Even on the long, twisting drive to Celtic’s picturesque HQ it was becoming obvious that nature had something brewing. Something sinister and powerful.
The winding country road from Blanefield to Lennoxtown was getting dangerously close to be impassable in parts, under deep pockets of surging flood water. Thick, angry looking grey clouds were creeping over the top of the Campsies and making their way down the other side.
A storm was coming. And by tomorrow afternoon Brendan Rodgers fully intends to be standing in the eye of it, leading Celtic into an Old Firm derby for the 21st time. With just one defeat from the first 20 over two stints in charge, it’s fair to say he knows how to handle himself when he’s out there, feeling the full force of it. His expertise in negotiating this fixture means he knows when to let the wind fill the sails of his Celtic players. And, just importantly, when the time is right to batten down the hatches.
Almost always, Rodgers gets them out the other side safely in one piece and with his own managerial credentials enhanced. Philipe Clement, on the other hand? Well, with no wins from six, that’s a whole different story. Rodgers admitted yesterday that he feels some empathy for his rival who is struggling to keep his head above water on the other side of Glasgow’s divide.
But that won’t stop him from striving to stick another notch on the post when he arrives at Ibrox to first foot his rival. It is where you are judged at this level, working at Celtic or Rangers – I think you are judged in these games,” Rodgers said when asked if his own derby day record has helped to secure his status in this city.
“I saw Giovanni van Bronckhorst get to a European final and then lose his job not long after because he was losing to Celtic. That is a huge measure here of any manager and I’m fully aware of that, I always have been. Winning is very, very important. Winning against your greatest rivals is very important and the progress of your club is important.”
And, on this particular occasion, Rodgers will head across the Clyde knowing another win would not only open up a gargantuan 17 point gap at the top of the table – but leave Clement stuck in a world of trouble and unlikely to survive the fall-out. That’s the brutal nature of the environment. And, while Clement might not have worked it out yet, Rodgers knew from day one, first time around.
He nodded: “I understand the fixture – I understood it as a supporter – and I understood it from the first game I had as manager in September 2016. I’ve enjoyed every single one of them. The build up to them is always great. There’s always pressure of some sort. I hear the talk about a ‘dead rubber’. There is never a Rangers-Celtic game that’s a dead rubber – not in my book.
“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.”
Asked if it is a comfort to know he has such a prolific winning CV stuck in his own back pocket he went on: “It might do later on in life when I reflect on it, the games I’ve been in. But I don’t think of that, I think of these games like I’m going into my very first one. I’m excited by it, excited by the preparation and the game and what the team can deliver. I don’t feel any extra kudos because of it. We want to go in there with a professional mindset and work how we have been working – consistently well – and feel the pressure, but play under the pressure. This is what we train for.”
It’s the meticulous nature of his work on the training ground which gives him most comfort of all. Combined, of course, with the mentality monster he’s created inside Celtic’s dressing room. Rodgers knows before a ball is kicked that his players will leave nothing behind, such is the strength of their desire to find a way to win. Again, Clement can hardly cling to that same safety blanket.
He smiled: “I don’t think that means there is any less stress! I think these games are there to be enjoyed. That is the beauty of them and that is what gives me the excitement every time they come around. But I have got players who know what it means in this game, they know what it takes to win and they – like I – are committed to delivering that.
“So when you have that of course you don’t relax but I trust in this group. We have been together long enough now after those little teething problems we had last season and we see that consistency now in how we approach and how we work. I go into every game now with that feeling – but it never takes away the pressure. That is always there, that is what a club like this here is all about.
“You can never look for an easy game, you have to perform well because it isn’t just about winning, it is about performing. These games give you a wonderful opportunity to do that. People talk about the culture the players have and ask how do you achieve that.
“But it comes from every day day of your life, that step by step, climbing together, all the details you do. First, you win on the training ground – before you even start on the field on a matchday, you win on the training field.
“The work that you do, all the analysis you do, the coaching you do, the preparation, the chefs, everything. This is where you win first. Then that mind-set, that culture, grows and develops from there.
“So, yes, we always stay in a humble way to prepare for games. People look at the gap, but that doesn’t even come into it.
“We cannot soften up, we will not soften up. We perform for the next game because we know how much this game means to people.”