Inside Brendan Rodgers' Celtic talks with Liel Abada as boss declares 'I don’t pretend to care about my players'

Brendan Rodgers doesn’t pretend to care about his players. He does care.

The Celtic boss believes a close bond and unity with his squad helps them perform to their peak. Rodgers has always felt the way to approach it is to be there when they need him – and not just in terms of on-pitch detail. Off-field issues also matter to him and he wanted to be there for Liel Abada.

The young Israeli is having to cope with images and news coming from his homeland about a terrible conflict. And he was immediately in Rodgers’ thoughts when he arrived back in Scotland last weekend. The boss said: “I’d flown back on the Sunday and I went to a charity game and I left that to go and pick up Liel and took him up to have a bit of food and just get to understand what he was thinking and the traumas he’s gone through and everything.

“I don’t pretend to care about my players, I genuinely care about them. I always think that helps them play to a better level. That’s the whole idea about taking him out for a bite to eat.

“He’s a football player but he’s 21 years of age and in a foreign country. It is a tough period for him. His father had been over with him for a month and he was going back the next day, so he’s had his girlfriend here and his father here. But, of course, his mum is still back there.

“So you have to be there for them and to support them. I think as we see from a distance, it’s a real sad state. There’s a togetherness at Celtic which has brought the club great success throughout the years.

Of course, there can be times when there are differing opinions and some feelings over the current conflict are not the same within each individual. Celtic released a statement condemning banners displayed in a section of their stadium prior