We did it for Big Jock ..and my dad
Rodgers’ anniversary tributes
Emotional Brendan Rodgers dedicated Celtic’s stunning Old Firm win to the memory of Jock Stein and his late father.
Moussa Dembele’s hat-trick inspired the Hoops to a 5-1 thrashing exactly five years on from the passing of Rodgers’ dad Malachy – and 31 years to the day Celtic’s greatest manager Stein died suddenly at the end of Scotland’s World Cup qualifier against Wales. The significance of the date was not lost on Rodgers as he made Stein’s memory the cornerstone of his team talk, urging the players to honour the European
Cup-winning manager’s memory. After watching Dembele make history with the f irst Old Firm treble since 1984, the Celtic boss insisted his players had done Jock proud.
Rodgers said: “I spoke about Jock in my team talk but there were two anniversaries today.
“My father is five years dead so it was ironic we scored five goals.
“One of Jock’s quotes talks about how football is only ever about getting the two points. Back then that’s what you got. “So when I spoke to the players before the game I said: ‘ For us it’s about getting three points – but when you beat one of your rivals it’s a wee bit sweeter.’ “But it was primarily about the guy looking down, the man who set the tone at CCeltic, the template. “We ssaid if Jock is looking downd make sure we dod him proud.” Yesterday’s win stretcheds Celtic’s leadle over Rangers to fourfo points, having playedpl a game less, as questionsqu were raised overov the Ibrox club’s defensivede frailties. N ew signing PhilippePhi Senderos was sentsen off in the second halfhal after a senseless deliberatedel handball earnedear him a second yellowyell card. ButBu Rodgers heaped all theth praise on his side as hhe looked ahead to Tues Tuesday’s Champions Leag League opener away to BaBarcelona. He expects to have Scott Brown available at the Nou Camp, despite the captain limping off with 15 minutes to go. But striker Leigh Griffiths is definitely out due to the hamstring problem that saw him miss the derby.
Rodgers added: “We just need to assess Scott and see how he is. Again, I always say to the players, we don’t need to be heroes.
“If you have an issue or a problem or feel it’s tight then we can get you off. We have a bench, that’s what the squad is about.
“We want him playing on Tuesday. You saw Scotty’s performance today. Scott Brown does his talking on the field.
“He leads the team and is a very respectful guy. He bossed the game in the middle of the park.”
Ironically, while Rodgers was talking up Brown as a respectful figurehead, the skipper was delivering a withering assessment of Gers to the broadcasters.
When asked how he felt about his hotly anticipated battle with Joey Barton, Brown said: “Easy, it was fine, it wasn’t a problem.
“There was no battling whatsoever.
“The scoreline talks for itself. It was pretty much men versus boys at the end of the day.”
Rodgers backed up his skipper’s view that his team were well worthy of their win, adding: “It was a great day for the club and team.
“This will give confidence to the players.
“The occasion was everything I expected and more. It was a beautiful day, the fans were incredible and lifted the team.
“When I came here I said they need to understand the model in terms of how we want to play and you can see them starting to get a feel for what we are doing.”