Gambler Rodgers comes up trumps

THERE it is. The reason why Celtic went all in to land Brendan Rodgers as manager.

It was summed up in one bold-asbrass gamble, a swaggering show of faith in his team. Executed in the white heat of a game with the potential to create, at the very least, some hint of a title race.

Dermot Desmond knew, when he was searching for someone to replace the affable but ineffectual Ronny Deila, that one footballing fact of life was guaranteed.

At some stage, Rangers were going to enjoy a resurgence. They’d appoint the right manager. Make some smart signings. And offer genuine resistance in Celtic’s march towards ten consecutive titles.

When that moment came, the champions would need someone of supreme self-belief at the helm. A man who would know precisely when to push the envelope.

That decisive moment came yesterday when, with his side down to ten men, heading towards the final 20 minutes of a phenomenally entertaining derby at Ibrox, Rodgers looked along his bench — and decided to twist.

Yes, a point would suit the visitors far more than the home side. Sure, at 2-2, most away coaches would have decided to stick.

But throwing on striker Odsonne Edouard for winger James Forrest, effectively moving to a 4-3-2 formation still flexible enough to nullify the wide threat of Rangers, was made to look a stroke of genius.

So, sure, the Celtic board would love Rodgers to bring some European success — however you measure that in an age of vastly diverging revenue streams — to Glasgow.

But domestic domination is a drug that’s hard to kick. Ten is the magic number around Celtic Park. And that mythical target looks a whole lot closer today than it did yesterday morning.

For Rangers, and especially Graeme Murty, there must be a feeling of enormous frustration that they didn’t get at least a point out of yesterday’s match. How Alfredo van Vossen missed that chance to make it 3-3... But a draw wouldn’t have been enough to reignite some semblance of a title challenge. And it’s hard for anyone to argue that Rangers did enough to get a win.

Scott Brown, the old man written off as all but done in some quarters, was outstanding yesterday. And not just in the way he’s expected to excel, with that pass for Moussa Dembele’s goal a moment of pure football quality.

Celtic had arguably four of the five most effective players on the park at any given time.

And, as good as Murty has been in salvaging something from the wreckage of Pedro Caixinha’s reign, already doing enough to earn a more permanent deal, the interim Rangers boss didn’t get anything extraordinary out of his players.

Key men who would have been expected to make the most of the 11 v 10 dynamic, guys like Jamie Murphy, simply faded when they might have put the hammer down.

So, on a day when Dedryck Boyata again proved that Rodgers doesn’t get absolutely everything right, in a match when their greatest rivals lost their most dominant centre-half, Rangers couldn’t find a way through.

Consider the lesson of the afternoon, then, to be one about how hard it will be for any team to dislodge Celtic.

For as long as Rodgers is making the big calls, the reigning champions are unlikely to be caught between caution and having a crack.

And that’s why he gets the big bucks. It’s why they went for him.

It’s also why, although Celtic fans won’t like to hear it, so many down south will be watching the former Liverpool manager’s live studio appearance on Monday Night Football later today with keener than usual interest.

After all, as shrewd as he is, Desmond cannot be the only decision maker in football to recognise the worth of Rodgers.