BRENDAN RODGERS will pit his wits against his EIGHTH Rangers manager when he squares up to Russell Martin in today’s High Noon shoot-out at Ibrox.
Over the Irishman’s two stints, he has faced up to a conveyor belt of Govan gaffers in the shape of Mark Warburton, Pedro Caixhinho, Steven Gerrard, Michael Beale and Philippe Clement in permanent roles plus Graeme Murty and Barry Ferguson in caretaker capacities.
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 5-1 success.
GOVAN GLEE…Brendan Rodgers is all smiles as he embraces Philippe Clement after Celtic’s 3-3 draw at Ibrox last month.
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 temporary 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 sampled defeat for the first time when a deflected shot from Ryan Jack left Craig Gordon helpless at Ibrox on December 29 2018.
The former Liverpool boss left Parkhead in February the following year, but was back in place to face Beale in the first all-Glasgow confrontation on September 3 2023.
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 when Clement, who had taken charge in mid-October, led his team to Parkhead.
The Belgian’s team had been unbeaten in 10 successive games on the home front before they came off the rails in a 2-1 loss, with Paulo Bernardo and Kyogo Furuhashi on target.
A stoppage-time strike salvaged a 3-3 draw for the home side at Ibrox in the follow-up meeting on April 7 last year after the Hoops had led 2-0 at the interval through strikes from Daizen Maeda and Matt O’Riley penalty-kick. The hosts pulled it back to 2-2 before Adam Idah fired in the visitors’ third.
However, Rabbi Matondo levelled with virtually the last kick of the ball.
The following month, there was no way back for Clement or his players when the Hoops won 2-1 at home with efforts from O’Riley and John Lundstram (own goal) on their way to a third successive title triumph.
And got even better when Idah thumped in a late winner in the Scottish Cup Final at Hampden on the iconic date of May 25 as Rodgers claimed a League and Cup double on his comeback campaign.
THUMBS UP…Brendan Rodgers acknowledges the Celtic fans after the 1-1 draw at Ibrox in May. Johnny Kenny heads for the dressing room following his derby debut.
The Irishman took his players back to the national stadium in mid-December last year to celebrate a Premier Sports League Cup victory over Clement and Co following a dramatic 3-3 extra-time draw.
Kasper Schmeichel made a superb save from Ridvan Yilmaz in the penalty-kick shoot-out before Maeda sunk the crucial winner past Jack Butland.
Before that encounter, Kyogo, Maeda and Callum McGregor had netted the goals that gave the host a 3-0 victory in the first derby of last season on September 1.
Remarkably, Rodgers and Celtic suffered two back-to-back league losses to their city rivals, 3-0 in Govan on January 2 and 3-2 at Parkhead two months later when a defensive blunder allowed Hamza Igamane to thrash in a late winner.
Clement had been handed his P45 before the Parkhead encounter and former club captain Ferguson was still in the Ibrox dug-out by the time they earned a 1-1 draw with the champions on May 4 in the final derby of the campaign.
Ferguson will remain one of those unexplained phenomena as a Rangers manager who did not lose to Rodgers.
Former Southampton manager Martin is now the man in charge.
Let battle commence!
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