The chatter around Falkirk and their League Cup defeat at Celtic Park continues after John McGlynn’s side’s battling performance on Sunday afternoon.
The Championship club gave Celtic a game of it after taking the lead twice and going into halftime at Celtic Park with a shock 2-1 lead.
Brendan Rodgers took the blame for the first-half performance after he made eight changes to his squad as he freshened up his team after Celtic’s midweek Champions League exploits.
However, Celtic’s power and class eventually shone through in a 20-minute blitz that saw Rodgers’ team turn a 2-1 deficit into a 5-2 victory.
After the match Brendan Rodgers showed a touch of class as he visited the Falkirk dressing room at full time and now, The Bairns captain, Coll Donaldson, has shared what the Hoops boss said to his team.
Celtic boss gives Falkirk ‘the biggest mark of respect’
The Falkirk captain admits his team was gutted at full-time but did share ‘the biggest mark of respect’ the Celtic boss gave him and his team in the Parkhead changing rooms.
Donaldson told The Big Football Podcast, “But I was so proud of how the boys stuck to our task.
“And I think the biggest mark of respect was Brendan Rodgers actually came into our changing room whilst the gaffer was still speaking and just said how impressed he was.
Not only in the way that we played during the game but in his analysis of us building up, he said it was a joy to look at how we play and that we play the same way every week.
“So I think these compliments are nice but I think as a professional footballer, we were still disappointed with the way that the last 20 minutes went.”
Falkirk and Celtic deserve League Cup plaudits
It goes without saying that Falkirk deserve every plaudit going after their gutsy Celtic Park performance. The way they pressed Rodgers’ side and forced them into mistakes to take the lead twice is commendable.
However, Celtic also deserve credit for the way they remained professional and stuck to their task running out eventual winners in the end.
The tactical switches made by Rodgers were just perfect as every substitute that was introduced made an instant impact.
Adam Idah’s sharpness complemented Nicolas Kuhn‘s ruthlessness as he created two and scored two to help get Celtic back in the game.
It was one of the best games of the season and being live on television was a great advert for Scottish football and for that, both teams deserve an immense amount of credit.
