BRENDAN RODGERS believes Celtic should give Steven Gerrard’s Ibrox players a guard of honour at Parkhead on Sunday.l
The former Hoops boss insists his old club should display “humility and class” by making the gesture before the midday kick-off following the Govan club’s first title triumph in a decade.
Celtic squandered the opportunity of making history of a tenth successive championship as they carelessly dropped points in a catastrophic, error-strewn campaign.
Remarkably, as CQN reported, Hamilton Accies and Motherwell are the only two clubs not to have taken points off the faltering team that are now 20 behind their weekend visitors after officially relinquishing their crown with a tame goalless draw against Dundee United at Tannadice eight days ago.
The issue of whether the home side should applaud their rivals has been a topic of discussion over the past few days. It should be remembered the Ibrox outfit refused such an accolade for Celtic two years ago after they had just clinched yet another flag.
But Rodgers, who quit the Hoops in February 2019 to take over at Leicester City, reckons Scott Brown and Co should mark the weekend and, as an example, cited the guard of honour Manchester United gave Chelsea at Old Trafford after the London club had had won their first Premier League title in 2005.
The Northern Irishman said: “My feeling is always that you should show humility and class and be a sporting team.
“I can never forget when I was at Chelsea as a young coach and in that first season with Jose [Mourinho] they won the title.
“I remember going to Old Trafford to watch the game that evening and I’m sure that the Manchester United players didn’t want to do it [a guard of honour].
“That must have been really, really difficult, but it showed you the class of Sir Alex [Ferguson] and showed you the humility of him.
“It was sporting, but can also provide you with great motivation going forward. It’s something that for me – despite the rivalry, despite how difficult it is – you should do and then use it as motivation.”
Rodgers also praised Govan gaffer Gerrard, who was his captain at Liverpool for three years before he left for a spell in the States. The manager was sacked shortly afterwards.
The King Power chief, speaking to Sky Sports News, added: “Steven’s done excellent. This season, they have been the most consistent team from the very off.
“He’s gone in and stabilised the club, given them a way of playing. He’s had great support from the board.
“The intensity of the Celtic-Rangers competition, the demands and expectation, it’s huge. In that third year he’s delivered what they wanted.
“As a Celtic supporter it’s sad to see, of course, but they’ve been the most consistent team. They deserve it.”
