journalists out there, Chris Jack of the Herald group, doesn’t seem all that pleased at the way rodgers is going about his business. In an article under this headline….

Chris Jack: Rangers and Celtic have missed a chance to develop the next generation of Old Firm stars

Apart from the now usual desperation to continue the old firm myth, and put the cash strapped Ibrox club on a level with the five times going for six times champions, Jack seems to blame Celtic for buying in non Scots and not developing enough youngsters..

Across the city, Celtic had the same scenario in front of them. With the title in the bag before a ball was kicked, Ronny Deila had a chance that few other Hoops managers will be presented with.

But Eoghan O’Connell made just one appearance, Ryan Christie struggled to get a look-in on his return from Inverness, Scott Allan became the forgotten Bhoy of Parkhead and Liam Henderson had to head to Rosenborg and Hibernian in search of a game.

The Hoops system produces talented footballers but not enough, for whatever reason, have made the transition into the Parkhead first team.

When you consider some of the players bought and money spent by both halves of the Old Firm whilst they were apart it’s a shame that more Scottish kids weren’t given their big break. Neither club is likely to get that freedom again.

In the here and now, what Rangers do have at least is young players gaining experience away from the sanitised world of the Development League. Thompson and Hardie, who spent the first half of the season at St Mirren, are both at Raith Rovers, while keeper Liam Kelly is on course to lift the League One title with Livingston.

The Under-20 side fielded by Graeme Murty is regularly made up of players that have been fast-tracked through the levels, with 15-year-old Billy Gilmour already a name on the lips of many Gers supporters.

There appears little chance that any up-and-coming kid will see much first team action this term, but Rangers have to hope that the time comes when those in the youth ranks simply cannot be overlooked for a jersey, and certainly not by a protégé from another club.

At Celtic, the pressure to produce players is not as great because of their financial strength but the Parkhead crowd have rightly taken great pride in Kieran Tierney’s rise and rise, while Callum McGregor and James Forrest are key parts of Brendan Rodgers’ squad.

It is undoubtedly more difficult for a player to break into Rodgers’ side but that will remain the aim for the Lennoxtown staff and those Hoops hopefuls under their guidance.

For too many, the dream never becomes reality. For the sake of Rangers, Celtic and Scotland, that has to change. 

For the sake of Scotland ?

Craig Gordon is easily the best keeper available to Strachan, whilst the main contender is David Marshall, who came through the ranks at Celtic.

Keiran Tierney, granted , is the only defender currently qualified and good enough to play for Scotland, but in midfield, Armstrong, Brown and  MacGregor are the equal of anything seen in a blue shirt of late, especially when it comes to competitive international club football, whilst Griffiths and Forrest are two of, if not the two best, forwards around.

I don’t think Celtic can be blamed for any problems besetting the national side, as there is no reason why there shouldn’t be seven starters in any Scotland line up.

Perhaps Jack is a little annoyed that his preferred club are going backwards, and as a journalist he should have access to information that tells him things aren;t going to get any better any time soon.

Even if he’s loathe to tell the hordes about it.

Gordon Waddell of the Sunday Mail almost got there with his piece yesterday,

Rangers fans deserve the truth not ex-employees telling

them pot of gold is still at the end of the rainbow – Waddell

but his article about telling the truth lost a lot of credibility when, upon examination, it merely said …

We’re less than a month from the fifth anniversary of them going into administration. 

and left out the bit about the club going out of business and reforming as another, new club.

Perhaps he just means someone else should tell them the truth.

You know, give them a real sense of perspective… one that illustrates exactly where they stand in the real world just now..

The winter break gave clubs a chance to get away from the poor weather and continue to train outdoors, whilst taking a breather from the relentless pressure of day to day business.

A chance to relax, perhaps even enjoy it…

“Rangers ” were in Leipzig, Germany for a friendly with Red Bull Liepzig, their German twin team, who are , like “rangers “, a new club who have bought their way up through the lower divisions.

It could have been billed as a celebration-a triumph of the support over the shady business men who had ruined their clubs.

Leipzig may be proud of what they have achieved, but for “rangers”, well, their support was in europe, and they were quite proud their club had been able to arrange a friendly..

That support-in Europe ?

We all know what that means…

Of course, in Scotland, the description of the offenders changed slightly…

German media claimed were “rangers ” supporters….

Investigative journalism at its finest…and the truth nowhere to be seen.

You won’t, for instance see this picture in the papers…a wee boy having a great time meeting his heroes, who took time out to make his day..

Another story about the latest excursion onto the continental mainland emerged when a video of their support singing “Ten Nazi Bombers ” was featured on the Sun twitter feed, a song about shooting down planes during the Second World War, which prompted this exchange on twitter,

Richard McGinley‏@Richiestoke

@deanomac54 @ScottishSun Seventy years ago. Your lot ever planning on joining us in the 21st century? 

Then he asked the clearly quick witted chap from Stoke if he was Scottish….

Richard McGinley‏@Richiestoke

@deanomac54 @ScottishSun Are you for real?

Another mystery was cleared up at the weekend…

Remember Augustus gloop from Willy Wonka…?

Well, he turned up in Leipzig and was spotted by twitter user @Donn1967

If they persist in calling it the same club, then I’ll treat them the way they were treated when they supported the original club.

Makes no difference to me how they waste their money.

And at least they can say they were then on the momentous achievement made by the players over in Germany…

Away from all that, and it’ll soon be tome for the football to return, which is a blessed relief..

Less than a week, in fact…

To put December into perspective, and the work put in by the players last month, they will play just one more game in January, February and March combined than they did in December, so whichever way you look at it, eight wins and an away draw in the champions League was quite an achievement.

But again, there’s three midweek home games ahead, and surely now the club must address the problem of season books being value for money when supporters outside Scotland cannot make the games.

They could at least mention it to the SPFL.

After all, if the blue pound ois so important to them, surely the green one must be worth something as well ?

No diary yesterday, I didn’t get up until after nine, and then the dog had to be walked, the shopping done, the dinner made , the dishes washed the clothes washed , fried and ironed before finally opeong a beer and watching Father Ted for an hour.

That means we have to go back to Saturday for this…

Today…