The Goal Machine
Well-Known Member
Rodgers was less than impressed with some of Steven McLean's decisions in the Sunday fixture, though, saying he was not able to stay in control of the game.
The Motherwell win was clouded by several heated talking points including Bruno Alves' kick at Louis Moult and Ryan Bowman's elbow on Fabio Cardoso which broke his nose.
Both went unpunished - something Rodgers said he would have expected 30 years ago but not in 2017.
"I thought the authority from the officials in the game was poor," he said.
"When you're playing in that level of game I can see why Pedro [Caixinha] was probably annoyed because, like I said, there were a couple of incidents that went unpunished.
"You would maybe have got away with that in the '80s but surely not now. It certainly shouldn't have been the case."
He also brushed off suggestions it was a one-off problem, accusing Bowman of dirty play when Motherwell faced Celtic last year.
"I've seen the player who was involved in the incident in similar incidents," Rodgers said.
"That's the reality of it all. There was an incident with Kieran Tierney at Parkhead last season that went unpunished. There were a couple of incidents yesterday as well.
"We all want our teams to be aggressive and committal but there's a line and it's up to the officials to see that and act accordingly."
He added: "It was a physical game and that's what you want. You want them to be aggressive and press hard but you also want the officials to stamp out anything that goes beyond that.
"And I felt yesterday lacked authority in terms of officiating."
The Motherwell win was clouded by several heated talking points including Bruno Alves' kick at Louis Moult and Ryan Bowman's elbow on Fabio Cardoso which broke his nose.
Both went unpunished - something Rodgers said he would have expected 30 years ago but not in 2017.
"I thought the authority from the officials in the game was poor," he said.
"When you're playing in that level of game I can see why Pedro [Caixinha] was probably annoyed because, like I said, there were a couple of incidents that went unpunished.
"You would maybe have got away with that in the '80s but surely not now. It certainly shouldn't have been the case."
He also brushed off suggestions it was a one-off problem, accusing Bowman of dirty play when Motherwell faced Celtic last year.
"I've seen the player who was involved in the incident in similar incidents," Rodgers said.
"That's the reality of it all. There was an incident with Kieran Tierney at Parkhead last season that went unpunished. There were a couple of incidents yesterday as well.
"We all want our teams to be aggressive and committal but there's a line and it's up to the officials to see that and act accordingly."
He added: "It was a physical game and that's what you want. You want them to be aggressive and press hard but you also want the officials to stamp out anything that goes beyond that.
"And I felt yesterday lacked authority in terms of officiating."