Charlie Mulgrew reckons Aberdeen’s winning run will hit the buffers at Celtic Park tomorrow – because “brilliant” Brendan Rodgers has taken the Hoops to another level.
The Dons head to Parkhead for the top of the table showdown on the back of a sensational 13 wins from 13 games under Jimmy Thelin. They’re the only side across all of Europe’s top leagues to have won every game they’ve played this season across all competitions. But Mulgrew, who turned out for both clubs in his playing career, reckons tomorrow is the acid test. Aberdeen face a first clash of the season with Rangers 10 days later before taking on Celtic again in the League Cup semi final in a fortnight.
And Mulgrew said: “We’re going to see how good they are this weekend and over the next couple of weeks. They play Celtic and then they play Rangers, so it’ll be interesting to see how they get on.
“I can’t see them beating Celtic to be honest with you. But listen, they’ve done brilliantly so far. The manager’s come in and done an unbelievable job. The fans can be proud of the team that they’ve got on the pitch. I really hope they can keep consistent for the rest of the season, and really put a challenge up to Celtic and Rangers because it really does make the league more exciting – it’s a lot better to watch.
“It’s a huge club and one that I really want to see do well this year. So a big game for them at the weekend, and the following week, and how they come out at the end of that will give us a good idea of how much they’re going to challenge Celtic and Rangers.”
If Mulgrew has been impressed with Thelin’s impact at Pittodrie then he has been blown away with Celtic’s improvement under Rodgers this season. The Hoops also have a 100 per cent record in the league and have hammered in 22 goals across their seven games. Mulgrew left Celtic in 2016 but had a brief taste of Rodgers’ quality that summer before signing for Blackburn.
Speaking to Gambling.com, he said: “He is an amazing coach. In the time I spent with him, his management and his coaching was top class. I think a team always resembles their manager.
“He has resilience, organisation and ideas on the game. You can clearly see in the Celtic team now, he’s kind of taken them to another level. They’re playing some great stuff. They’re relentless in the way they play the game.
“He’s a top manager and somebody who I never actually played under, but I had quite a few training sessions under him. I went in to see him and spent a few days with him and I was really impressed with everything he had to say.
“He showed me some things and told me about the way he does stuff. I was very impressed by him, so Celtic are definitely in good hands.”