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Brendan Rodgers relishes writing Celtic success story against Rangers and why Hampden is the dream setting
Ever since he beat Mark Warburton’s newly-promoted Rangers 5-1 in 2016, Brendan Rodgers has relished almost every minute of his personal Old Firm story.
Over his two spells in charge of Celtic the Irishman has overseen 15 wins and just a solitary defeat in 19 games against their rivals. It’s little wonder then that he insists he will never get fed up with a fixture that ultimately defines the stature and success of any Celtic or Rangers manager.
As Rodgers prepares for his 20th Old Firm showdown in Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup final, he admits he just can’t get enough of the experience. He said: “It’s more excitement that I feel going into these games. I know what it means to people and we have a number of these games throughout the season. You never get tired of them or bored of them. They are incredible games to be involved in. It’s such an iconic fixture throughout the world.
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“So to have the possibility to have maybe four, five, six of them in the season is absolutely amazing. They are all challenges but this is what we’re built for. The tougher the challenge then that is what we relish.
“I’d say it’s not any other game. It’s an iconic game, an amazing game for everyone to be involved in. But then there comes a point when you have to really focus in on the process because that’s ultimately what allows you to win such a great game.
“So that’s more what the slant is on. The game is special. The game is an incredible game to be involved in – the atmosphere, the tension. People want tickets from everywhere to go to the game so that’s not lost on me.
“But from a coaching and managerial perspective it’s then what allows you to perform and what allows us to stay calm, to look at our tactical idea within the game and how we then pitch that to the players so they can go and play. In the main, I feel we’ve done that pretty well.”
Rodgers is especially relishing a return to Hampden, a stadium where he has never lost as Celtic manager and which he believes perfectly accommodates his team’s optimum style of play. Adam Idah’s late winner claimed the Scottish Cup at Rangers’ expense when the teams last met at the National Stadium at the end of last season, while the Premier Sports Cup semi-final against Aberdeen last month saw Celtic at their free-flowing best in a 6-0 rout.
Rodgers aded: “We’ve enjoyed Hampden, we enjoy playing there. The big pitch suits us.
“When you play through pressure and a press, then there’s lots of space for you to play in at Hampden. Through my time going there we’ve enjoyed that, whether it’s been in semi-finals or finals.
“We had a final against Rangers there a number of months back and there’s always a great build-up to them, always a real excitement. For us it’s a special game but it’s the next game, and the next game that we want to win. That is our mindset going into it.”
The League Cup was the only piece of domestic silverware Rodgers failed to capture last season following his return to Celtic. He admits that provides some extra motivation for this one. He said: “Well, we don’t have the trophy. It’s the first trophy of the season.
“We’ve had a brilliant season up until now and this would be a great way to have something tangible to show for that.
“But you have to earn it and that’s what we’re ready for. I don’t think it’s about making a statement. In one-off games, you know that anything can happen but you always try to prepare yourself as best you can.
“We’ve got other competitions that we’re in that we’re doing very well in and we want to continue with that. But it’s the next game, we want to win our next game, and it’s having that sense of perspective on it too.
“It’s the Celtic-Rangers Final, which is a great occasion and it’s at Hampden which is brilliant. There’s always something that can go against you so it’s about preparing for and expecting that.
“But in the main it’s never so much about who we play, it’s about how we play. That’s always been a real focus. So going in and playing how we want to, that has always put us in a really good place.”
Rodgers admits that Rangers currently appear to be a better-equipped and more confident side than the one his players swatted aside 3-0 in the first Old Firm clash of the campaign at Celtic Park in September. Philippe Clement’s team earned plaudits for their display in Thursday night’s 1-1 draw against Spurs at Ibrox in the Europa League and Rodgers had no hesitation in adding to them.
Rodgers said: “I watched the game and I thought Rangers did very well. I thought it was a really good game to watch. But it’s always about dealing with expectation in these games and how you can bring the level that you want to within the game.
“So Rangers will want to bring the level that they’ve been at over these last three or four games. For us it’s about that consistency which we’ve shown right the way through from our pre-season. We want to continue with that.
“But we don’t expect to ever turn up and just think it’s a formality. It’s definitely not
“Irrespective of form, I think I mentioned this last week, no matter what the form is going into a final, it’s a one-off game. Both teams will feel happy, I’m sure. They’re in a good mood to go and play the game and yes, I’m excited by it.”
Rodgers was previewing live and exclusive coverage of Sunday’s Premier Sports Cup Final from 3pm – Celtic v Rangers. Premier Sports is available to stream from premiersports.com or via your TV provider on Sky, Virgin TV and Amazon Prime as an add-on subscription .
