Brendan Rodgers said something very true about Celtic yesterday that everyone else is ignoring

By John McGinley

April 2, 2022

The build-up to tomorrow’s match between Celtic and Rangers has predictably been focused around the fact it’s a title decider. Except, it’s not.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a huge game that will be influential when it comes to the eventual winners of the Scottish Premiership. But it’s only a potential knockout blow for one team – and it isn’t Celtic.

In fact, what everyone seems to be ignoring, or forgetting, right now is that Celtic are likely going to be top of the table regardless of what happens tomorrow. Only a catastrophic, history-making defeat beyond anything we’ve ever seen would see the teams swap positions.

Brendan Rodgers knows the script and is obviously keeping close tabs on the situation in Scotland.

The former Celtic boss was interviewed by Sky Sports about the game yesterday. Not only did he have high praise for Ange Postecoglou, but he rightly surmised that the Bhoys will be in a very strong position on Monday win, lose or draw.

He said: “Celtic have been brilliant. For me, Ange has done a fantastic job there. A lot of new players have come in along with the guys from my time there: Callum McGregor, James Forrest, Nir Bitton.

“They’ve played some terrific football, they’ve got themselves into a great position and whatever happens at the end of Sunday, they’ll still be top and in a really good position.

“But Ibrox is a great place to go and play with the atmosphere. To win there with Celtic is obviously special there, as a player or a manager, and they’ll go on and play with no fear and will go on to win the game.”

Tomorrow’s match is significant and a defeat would be a nightmare for supporters. There’s no getting around that. But I do think that fact Celtic will be top regardless of the outcome is being overlooked.

Yes, there would be no room for error from that point. But realistically there hasn’t been for ages. Let’s not forget Celtic have had to claw back a points gap to get to this position.

Momentum could be argued as a factor – but I don’t get the sense that this Bhoys team under Postecoglou will be knocked off its axis even in defeat tomorrow. It’d all still be in our hands, we wouldn’t be playing catch-up and that gives me a bit of comfort this weekend.

In other news, Even Steven Gerrard is an admirer of Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou now.