A Champions League defeat with honour attached against Bayern Munich might have done more for Celtic than the fans will ever appreciate.
Wednesday night’s Herculean effort could have helped convince Brendan Rodgers to think about hanging on at the club beyond the lifetime of a contract which expires at the end of next season. And that might not have been the manager’s mindset the Sunday before when Rangers had a defeat with humiliation attached in a Scottish Cup tie against Queen’s Park at Ibrox.
There was, at that moment, an argument to be made about Celtic being so far ahead of their rivals, it was unhealthy for the general state of Scottish football. And a possible deterrent towards Rodgers hanging around beyond his contractual obligation. But then you remember where you are when you’re having these kind of thoughts. The blood-curdling, bare knuckle rules of the Old Firm rivalry are that the worse it gets for the team across the road on the other side of the city, the more the Celtic fans like it. And it would be a case of vice versa if Rangers regained the upper hand. Never mind the optics, the coefficient or any other utterly irrelevant considerations. Total domination is to be welcomed and never mind the consequences.
It may have been coincidence or plain old mischief-making, but, 24 hours after Rangers’ impoverished performance in the cup, Celtic announced their latest financial figures. Rolling in it. Minted. More money than a horse has excrement. Use any of the above to describe the balance sheet.
The rest of this domestic season has now become like a form of asphyxiation for the Rangers support. The slow, lingering expiry of a campaign that began with a goal-less draw at Tynecastle last August and now takes them back, full circle, to Hearts’ ground while being led by a manager who’s now a source of irritation rather than inspiration. What collateral damage, if any, has been done by Gers losing to a mid-table Championship side. Rodgers may, or may not, tune in as his focus will be on the Allianz Arena on Tuesday night.
The manager challenged his players not to be afraid of losing the first leg to Bayern and they responded to his words in a positive manner. It was a display indicative of Brendan having progressed Celtic in Europe, and that knowledge will have sustained him more than the continued stranglehold on Scottish football. League title No.55 has all but been achieved, equalling Rangers’ haul of titles. A world record-breaking ninth Treble may also be about to be won on his watch. Celtic will face Hibs in the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup. That’s the club who announced losses of £7.2m shortly before Celtic declared pre-tax profits of £43.9m.
Budgets aren’t a guarantee of winning matches, of course, as any Rangers fan will tell you after last weekend’s debacle. But, for the most part, they do. However, if anything will convince Rodgers to extend his contract, it’ll be European accomplishments rather than continuing to compress the throat of Celtic’s ancient, but ailing, adversaries at home.
It’ll be the ultimate test of Rodgers’ managerial powers to avoid a going over in Munich. But the sense of danger will invigorate Brendan more than the sense of deja vu he gets nearer to home.