IF it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. For all the talk about how the patchy early season form of Celtic was at least partly down to the players adjusting from the tactics of Ange Postecoglou to those preferred by Brendan Rodgers, it appears the new boss is in fact not too dissimilar to the old boss.
Greg Taylor would be one player you would assume would have to adjust more than most, such were the unusual demands placed upon him by former manager Postecoglou, who famously likes his full backs to play inside the pitch to create overloads in central areas.
But while Rodgers has in the past favoured a more traditional tactical set-up, he is also clearly wily enough to recognise when something is working well. So, while there have been tweaks here and there, Taylor says that the demands being placed on him now are broadly similar to what they had been over the previous couple of seasons. He is hoping that the outcomes will be too.
“My role hasn’t changed a lot in terms that the demands are still fast, attacking football,” Taylor said.
“That’s the way the manager wants to play, it’s the way the club demands. It has a rich history of playing that way.
“Whether that’s being inside or outside, it’s just where the space is in the game. I wouldn’t say my role has changed, if at all.
“There is still a clear structure around how we want to play. But the manager spoke at the start about how he loved the way we played last season and how he didn’t want to take away our strengths.
“That way of play suits me and the manager has been clear on that. I love it to be fair, I love playing for this club and that type of football. You have to enjoy every opportunity.
“Against Dundee, they were in a more rigid block, so you try and nick inside. There will be times when the opponent will follow you and the space will be on the outside.
“It doesn’t really matter. It’s not as clear and concise as you need to be on the inside or the outside. It’s about trying to find the space.
“I played midfield when I was younger, I got quickly shifted to left-back! I’m living the dream a wee bit when I get back into midfield.”
The triumph over Rangers at Ibrox, particularly with the depleted side Celtic went into that game able to field, seemed to blow away some of the question marks about Rodgers tinkering with a winning formula.
Those tweaks though, Taylor is sure, will only lead to Celtic getting even better as the season progresses.
“I think there have been strong performances along the way,” he said.
“Of course, there have been slip-ups. There have been games in which we haven’t reached the level we wanted to.
“But it’s a new group of players with a new manager and we’re just trying to improve.
“I’m sure we’ll do that. We are working ever so hard in training.”
They also worked ever so hard with nine men for a sizeable chunk of the defeat to Feyenoord on Tuesday evening, leading Livingston manager David Martindale to posit the theory that the Celtic players may be suffering from ‘mental fatigue’ going into today’s test at the Tony Macaroni Arena.
It was a notion dismissed by counterpart Rodgers, and while Taylor readily admits the balancing act of European and domestic football is far from easy, it simply has to be dealt with if you want to be a Celtic player.
“Of course, it’s very demanding,” he said.
“If you are playing at the highest level then you have another game three days later, of course it is.
“But I wouldn’t say there is any mental fatigue. We’ve only just started this season and we’re eager to try and perform and keep on improving. We have another opportunity to do that on Saturday.
“The mantra and the focus has to be that the next game is the most important, no matter what competition it is.
“Livingston is that for us on Saturday, the Champions League has gone until the next one. We’ll be ready for Saturday.
“It’s always a tricky trip, there are different demands. They will be physical, they’ll have a game plan and we know it will be difficult.”
That being said, Celtic did manage to win at Livingston comfortably on both visits last season, after a five-game streak where they failed to pick up a victory. So, have they finally cracked the code?
“A big change in our record there is that we scored first in the last two games,” Taylor said.
“We scored early and that changed their game plan. So, the aim again will be to start well on Saturday.
“We need to try and get a positive result. With the pitch it helps if it’s been raining or watered because the ball will travel quicker. No matter the surface or the opponent we know we have to focus on us.
“The pitch has been a leveller because you can’t play as quick as you would like. But, equally, it is what it is. It’s the same for both teams and you just have to adapt.
“We don’t have any excuses going into the game. We have to perform.”
