Nou Camp next up but this was Brendanbeu... Rodgers signed EPL quality in Sinclair and Toure
Celtic are set for the Nou Camp on Tuesday. But yesterday was all about the Brendanbeu. Parkhead could sense it going in to the Old Firm game. There’s an echo down the ages feel about Celtic this season. The unveiling of Rodgers at Celtic Park this summer evoked memories of Martin O’Neill’s arrival in 2000. Yesterday’s derby day demolition was Rodgers’ version of Celtic’s 6-2 victory 16 years ago as O’Neil l marked his first Old Firm match. Plenty of people predicted a pumping. Unlike the clash in 2000, this one has always had the air of a mismatch. Rodgers has staged an awaking in Glasgow’s east end. A club that were sleep walking has been given a double shot of vodka and Red Bull and is back on the dance floor busting moves. There’s been loads of hammerings dished out by either side over the years but rarely has there been one as one-sided as this. Cel t ic completely stripped Rangers down to the bones and the question at the end wasn’t if the Ibrox club can compete for the title– it’s whether they have enough to be the best of the rest. In terms of budget, they should. The Hoops might be on another level financially but there’s a hefty gap from Rangers to the rest. The Govan wage bill is aboutt ththree titimes what’sht’ iin the Pittodrie coffers and more still than Hearts.
Yet it already looks like the l imited dosh has been frittered.
Joey Barton and Niko Kranjkar have been decent players but look shot. Philippe Senderos has the whiff of a panic buy who won’t cut it.
Mark Warburton brought in a dozen new faces and has somehow made his side weaker than last season.
He abandoned his principles of recruiting young hungry players and even at this early stage of the season looks to have paid the price.
Meanwhile, Rodgers has plotted his way through the transfer window and brought in proper quality.
Scott Sinclair is EPL class. The same goes for Kolo Toure.
Moussa Dembele has hinted he was an outstanding prospect. Yesterday proved he’s an outstanding player for the here and now.
Rodgers wanted more – every manager does – and Hoops fans would have loved a big-name midfielder at the end of August.
It’s not always that easy but that was out of the manager’s hands.
In his department, he’s barely put a foot wrong so far – right from the moment he agreedd tto come to Scotland.
Let’s not kid ourselves. Folk down south would have scoffed. They would have mocked Rodgers for returning to the game in what they see as some two-bit league.
It looked like a duff job. Now it looks like a perfect fit.
Winning your first Old Firm game 5-1 gets noticed beyond the west of Scotland.
Battered and bruised in his f inal months at Anf ield, Rodgers is back in business and it’s Celtic who are reaping the rewards.
Not only does he look like he knows what he is doing, Rodgers seems to get the job.
Like O’Neill before him, he is tuned in and has the punters lapping up every single word.
When asked if he was in Scotland because of games like the Old Firm, he said ‘ Nah, not really. I’m here because it’s Celtic’ – and he looked like he meant it.
The right bellies were tickled but privately he will know what yesterday meant for him and for his club’s fans.
He knows his supporters will be striding in to work tomorrow morning with grins as wide as the Clyde.
He’s well aware they will be giving it tight to their Rangers pals for the next few months.
Rodgers will sit back and watch the club from over the river go through the post mortems. The questioning of the manager’s signings and tactics.
The seeds of doubt thrown at the boardroom after empty promises of millions of pounds to spend.
Rodgers can relax. He has negotiated a brutally tough start to his reign and came through with flying colours.
The Hoops boss has had to get through the nightmare of the Champions League qualifiers and could not have been handed a harder start to the domestic campaign.
Aberdeen, Hear ts , St Johnstone and now Rangers have all been met head on and he’s sitting on maximum points with a goal difference of plus 10.
It’s ridiculous.
It also suggests the Premiership will be a cake walk for Celtic this year.
The Champions League will be a different matter.
Celtic wanted a test before going to the Nou Camp but didn’t get one. Barca will be a different ball game.
So far Celts have been the ones on the batter, going at teams and working out ways to get in behind packed boxes.
Tuesday wi l l be about battening down the hatches and hanging on for as long as possible. Maybe pinching something on the break.
No matter what happens, the important thing is just being there to have a bash.
Rodgers can take a free swing because as far as Hoops fans are concerned he’s already a knockout.