Why Brendan Rodgers needs to get Celtic’s mojo back ahead of the European games that will define his season, writes GARY KEOWN

No one holds a grudge against Brendan Rodgers for his little excitement, his little attempts to hit the ball back over the net. He really stepped up his game last season.

There were those of us who, until Rangers and Philippe Clement came down with a heebie-jeebies attack of 9.5 on the Richter scale, felt his grand return to Paradise just wasn’t going to happen.

Much came from the Celtic supporters, who were so disappointed by the level of performance on certain stages that even Santa Claus was caught in the crossfire.

Now that virtually every one of them has accepted a very impressive collective commitment to selective amnesia, returning to the view that the Brodge is one of the greatest coaches in Christianity rather than ‘a Judas’ or ‘a serpent’ or ‘a fraud’, the Northern Irishman has enjoyed his own little chance to ruffle feathers against such a calm and tranquil backdrop at Parkhead.

Take the build-up to last week’s Old Firm game. When presented with the statistic during a TV interview that his team had scored 52 goals and were 14 points clear in the league, Rodgers said, with a mischievous smile for maximum comic effect: ‘Not bad for a team not playing. attacking football. It plays very slowly and the tempo isn’t there, so we’re doing well.”

It brought back thoughts of an evening at McDiarmid Park in September when Celtic had just beaten St Johnstone 6-0 and Rodgers was commenting on the number of goals his side were scoring.

“Not bad for a team that doesn’t play good football,” he said at the time. “I think that’s what we were told last year, right? That was the accusation. We were too slow and didn’t play football. We didn’t score enough.’

The joking tone changed somewhat a few days later when Borussia Dortmund took seven of seventeen from their team in the Champions League.

Similarly, after delivering his tried and tested one-liners once more in the wake of the final thumping of poor old saints on December 29, a four-day reminder of the dangers of getting a little ahead of the game was delivered at Ibrox. later.

As bad as Celtic were in surrendering 3-0 to a Rangers side with a stand-in goalkeeper, their left-back as right-back, Dujon Sterling in central defense and a goalscorer in Ianis Hagi, who was told to had to throw out his hook. in the summer this is certainly not a crisis time.

The title is already in the bag, along with the Premier Sports Cup, and the team is in a decent position with two games remaining in the new-look Champions League.

What Ibrox must surely have done is focus the mind. From top to bottom. It should make the board realize that, despite the financial expenditure of the summer, more money will have to be spent on recruits in the future.

It has led to further questions about how funds were invested ahead of the season. Adam Idah is still not considered worthy of a regular start due to the £9 million signing, while Arne Engels, who received some unfair criticism earlier in the season due to the £11 million price tag hanging around his neck, is now in the stadium is in which he really needs to start. Start delivering on a consistent basis.

The events in Govan should also focus Rodgers’ mind on the fact that his grand ambitions for this season are still nowhere close to being realised.

When he agreed to give Celtic another try in the summer of 2023, it was all about doing what he failed to do the first time around: making the club more competitive in Europe. He admitted it himself. That was the incentive. The intention.

So far things are going so well on that front. A hard-fought goalless draw against title contenders Atalanta in Serie A allayed concerns about his ability – and that of his side – to dig in and get results against the top spot.

The 3-1 home win over RB Leipzig, who are still in the top four of the Bundesliga despite their obvious problems in Europe, was the kind of signature victory Rodgers so desperately needed. His players were exceptional that night.

Yet the job is still not done. Far from it. Celtic, who need to stay in the top 24 to reach the play-off round, are 21st in the Champions League. Manchester City, Paris Saint-Germain, PSV Eindhoven and VfB Stuttgart are four dangerous-looking teams looking to overtake them in the last two rounds.

That makes Young Boys’ visit in just two weeks so important. It should actually be a bull’s-eye for Celtic, even if there is a sense that they may have gone a little off the boil in recent weeks.

The Swiss team are at the bottom of the Champions League with six defeats out of six, three goals scored and 22 goals conceded. Even in their own domestic league they are toiling, finishing a distant ninth in a 12-team lineup, eight points behind leaders Lugano.

They travel to Glasgow with the Champions League quite low on their priority list, easy prey for a Celtic team who could do it without having to go to Aston Villa in their last game and need a result.

Get his team back on track and finish the job against Young Boys to secure progress, unless results elsewhere throw a spanner in the works, and Rodgers will certainly have put in a good performance for the campaign. When the draw first took place, reaching the play-off round would have been seen by everyone as a realistic goal.

However, the real goal should be to reach the last sixteen, the actual knockout phase. That would achieve the ultimate goal: putting Celtic back on the map in the UEFA competition after a decade of absolutely no points. There would be no doubt that Rodgers is capable of making the club punch above its weight at the highest level.

It would also give him carte blanche to fire back at his critics – without discovering, as has now happened on some notable occasions, that pride often precedes a fall.

Derby win won’t save Clement if he flops Leith

It is difficult to subscribe to the view that taking Celtic to the cleaners at Ibrox has bought Philippe Clement time to get his reign as Rangers manager back on track.

For starters, two of the key players in Thursday’s three-goal win against Brendan Rodgers’ side couldn’t get into the team earlier in the campaign.

Ianis Hagi was persona non grata. Yes, there was a contract clause about future appearances that had to be renegotiated, but Clement was clear on the eve of the first Old Firm match of the season that he had been told there was no place for him in the first XI – and the arrival of Nedim Bajrami proved that.

Without any mention of deals or clauses, it was portrayed purely as a football decision.

Nicolas Raskin was also nothing more than a minor player at that time. Of course he suffered from injuries, but you just got the feeling that Clement didn’t like him.

After leaving him out of the Glasgow derby in April, he clearly gave the impression that he believed Tom Lawrence and Kieran Dowell were capable of more.

Just as he thought sticking with Cyriel Dessers, come hell or high water, and beating the fading James Tavernier to death were also good ideas.

But here we are, with Hagi now one of the main creative forces in the team and Raskin as captain against Celtic. It just feels like we got to this point more by accident than by design.

That’s fine. It won’t be the first time a manager has found the right mix after being forced into a corner. It’s just that Clement still has so much to prove, starting with Sunday’s visit to Easter Road.

Rangers are eleven points behind Celtic despite their defeat. Their away record in the Premier League is an almost surreal three wins in nine, with four defeats.

If Hibs don’t record a fourth win on the road, Celtic’s dismantling will not protect him from the storm.

Clarke must find a way to get Ferguson into his midfield

Now that the transfer market is open again, rumors are circulating about Lewis Ferguson.

Inter Milan are the latest side to be linked with the 25-year-old Bologna midfielder following his return from a serious knee injury late last year, following speculation last season over the likes of Juventus and AC Milan. .

Ferguson has conducted himself brilliantly since making the admirable leap to go abroad to prove himself and will surely get his reward in 2025.

A big transfer is one thing, but a permanent fixture in Scotland must also finally happen.

Finding a way to make Ferguson a starter for his country should be one of national coach Steve Clarke’s New Year’s resolutions.