Another day, another win for Brendan Rodgers in Saudi Arabia.
Or, at least, that’s how it feels. The ex-Celtic boss has taken Al-Qadsiah by storm, catapulting them into an unlikely title-race.
On Monday, Rodgers took charge of his first Eastern Province derby against Al-Ettifaq, formerly managed by Steven Gerrard.
More relevant is that two of his Celtic signings play for Al-Ettifaq: Jack Hendry and, more crucially, Moussa Dembele.
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Dembele has been out in Saudi for two-and-a-half years, already eclipsing his Celtic spell which ended abruptly on Deadline Day in 2018.
The circumstances of the Frenchman’s exit are infamous. Dembele took to social media, dropping the bombshell words: “A man, without his word, is nothing. A real man keeps his word.”
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Initially, this wasn’t well-received by most Hoops fans, who were still largely supportive of Rodgers at the time. Dembele insisted, however: “Be careful who you call the leader of yours.”
It didn’t end there, though. Four months later, when Rodgers departed for Leicester, the Frenchman reacted by tweeting “#Interesting’, a video of Muhammad Ali saying “I told you all”, and another hashtag: ‘#AndIfYouDontKnowNowYouKnow’.
It was box office stuff. Prior to the striker’s move to Lyon, Rodgers made comments about his “behaviour” and “mentality” in the late stages of the window. He insisted that no promises were broken, and sent him home early from training on Deadline Day.
Fast forward almost a decade, and the two could’ve met again – if Dembele hadn’t been injured for the clash on Monday.
Hendry played, but couldn’t stop Rodgers’ side from marching to a 4-0 win. His incredible record at Al-Qadsiah now boasts eleven wins, three draws and zero defeats.
Moussa’s ability to hold a grudge will remain tested for another few months…
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Moussa Dembele’s Celtic spell
It’s a heated debate considering the impact of Odsonne Edouard and Kyogo Furuhashi, but some Hoops fans would still say that Dembele is the best striker to play for Celtic since Henrik Larsson.
Blessed with incredible strength, Dembele was unplayable on his day. He marked his first Glasgow Derby with a perfect hat-trick that will be spoken about for decades.
As Rodgers led Celtic to an invincible treble followed by a double treble the season after, Dembele was an integral part of his squad.
His £20 million exit to France was not well handled, but he would go on to score 70 goals for the French giants before moving on to Saudi Arabia.
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