‘Gutless’ Celtic kick Rodgers on the backside and now face uncharacteristically critical crowd – Hugh Keevins

Brave. Not a term that frequently describes a Celtic team managed by Brendan Rodgers However, due to cowardice in the line of fire, Brendan had most of his troops granted a dishonourable discharge in the fierce Old Firm match at Ibrox on Thursday afternoon. On a day when there were more chicken hearts than you could find on a poultry farm, courage was scarce.

To imply that a crushing loss to Rangers marks the start of Celtic’s greatest collapse in the Premiership title race would be an insult to your own intelligence. Rodgers would become a laughing figure in the coaching community if he managed to lose the championship he had won for the previous three seasons, despite leading by 14 points at its peak.

Brendan has already experienced enough setbacks to last a week. The manager would have become a legend at the club if Celtic had defeated Rangers since he would have surpassed Martin O’Neill in terms of victories over their fiercest opponents. After bending over to get that specific medal put around his neck, Rodgers was booted in the rear by his own squad. Now, when they play St Mirren at Celtic Park this afternoon, he and his team will have to confront an unusually harsh audience.

Old Firm derbies are centered around the day they are held. The concept of context is foreign to me. Rangers supporters were thrilled by the unexpected nature of their team’s derby victory, given they have recently suffered a number of defeats. They didn’t worry about any broader ramifications that the outcome might have had. For their part, Celtic fans did not view the result as a brief setback to an otherwise remarkable run towards keeping the domestic game’s top prize.

At time-up, their main feelings were shame and rage. They will therefore sit with their hands folded this afternoon until Celtic make amends for their errors by winning in a fashion that totally eluded them at Ibrox. “It’s not about the dog in the fight… it’s about the fight in the dog,” as my late, great boxing friend Willie Limond used to say. And at Ibrox, Celtic came very close to being aggressive.

This season, Rodgers has given off the clear appearance of being a man who can smell history in his nostrils. His victory over Rangers in the Premier Sports Cup final put him one trophy ahead of the other half of the Old Firm in both teams’ histories. He wants Celtic to surpass the global record of nine trebles by winning the Scottish Cup after the league title extends that advantage to two trophies.

The manager’s first priority will be to demonstrate that his squad has not suffered psychological trauma as a result of their competitors giving them a very infrequent beating. Arriving at Ibrox on the first working day of the new year, Celtic had the sun shining on them and the wind blowing behind them. As they stepped off the earth, a heavy fog hung above them.

It’s just as well Celtic had no supporters inside the ground or the spleen venting would have taken on epidemic proportions. However, Celtic Park will host tens of thousands of fans today. The 3-0 loss didn’t flatter Philippe Clement’s team because it should have been more, but it did give the Ibrox manager some well-earned credit with his critical group of supporters.

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