BRENDAN RODGERS has gone to head to head with Phillipe Clement six times in derby clashes and has yet to sample defeat.
The Celtic boss has emerged victorious on five occasions and the only blip has occurred at Ibrox last season when a goal deep on stoppage-time gave Rangers a 3-3 draw.
The pair have locked horns twice in this campaign and the Irishman has celebrated both. The champions were unstoppable at Parkhead in September as they powered their way to a 3-0 triumph to put down a marker for the crusade ahead.
Daizen Maeda, Kyogo Furuhashi and Callum McGregor were on target that afternoon and the Hoops captain was a joy Bhoy last month as he lifted the Premier Sports League Cup after his team’s 5-4 penalty-kick win following the 3-3 extra-time stalemate.
JOY RODGERS…the Celtic boss and captain Callum McGregor parade the newly-won Premier Sports League Cup trophy at Hampden last month.
Once again, Rodgers and his onfield leader paraded the silverware – just as they had done at the same venue on May 25 last year after Adam Idah had struck with the Scottish Cup winner.
Instalment No.7 of the intriguing battle of wits in the respective dug-outs is due tomorrow in Govan.
The Belgian is already under extreme pressure with his faltering team already 14 points behind the champions.
Clement 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.
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 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.
Then came the 1-0 loss in the Scottish Cup Final, the 3-0 thrashing in the first league meeting at Parkhead followed by last month’s League Cup success that gave Celtic their 119th trophy in history to make them the most successful club in the world.
All that and Rodgers’ men know a win tomorrow will put them SEVENTEEN points ahead in a one-horse race for this season’s crown.
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