BRENDAN RODGERS will go head to head with his SEVENTH Rangers adversary when Barry Ferguson makes his derby dug-out debut at Parkhead this afternoon.
The Govan club’s former captain and midfielder will be in charge of the team for only the fifth time after accepting the role in an interim capacity following the sacking of Philippe Clement.
The Belgian squared up to Rodgers seven times and suffered five losses, managed one draw and contrived to win once before the trapdoor buckled and sent him toppling after just 16 months in Glasgow.
TWO ON THE TOUCHLINE…Brendan Rodgers and Philippe Clement before the Belgian got the boot.
The Celtic gaffer has faced six Govan hopefuls on 21 occasions, winning 16, drawing three and losing two.
Remarkably, the second defeat was suffered just two days into 2025 when a puzzlingly passive Hoops team crashed 3-0 at Ibrox.
Clement hardly had time to celebrate his solitary success before a P45 was delivered following a 1-0 Scottish Cup exit to second-tier Queen’s Park and a 2-0 loss to St Mirren, both in Govan, to open the door for Ferguson to take control.
That bewildering reverse came just 18 days after Rodgers had celebrated his tenth silverware success spread over his two stints in the Hoops hot seat.
119 AND COUNTING…Kasper Schmeichel and Daizen Maeda celebrate the Premier Sports League Cup triumph over Philippe Clement’s Ibrox side at Hampden in mid-December – the silverware success that made Celtic the most successful club side in the world.
A plunging save from Kasper Schmeichel to defy Ridvan Yilmaz’s penalty-kick and Daizen Maeda’s deciding effort in the 5-4 spot-kick shoot-out won the Premier Sports League Cup following a 3-3 stalemate at Hampden on December 15 last year.
Before that grand finale, Scotland’s 21st Century title kings pulverised their Govan rivals 3-0 in the Premiership at Parkhead in September with strikes from Maeda, Kyogo Furuhashi and Callum McGregor.
The only league draw against Clement came last April in Govan when Rabbi Matondo equalised deep in stoppage-time as the teams share six goals.
The Belgian was so delighted with the result that he took his players on a lap of honour around the stadium.
Rodgers and Celtic still won the crown with eight points to spare.
JOY RODGERS…the Celtic boss and captain Callum McGregor parade the newly-won Premier Sports League Cup trophy at Hampden in December 2024.
And, of course, it was the Irishman and McGregor who had paraded the gleaming Scottish Cup on May 25 last year when Adam Idah pounced to fire in a late winner to leave Clement crestfallen yet again.
However, the axed Govan gaffer, who was also dismissed by Monaco in the summer of 2023, shouldn’t take it personally – he is just one of SIX Rangers supremos to suffer at the hands of Rodgers.
Mark Warburton was first in line to be left dejected in Rodgers’ memorable derby debut on September 10 2016 when Moussa Dembele ran amok with a pulverising hat-trick as the home side romped to a home 5-1 success.
Graeme Murty replaced the bewildered Englishman by the time the Ibrox outfit earned a 1-1 draw with a last-gasp goal from Clint Hill at the same venue after Stuart Armstrong had given the hosts a first-half advantage in the March 12 clash the following year.
The former Scotland international defender had stepped up from the post as the club’s Under-20s coach in a caretaker capacity before making way for the ill-fated Pedro Caixinha.
BEGINNING OF THE END…Mark Warburton and Brendan Rodgers before Celtic’s 5-1 romp at Parkhead in September 2016.
The Portuguese chief’s spell in Govan was short-lived and he was humiliated in a 5-1 hammering at Ibrox from Rodgers’ unstoppable Hoops in April 2017 and, following a 2-0 loss at the same venue in September the same year, he was soon packing his bags and heading for Mexico.
Up stepped Murty again in an interim role, but he was given the boot after two wallopings in a fortnight against a rampant Celtic side.
Rodgers guided the Hoops to a 4-0 Scottish Cup semi-final victory on April 15 2018 and two weeks later it got even worse for his Govan adversary when the champions clinched another title with a 5-0 rout in the east end of the city.
Former players Jimmy Nicholl and Jonatan Johansen took over until the arrival of Rodgers’ one-time Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard at the start of the 2018/19 campaign.
