Brendan Rodgers reacts to Philippe Clement Rangers sacking after Celtic boss sees off another Ibrox manager

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Brendan Rodgers is the man for all seasons at Celtic.

That is more than can be said about the managers across the city with Rangers opting to sack Philippe Clement this week following their miserable season so far.

Gers have been poor, it must be said, but the 13-point gap at the Scottish Premiership summit has more to do with Rodgers and his relentless Hoops side who have lost just twice this term including over the weekend in a 2-1 defeat to Hibs.

Position	Team	Played MP	Won W	Drawn D	Lost L	For GF	Against GA	Diff GD	Points Pts
1	CelticCeltic	27	22	3	2	77	14	63	69
2	RangersRangers	27	17	5	5	54	22	32	56
3	AberdeenAberdeen	27	12	5	10	35	39	-4	41
4	Dundee UtdDundee Utd	27	11	7	9	33	31	2	40
5	HibernianHibernian	27	9	10	8	39	38	1	37
6	St MirrenSt Mirren	27	10	4	13	32	39	-7	34

Even that came after Champions League exploits but Rangers’ loss to St Mirren a few hours later meant Clement was given his marching orders.

• READ MORE: ‘Brendan Rodgers’ – Chris Sutton gives Celtic boss a shout-out after Rangers sack Philippe Clement

Celtic boss Rodgers sympathises with sacked Clement

Rodgers has now seen off six Rangers bosses during his two separate stints in Glasgow and he reacted to Clement’s departure with the same grace and respect he has shown every other boss.

The Northern Irishman said: “Like it is for any manager, I’m always disappointed when a manager loses his job.

“Philippe has been in there for the period of time that he has. I’m disappointed for him as a coach. I think we all know the conditions up here. You have to be winning and show that consistency to win.

“I’m always sad when another manager loses his job. Philippe has shown previously, coming into the Rangers, that he’s a very good manager. He’s won titles. He’s not just a good coach, he’s a winning coach and has won.

“Like I say, we know the conditions up here. There’s relentless pressure on you to win at Celtic and Rangers. Expectation is there and that doesn’t stop on a daily basis. You have to then come out and be a consistent winner.

“I think it’s also how we’ve dealt with the pressure. I think that’s been key to it. I think we didn’t get off to the best of starts in the last season when I came in. Certainly in terms of consistency and performance level.

“I think when Philippe came in, obviously, they had that bounce and had a really good run. Then once we started to find our feet and get our rhythm, then I think how we dealt with pressure, we dealt with it really, really well.

“From that moment, we’ve continued to grow and improve. It’s a great credit to the players and how they’ve coped with that and how they’ve consistently performed.”

Brendan Rodgers record at Celtic vs Philippe Clement

Rodgers always shows class to any manager who loses his job during a season and this exit was nothing new. But when asked ‘how he found’ Clement, the Celtic manager was honest.

In the Glasgow goldfish bowl, it can be difficult for anyone other than a Celtic gaffer’s counterpart to fully understand the pressures and difficulties of managing one of Scotland’s biggest clubs.

Yet Rodgers admitted he didn’t have too many interactions outside of derby day with Clement to really understand his mindset.

“You don’t really know that,” he added. “That’s the honest answer.

“I think that you actually play enough times. You come up against each other quite a lot, of course. But in terms of the interaction, there isn’t so much. I’ve seen his work outside of Rangers as well.

“They need to look at that and his CV to show that Rangers employed a very good manager. That’s what they felt at the time and that’s why they gave him the job.”