Stir spirits of next generation
can play aggressively but fairly, and one which when things go wrong can have that mentality to bounce back. I spoke about Jock in my team talk.
“There were two today. My father is five years dead today, so it was ironic we scored five goals. When you beat one of your rivals it’s a wee bit sweeter, and that was the message.”
Rodgers was respectful of Rangers despite the evident gulf in class – “Mark [Warburton] has done an excellent job” – but pointedly did not miss Barton as he commented on how impressed he had been with Scott Brown’s performance.
“You saw Scotty’s performance today,” added Rodgers. “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 today. He showed his power and strength.”
There was also, unsurprisingly, a huge dollop of praise for Dembele, a player plucked from Fulham in the summer but who has largely had to bide his time given the stellar form of Leigh Griffiths. With the Scot injured – a knock that will also keep him out of the Champions League group game against Barcelona on Tuesday – Dembele was handed a start and shone, scoring the first league hattrick in this fixture for 50 years.
“He’s a good kid, a lovely boy to work with and he wants to improve,” he said of the young Frenchman. “His first goal has real power in his header with his jump. The second shows his speed and his skill to beat the defender and finish. Then the third is a wonderful touch and finish off his left foot. He’s still very young and has a bit of work to do, but I’m really pleased for him to get a hattrick on such a special occasion.”
Unsurprisingly, the mood was rather gloomier in the Rangers camp. But a defiant Mark Warburton was insistent that he didn’t see “a major gulf” between the sides.
“It’s game five of a long season,” he said. “Talk is cheap, so you can’t sit here and say: ‘We’re going to learn from it.’ We’ve got to be better than that. But judge us in May.”