Raheem Sterling hails Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers ahead of reunion - 7M sport

Raheem Sterling hails Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers ahead of reunion



Posted Monday, September 26, 2016 by ESPN

Raheem Sterling hails Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers ahead of reunion

Manchester City star Raheem Sterling has hailed former Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers ahead of their Champions League reunion on Wednesday.

Rodgers, now in charge of Celtic, gave Sterling his debut as a 17-year-old when the pair were together at Anfield, but the England international left in acrimonious circumstances to join City in July 2015 and, just months later, Rodgers was sacked.

Rodgers said they never fell out throughout his protracted departure from Anfield and Sterling told reporters ahead of Wednesday's game against Celtic: "He's someone who gave me my full chance in the Premier League and gave me loads of starts and loads of confidence.

"It will be good to see him again and wish him well, but on the day it all comes down to trying to win that football match. He was massive for me. Every manager that I've worked with I've tried to learn as much as I can and he's one that I definitely learnt a lot off. Credit to him he was a fantastic guy.

"In terms of playing me in different positions, making me understand the roles and maturing in certain systems. He gave me a lot of confidence as well."

The 21-year-old is now working under Pep Guardiola and has thrived this season with four goals and six assists from his eight appearances.

The City boss has helped him regain his confidence after a difficult end to last season when he lost his starting place at City, followed by a tough summer at the European Championship when he was criticised as England crashed out in the round of 16.

Sterling scored the third goal to kill off hopes of a Swansea City comeback in the 3-1 win at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday with a moment of sublime skill. He sent Swans defender Kyle Naughton the wrong way with a delightful dummy before passing the ball into the back of the net.

"It's something I need to keep doing," the 21-year-old said. "I've had a few chances over the last couple of years and I just need to finish them off and that's what's really going to make me the player I want to be -- scoring more goals.

"And I just need to be cool in front of goal and keep going, trying to score as many goals as I can to help the team.

"[Pep] said just enjoy scoring goals, enjoy putting it in the back of the net. Going in there [against Swansea] I made my mind up straight away what I was going to do and luckily it paid off.

"He just gives everyone confidence -- not just me. He gives everyone a belief and a motivation. His speech before was fantastic so you go out onto the pitch and you're really fired up for the game."

A victory on Wednesday night would go a long way toward securing a place in the knockout stage of the Champions League following City's 4-0 victory over Borussia Monchengladbach in their group opener, but Sterling is expecting a difficult game and an intimidating atmosphere.

"I think I've played there in a preseason game already but it's probably not going to be the same. It will be a big night there so I can expect the fans to be roaring and hopefully we can get good support out there as well," he said.

"But it's going to be a difficult game and we know that. We've got to go away now and prepare ourselves for that. Come back working and fighting to win the game.

"I've watched a few of their league games and watched their Champions League game so we know what they can do. They've got players that can score goals so we've got to be ready on the day -- fighting and trying to win the game."



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