Brendan Rodgers has insisted any offence taken by Philippe Clement over comments the Celtic manager made in relation to Saturday’s Old Firm derby is “without merit”.
Rodgers’ opposite number at Rangers claimed his rival lacked respect after promising Celtic would have “a bit of fun” in what is being widely billed as a title decider. Celtic lead Rangers by three points with the same number of Premiership games remaining.
“I think anyone who was at my press conference would have sensed the way in which it was said,” Rodgers said. “The reaction to that is totally without merit. It has no context whatsoever.
“I have never referred to these [games] other than being intense, being competitive. The occasion is one of the most iconic games in world football. And I love it. It’s one of the reasons I am here, the great pride and privilege I have in managing Celtic in a Rangers game.
“So the whole emotion, the whole feeling around this game is absolutely amazing. I have seen some of the headlines around the disrespect and whatever else but it is totally without merit. It was never in that context being said and I never would be that person to disrespect another manager or another team.”
Rodgers’ rationale had merit; this seemed an innocuous moment, provided after last weekend’s 3-0 success over Hearts. Clement looks a man under pressure after Rangers dropped points at Ross County and Dundee to hand the initiative back to Celtic. The calmness and confidence provided by Rodgers is not only palpable but understandable. Aside from the Covid-disrupted season of 2020-21, Celtic have been Scottish football’s dominant force over more than a decade.
Rodgers attributes Celtic’s form – they have lost once since mid-December – to the return of key players from injury. There is, however, a course and distance specialism that feeds into attitudes at the club. “I look around the team and I look at the staff and there’s players here and people here that have done it,” Rodgers said.
“They understand what it takes. Callum McGregor. James Forrest. Some of the other guys who’ve been here for a few years and have done it. John Kennedy [the assistant manager] on the staff. Stevie Woods [the goalkeeping coach] on the staff. That gives you that confidence and understanding of what it takes. When you have that, you can approach this with a calmness that allows you to focus on the performance and not get too carried away with all the noise.
“We still have a massive job to do, starting tomorrow. If we can get a good performance and a good result, then we are nearly there but we still have still got a lot of work to do. The players deserve a huge amount of credit. Because when the flak has been flying, and it has been for a lot of this season, they’ve stayed strong and believed and stayed with the process.”
Clement has pointed out Rangers were seven points adrift of Celtic when he succeeded Michael Beale in October and that “nobody expected” his team to be in such a close title race. The League Cup has since been housed at Ibrox. Nonetheless, that Rangers had the main prize within their grasp and stumbled is what will jar with supporters if Rodgers leads Celtic to a successful defence.
“Sometimes it hasn’t been perfect,” Rodgers added. “The reality is that it doesn’t have to be perfect in football. You just have to try to get better every single day, in every single game, and that can take you to where you want to get to.”