It wasn’t long before the England international idol was on the receiving end of a derby loss when Olivier Ntcham claimed the only goal of the September 2 encounter.
Rodgers sampled defeat for the first time in the all-Glasgow occasion when a deflected shot from Ryan Jack gave the hosts a 1-0 win at Ibrox on December 29 before leaving the Hoops in February the following year.
He was back in place to face Michael Beale in the first all-Glasgow confrontation on September 3 2023 and once again Irish eyes were smiling as Japanese talisman Kyogo smashed in the winner in a tense 1-0 success in Govan.
NEXT STOP MEXICO…Pedro Caixinha is about to suffer from the Brendan Rodgers curse.
Beale had been given the bullet by the time the second meeting rolled around on December 30 last year when Clement, who had taken charge in mid-October, led his team to Parkhead.
The Belgian’s team had been unbeaten in 10 successive domestic games before they came off the rails in a 2-1 loss with dangerman Kyogo thumping in a spectacular winner.
He was spared the embarrassment of a second consecutive derby defeat when Rabbi Matondo swept in a leveller in added-on time in the 3-3 draw at Ibrox in April last year.
Clement saw Celtic become the world’s most successful team with their League Cup success that gave the Hoops their 119th trophy in December.
Now Brendan and his Bhoys await Clement’s successor in the east end of Glasgow for the 12.30pm kick-off today as they continue their quest for a fourth successive title, their thirteenth flag in 14 years and their 55th crown in their coveted history.
NATIONAL TREASURE…Brendan Rodgers and Philippe Clement patrol the touchline as Celtic head for a 1-0 Scottish Cup Final triumph on May 25 2024.
RODGERS v RANGERS RECORD:
September 10, 2016: Premiership: CELTIC 5 (Dembele 3, Sinclair, Armstrong), Rangers 1 (Garner);
October 23: League Cup semi-final: CELTIC 1 (Dembele), Rangers 0;
December 31: Premiership: Rangers 1 (Miller), CELTIC 2 (Dembele, Sinclair);
March 12, 2017: Premiership: CELTIC 1 (Armstrong), Rangers 1 (Hill);
April 23: Scottish Cup semi-final: CELTIC 2 (McGregor, Sinclair pen), Rangers 0;
April 29: Premiership: Rangers 1 (Miller), CELTIC 5 (Sinclair pen, Griffiths, McGregor, Boyata, Lustig);
September 23: Premiership: Rangers 0, CELTIC 2 (Rogic, Griffiths);
December 30: Premiership: CELTIC 0, Rangers 0;
March 11, 2018: Premiership: Rangers 2 (Windass, Candeias), CELTIC 3 (Rogic, Dembele, Edouard);
April 15: Scottish Cup semi-final: CELTIC 4 (Rogic, McGregor, Dembele pen, Ntcham pen), Rangers 0;
April 29: Premiership: CELTIC 5 (Edouard 2, Forrest, Rogic, McGregor), Rangers 0;
September 2: Premiership: CELTIC 1 (Ntcham), Rangers 0;
December 29: Premiership: Rangers 1 (Jack), CELTIC 0;
September 3, 2023: Premiership: Rangers 0, CELTIC 1 (Kyogo);
December 30: Premiership: CELTIC 2 (Bernardo, Kyogo), Rangers 1 (Tavernier);
April 7, 2024: Premiership: Rangers 3 (Tavernier pen, Sima, Matondo), CELTIC 3 (Maeda, O’Riley pen, Idah;
May 11: Premiership: CELTIC 2 (O’Riley, Lundstram og), Rangers 1 (Dessers);
May 25: Scottish Cup Final: CELTIC 1 (Idah), Rangers 0.
September 1: Premiership: CELTIC 3 (Maeda, Kyogo, McGregor), Rangers 0.
December 15: Premier Sports League Cup Final: CELTIC 3 (Taylor, Maeda, Kuhn), Rangers 3 (Bajrami, Diomande, Danilo); Celtic win 5-4 on penalty-kicks (aet).
January 2, 2025: Premiership: Rangers 3 (Hagi, Propper, Danilo), CELTIC 0.
To be continued…
*DON’T miss the unbeatable match report from Celtic v Rangers this afternoon – only in your champion CQN.
