Brendan on dead rubber tag and GVB harsh reality on losing to Celtic

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The Celtic Star

·01 de janeiro de 2025

Brendan on dead rubber tag and GVB harsh reality on losing to Celtic

Brendan Rodgers dismissed ‘dead rubber’ Glasgow Derby suggestion as Celtic prepare for Ibrox visit tomorrow afternoon…

Brendan Rodgers with the Premier Sports Cup after Celtic’s victory over theRangers on 15 December 2024 at Hampden Park. Photo Kenny Ramsay

Celtic supporters have been using it as a noise-up’ while theRangers fans have grabbed it as a comfort blanket in case they suffer a heavy defeat at the hands of the Hoops.

Vídeos OneFootball

The soon to be four-in-a-row Scottish champions face their bitter rivals on Thursday 14 points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership table. A victory for the visitors would extend the gap between the two sides to 17 — and rub salt in a very damaged wound for the hosts.

And it should have been 15 clear after Motherwell’s Tony Watt was denied a perfectly good goal in the 2-2 draw with theRangers at the weekend. Everyone in Europe has apparently been talking about that ‘honest mistake’.

Brendan is the big boss of Glasgow Derbies

Brendan Rodgers and Callum McGregor with the Scottish Premiership Trophy before the Premiership match between Celtic and Kilmarnock at Celtic Park on August 4, 2024. (Photo by Steve Welsh/Getty Images)

Rodgers’ record in this fixture speaks for itself. Across the Irishman’s two spells as Celtic manager, the Hoops have won on 16 occasions, drawn three and lost only once in 20 matches.

The 51 year-old Celtic boss will be aiming for his sixth win at Ibrox and with no travelling support to cheer them on, it would make it all the more sweeter.

Celtic won’t ‘soften up’

Despite the ginormous gap between the two sides, Brendan Rodgers reckons his players won’t “soften up,” despite supporters of both teams and media circles insisting the title is already secured and will be staying in the Parkhead trophy room for yet another season.

Brendan Rodgers and Callum McGregor with the Scottish Cup on 25 May 2024, after Celtic’s 1-0 win over theRangers in the final at Hampden Park. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

There have even been suggestions from myself and other writers from The Celtic Star that tomorrow’s Glasgow Derby is a ‘dead rubber,’ but Rodgers played down those thoughts with a smirk in his pre-match media conference yesterday.

“There’s always pressure of some sort. I hear the talk about a ‘dead rubber’,” Rodgers explained. “There is never a (the)Rangers-Celtic game that’s a dead rubber — not in my book.” Good to know that Brendan’s still reading The Celtic Star, and he’s been known to buy our books too!

Giovanni van Bronckhorst sacked for losing to Celtic

“It is where you are judged at this level, working at Celtic or (the)Rangers – I think you are judged in these games. I saw Giovanni van Bronckhorst get to a European final and then lose his job not long after because he was losing to Celtic.” Brendan has certainly seen off quite a number of their managers.

Rodgers outlined that he will be looking for a much-improved performance to the one he saw his players produce at Hampden in Celtic’s Premier Sports League Cup triumph more than a fortnight ago.

“That is a huge measure here of any manager and I’m fully aware of that, I always have been. Winning against your greatest rivals is very important and the progress of your club is important.

“You want to win every game, and you want to perform at the very best level. For me, I love the occasion, I love the game — it’s an iconic game and one that I always want to win.

“I have got players who know what it means in this game, and they know what it takes to win, and they — like I — are committed to delivering that.”

Conor Spence

Celtic in the Thirties by Celtic Historian Matt Corr is published in two volumes by Celtic Star Books. ORDER NOW WHILE STOCKS LAST!