BRENDAN RODGERS has gone to head to head with Phillipe Clement five times in derby clashes and has yet to sample defeat.
The Celtic boss has overcome his Belgian rival four times and only a goal deep in stoppage-time at Ibrox last season prevented a 100 per cent record in their dug-out duels.
The rivals cross swords again in the Premier Sports League Cup Final at Hampden on Sunday and Clement will need no reminding of the outcome of the previous meeting at the national stadium on the iconic date of May 25 as the curtain came down on the Irishman’s comeback season.
A late goal from Adam Idah won the Scottish Cup and the Ibrox team chief was a beaten man yet again.
TOUCHLINE TUTORS…Brendan Rodgers and Phillipe Clement during Celtic’s 1-0 win in the Scottish Cup Final at Hampden last season.
The former Monaco head coach shouldn’t take it personally – he is just one of SIX Govan gaffers to suffer at the hands of the Hoops managerial mastermind during his two stints at Parkhead.
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 Caixinho.
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.
BEGINNING OF THE END…Mark Warburton and Brendan Rodgers before Celtic’s 5-1 romp at Parkhead in September 2016.
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 left Parkhead in February the following year, but was back in place to face Michael Beale in the first all-Glasgow confrontation on September 3 2023.
Once again, Irish eyes were smiling as Japanese talisman Kyogo Furuhashi smashed in the winner in a tense 1-0 success in Govan.
NEXT STOP MEXICO…Pedro Caixinho 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 the talismanic 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 this year.
That was as it got for Clement in his introduction to this fixtures and he was a two-time loser when Celtic all but sealed their third title in a row with a 2-1 victory at Parkhead the following month.
Idah smashed in the Scottish Cup winner as Rodgers’ men left it late in last season’s grand finale, but there was no such anxious wait in the opening all-Glasgow affair in this term’s Premiership campaign in the east end of Glasgow on September 1.
Goals from Daizen Maeda and that man Kyogo again had the hosts two goals ahead by half-time and skipper supreme Callum McGregor had the final say with a spectacular goal to make the final score 3-0 for the champions.
Rodgers will be aiming for the joy of six at Hampden on Sunday.
