Brendan Rodgers is not a man of excuses.
Not that the Celtic boss would need many right now with the team going great guns in the Scottish Premiership and poised to make the Champions League knockout playoff.
No, Rodgers’ squad are in the midst of one of their strongest periods in either of his management stints at Parkhead.
But it’s not like that across the city. No, Rangers gaffer Philippe Clement is under serious pressure and his future in the job could come down to Thursday’s Glasgow derby result.
Gers have dropped so many points this term that they’re 14 behind the Hoops despite the fact that the New Year bells have not even chimed yet.
And his latest excuses following a draw with Motherwell was a curious one.
The Belgian made seven changes from a team which lost to St Mirren the previous fixture and he claimed it was down to the sports science and medical team within Ibrox urging him to rest key men like Vaclav Cerny and Hamza Igamane.
Rodgers was this afternoon asked, ahead of the derby on January 2, what he felt on sports science and how it might influence his decisions.
And he showed Clement up with his response.
Rodgers also addressed ‘dead rubber’ talk as well as derby day pressure.
67 Hail Hail takes a look at the takeaways from today’s press conference.
Brendan Rodgers rejects sport science influencing his decisions
“It’s like any sector of my club. Whether it’s coaching. Whether it’s medicine. Whether it’s sports science. Whether it’s our welfare team. I’m always there to listen.
“Ultimately, you make the judgement as a manager. That’s what you get paid for. You get paid as a manager to listen to opinions. But ultimately the beauty of being a coach and leader is that you decide.
“I’ve got a brilliant sports science team here. That will give me all the information I ever need if I want it. And like with anything I’m open to it. But I’m not driven by it. I’m driven by talking with players and getting the feel for them.
“Because we’re all having moments in our life that you may not want to do something. But you get somehow dragged to do it. And then it actually becomes okay. And you quite enjoy it. So for me it’s more about feeling and feeling players.
| Position | Team | Played MP | Won W | Drawn D | Lost L | For GF | Against GA | Diff GD | Points Pts |
| 1 |  CelticCeltic | 18 | 16 | 2 | 0 | 52 | 4 | 48 | 50 |
| 2 |  RangersRangers | 18 | 11 | 3 | 4 | 31 | 13 | 18 | 36 |
| 3 |  AberdeenAberdeen | 19 | 10 | 4 | 5 | 31 | 26 | 5 | 34 |
| 4 |  Dundee UtdDundee Utd | 19 | 8 | 7 | 4 | 28 | 20 | 8 | 31 |
| 5 |  ST MirrenST Mirren | 20 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 27 | 32 | -5 | 27 |
“As I said, I repeat, I’ve got a brilliant sports science team here. They know how we work. They we know we have to push players. And sometimes it may not sit well. It may not look nice on a number. But this game’s in our hearts. And it’s about feeling. And it’s about emotion.
“It’s about working with the players. And sometimes pushing them over the hill when sometimes they maybe don’t want to go there. That push gets them over. And then when they get to the other side, it’s a great place.
“I think your instinct, your experience. And like I said, I listen to all my departments in terms of the information I need. I’ll be informed by that but I’m not driven by it. Again, the game’s about people.
“All the players here, they work ever so hard. I think you see, I change the team around to keep the energy and keep that enthusiasm in the team.
“The team have responded brilliantly to that. But the game has to be about the emotion in the field and how players are.”
Is the pressure only on Rangers?
“We will always assume the pressure. We don’t want to say yes or no. We put ourselves under pressure in every game to win and to win well. Nothing changes in this aspect.
“I don’t think there’s any less stress. I think these games are there to be enjoyed of course. That’s the beauty of it and that’s what gives me the excitement every time they come around.
“Like I said, I’ve got players that know what it means in this game and they know what it takes to win. They, like I, are committed to delivering that. When you have that, of course, you don’t relax any more but I trust this group.
“We’ve been together long enough now after those early teething problems we had last season. We see that consistency now and how we approach and how we work.
“Of course, I go into every game now with that feeling. There’s always pressure there but pressure 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’s about performing. These games give you a wonderful opportunity to do that.”
Rodgers reacts to Andy Halliday’s ‘dead rubber’ claim
“I understand the game from the very first one I was here. I understood it as a supporter. I understood it the first game I had in September 2016 and from that I’ve enjoyed every single one.
“There are always great build-ups to them. There’s always pressure of some sort. I hear the talk about a dead rubber.
“There’s never a Celtic Rangers that are dead rubbers ever in my book. You want to win every game and you want to perform at the very best level. So for me, I love the occasion, I love the game.
“It’s an iconic game and one that I always want to win.”
No away fans are permitted into watch Rangers vs Celtic
“A Celtic support there or not there, we want to control the game and find a way to dominate the game. If we can’t, for whatever reason, because the home team are pressuring, then we stay calm in our defending and we defend when we have to. Then we get back to our structure again.
“But that’s how we play, it’s no different. It really is no different. Motherwell, St Johnstone, Rangers, the approach is the same.
“Whatever the game brings, you respond to it.”
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
