THIS PASSION IS ALWAYS SPECIAL

Rodgers is adamant Old Firm clash still magical

CHRISTMAS DAY took Brendan Rodgers back home to the Glens of Antrim but not before he kept an important date 35 miles south in Belfast. The Celtic manager is an ambassador at the Northern Ireland Hospice, a relationship stemming from the care his late father Malachy received there in his final days.

A regular visitor to the sanctuary in the heart of the city, Rodgers does what he can when he can for those who need it most. Putting the football world to right is usually the order of the day.

‘I was in the hospice talking to an old guy Billy, bless him, who is from the Monkstown Rangers Supporters Club,’ he recalled. ‘I was sitting at his bedside and we had a real good chat, a bit of banter.

‘Billy is a good guy. He wanted a photograph so if he got out, he could take it to the Rangers Supporters’ Club on Boxing Day. We had a cuddle. That is what it’s about. Whatever it is, it’s about life now.

‘It does (put it in perspective). He was keen to meet me and I was keen to meet him. I’ll look forward to the game on Saturday. It will be a great atmosphere and these are great games.’

There it is. Two men from different sides of the divide, passionate about their respective sides but united by their humanity. A salutary lesson if ever there was one.

Come lunchtime today, of course, football’s importance — and, on a certain level, it is hugely important — will be laid bare.

Celtic may have a 16-point comfort blanket ahead of their trip to Ibrox — a large enough cushion to render even a defeat hardly disastrous — but not one of their fans who will populate the Broomloan Road end of Ibrox would pretend that this doesn’t matter.

Four-and-a-bit years since Celtic last traipsed across town, an unbeaten domestic record is something to be prized. To say nothing of boxing up the bragging rights ahead of a threeweek winter shutdown.

Parental wisdom prevented Rodgers crossing the Irish Sea to attend the fixture as a boy but its significance was never lost on him.

Back in the day, the respective teams generally comprised of home-spun players. Today, Celtic will field a Dane, a Croat, a Swede, a Honduran and a Frenchman. But the passions, in Rodgers’ view, will not be diluted as a result.

‘No, you learn very quickly what it means because you have to,’ he added. ‘When you bring in a player, part of their induction is understanding the fabric of the club and understanding what it means to be a Celtic player, what it means to represent the club.

‘If you didn’t know so much about it before you came in, you certainly know when you get in. Both teams have had non-Scottish players who went on to become legends for the club, so very quickly you understand what it means.’

Free advice in Glasgow on the subject of football is rarely in short supply. Rodgers has had his fair share but his decision to embrace living in the city has had no down side.

‘You get a real sense of what it means to people’s lives but I grew up with it, so I know what it means and how it really can define a way of life for people,’ he explained.

‘I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here. These games are huge of course, the significance of them is massive. For everyone involved, they are big games. But it certainly hasn’t interfered with my life and my way of working up here.’

Ibrox completes the Old Firm set for him. It will be different from Celtic Park in September and Hampden in October.

However distant Rangers may be in the title race, the home support today will relish the prospect of seeing their side end Celtic’s unbeaten league run and perhaps lay down a marker or two.

It will be raucous and frenzied. Unlikely, however, to unnerve the Celtic manager.

‘I’ve never been to Ibrox before and I’m looking forward to it,’ insisted Rodgers. ‘I’ve watched it many times before on television. I’m sure the welcome won’t be nice but so be it. We’ll deal with it.

‘They are always intense games, which go very quickly and obviously there’s big energy in them.

‘I had a Swansea-Cardiff game and those are old-school derbies. Lots of history between those two cities.

‘Our game had a 1pm kick-off, but the buses were leaving Swansea at 9am. It’s only a half-hour up the road but it was to ensure that everyone got there safely.

‘The Goodison one (with Liverpool) is very intense. Goodison, Old Trafford have big atmospheres and you’re up against massive rivals.

‘The idea is that you stay as calm as you possibly can, you control your feelings, you try to find a solution for the pressures.

‘Thankfully, for us, this season we’ve already played in a number of what would be deemed real pressure games, when we’ve needed to get results and perform.

‘Hopefully, we’ve shown that sort of mentality in these type of games, that we can cope with them.’

As partisan as the atmosphere will undoubtedly be, it’s hard to take issue with Rodgers’ belief that his players have already shown the mettle to cope.

Already this season, they have survived in Be’er Sheva to make the Champions League and emerged from Monchengladbach and Manchester City with a point. Nor have they gone 19 league games unbeaten and won the Betfred League Cup without getting themselves out of a few tight corners.

‘They are high-octane games,’ added Rodgers. ‘But every game for us is a high-pressure game because of the demand we have on ourselves. There’s always pressure.

‘When it’s a derby game, you want to win. But if you reel off the moments of pressure we’ve had this season — the League Cup Final, the Rangers game, the first one at Celtic Park in four years, the (League Cup) semi-final (against Rangers), these are all games where we have shown good composure.

‘Two-nil down at Motherwell was pressure. You must stay calm. No one, whatever line of work it is, works well under big pressure.

‘People talked about Steven Gerrard being great in big-pressure moments. Well, he was. But people forget he was good in every moment. It’s just that it’s magnified more when it’s a final or a semi-final.

‘The Zinedine Zidanes, the big players, don’t only turn it on in the big games. They do it in a lot of games. It’s just magnified in the big moments. I always try to present that to the players.’

BRENDAN RODGERS has held up the Old Firm derby as a game for Scottish football to cherish — and implored all fans in attendance to enhance its reputation today. Both clubs yesterday issued statements urging their supporters to respect the minute’s silence in tribute to the victims of the 1971 Ibrox disaster which will be held ahead of the match. Celtic won the last Premiership encounter between the sides in September 5-1, but that day was sullied by fans hanging effigies from the stands and vandalising toilets. And Rodgers believes that whatever the outcome on the field today, the need for everyone present to view proceedings with a sense of perspective is a matter of the utmost importance. The Celtic manager said: ‘The tragedy at Ibrox was one which affected Rangers Football Club and so many other people