Brendan Rodgers hails Celtic fans as they respond to his weekend comments

Brendan Rodgers praised the “fantastic” Celtic Park crowd following his side’s 2-0 win over Dundee United and laughed off the string of chants about old favourites that sprang from his weekend comments.

The Celtic manager had called for fans to be more patient after expressing frustration over the reaction to backward passes during Sunday’s 3-0 win over St Mirren.

Rodgers had also claimed supporters who chanted about transfer target Kieran Tierney were being disrespectful to current left-back Greg Taylor.

The fans responded by reprising songs for a full team of other former players and manager Martin O’Neill.

Songs about Artur Boruc, Mikael Lustig, Billy McNeil, Charlie Mulgrew, Tommy Burns, Victor Wanyama, Jimmy Johnstone, Scott Sinclair, Jota, Odsonne Edouard and Henrik Larsson all received an airing.

The fans rounded off their back catalogue with a stoppage-time burst of their song about Arsenal defender Tierney, who is believed to be close to agreeing a pre-contract deal to return to Parkhead.

Rodgers said with a smile: “It was just the kit man, he was the only one that missed out, I think.

“It’s all part of the dance here, isn’t it? Listen, my job is to put the best team on the pitch and win and win consistently and everyone can smile.”

Daizen Maeda put Celtic ahead in a one-sided first half but United improved after the break and Kasper Schmeichel made two saves not long before Reo Hatate sealed the points with a classy finish.

There was little sign of tension emanating from the stands and Rodgers praised the crowd’s reaction to his plea.

“The crowd were brilliant because it can get a bit edgy and we are a support, bless us, that we fret a wee bit and we worry a wee bit,” he said. “We can do that.

“But that support was so important. It was fantastic. Such a cold night to come out and see the team but the numbers turned up, gave the team great support and that pushed us over the line.”

When asked how Taylor had been after being at the centre of the debate, Rodgers said: “He’s absolutely fine with it. I’d say there’s probably a bigger deal made of it than what it actually was, my observation I made but it’s gone now.

“He was very good in the game, as he always is, he’s very consistent.”

United manager Jim Goodwin made five changes to his starting line-up after detecting energy levels dropping during Sunday’s defeat by Hearts and he praised his players’ efforts.

“Listen, we knew before the game how difficult a task it was going to be,” he said. “Coming here with a fresh group of players is hard enough, but coming here three days after the previous game with only 48 hours to recover, it was always going to be a huge challenge.

“That was our sixth league game in the space of 17 days. Saturday will be the seventh in less than three weeks. It’s just a crazy amount of fixtures for any player to have to face.

“I’m really pleased with what the players put into it. They never threw the towel in, they never stopped fighting. At 1-0 at half-time, we always felt we were going to be in the game and we believed we would get one or two opportunities.

“I thought we imposed ourselves a little bit more on Celtic in the second half and did have a few chances to put the ball in the box. Unfortunately, nothing fell too kindly to us and there were never any real clear-cut chances. We can’t argue about the result.”