Brendan Rodgers was in his pomp as he faced the media following Celtic’s 2-1 victory in the Glasgow Derby.
It is a fixture that the Irishman has excelled in across two spells in charge of the hoops with Philippe Clement his latest adversary in the opposing dug-out.
During his first spell as manager Rodgers recorded nine wins, two draws and a solitary defeat as He tackled Mark Warburton, Graeme Murty, Pedro Caixinha and Steven Gerrard.
Players make their reputations in this fixture but it is managers that are in the main spotlight, if you don’t prevail in this fixture you tend not to survive very long with Micky Beale failing to survive a year in charge at Ibrox with four defeats to Celtic on his CV.
Since his return to Celtic in the summer Rodgers has often seemed subdued, after today’s victory he wasn’t shy to share his delight with a not so subtle reminder about his record in the fixture.
🔊 LISTEN: “Over my two spells here I’ve worked against 5 five Rangers managers and every time Rangers were ‘coming’… every time”.
🍀 Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers reacts to suggestions Rangers were getting closer to their before today’s 2-1 win. pic.twitter.com/fIH3ZZqsKj
— Clyde 1 Superscoreboard (@ClydeSSB) December 30, 2023
Over my two spells here I have worked against five Rangers managers and every time Rangers were coming. Every time, at some point.
So for me it’s normal. If I listened to media and press then we would be in constant crisis mode and constant fear of Rangers. But it’s the fifth manager now.
So, for me my focus is only on Celtic and concentrating very much on here and a lot of the stuff that maybe does go around thankfully I ignore it.
We showed today that with a team still missing key players, and players who will make the difference for us, that we are competitive and we can play football and we can compete. And that is what we will continually do.
There is no doubt Philippe has improved Rangers. There is no mistake about that. He’s come in, he has used his experience and common sense. He has set the team up well. They are competitive and they play as a team. We knew it was going to be a challenge for us.
But we had to be super brave. We had to take on the challenge and that is what I have always done when I’ve been here.
The next Glasgow Derby is scheduled for Ibrox on April 8 although there could be a Scottish Cup tie before then.
Today’s win lifts Celtic eight points clear at the top of the SPFL Premiership but they have played two more matches.
CLICK HERE for Sky Sports clears up Alistair Johnston handball incident.
CLICK HERE for Brendan Rodgers post match quotes in full.
