Rodgers Had A Not-Too-Subtle Dig At The Ibrox Play Actor And His Manager Yesterday.

Brendan Rodgers gave a wonderful interview to CelticTV yesterday; I watched it with great interest, and I was particularly impressed with one moment in it which although it has been reported it has not been properly explored. He savaged Silva and his manager.

I am sure that I am not misinterpreting this. I am reading it five-by-five.

I am 100% sure of this. Read his comments and it’s there between the lines, and it’s not even buried that deep. In fact, it’s clear enough that even The Village Idiot would get it.

“I’m really pleased with how we went about our work, the integrity and honesty of the players on the field. They produced a great first-half performance. One or two things went against us in the second-half but we showed a great fight, a great heart and a great spirit to get a result at the end of it in a real hostile environment. The players came through it really, really well. We left that game in a really good position still, and that’s all we really could have asked for.”

Isn’t that incredible? Isn’t that some statement?

“The integrity and honesty of our players.”

Superb. That is just sublime.

Not only is it a clear dig at Ibrox, but that needed to be said. That is exactly what was required in light of that disgraceful display from Silva, and his manager’s denial/defence of it.

The media has not defended integrity or honesty, and so I am glad that he did that, I am glad that he defended our footballers because Clement defended his and I am not surprised that the press has not pointed the contrast out, although it is clear. Clement defended a cheat. Rodgers defended our players for not stooping to that level, and I am thankful for that.

Those are the things he values. I wrote in one of my articles the other day that no Celtic manager would have stood for one of our players acting like that, and yesterday Brendan Rodgers made it clear that he feels exactly that way, that he would never have tolerated it. Silva would never have made it out for the second half if he’d played for us and there would have been no ridiculous effort to deny the reality of his actions in a later press conference.

I love it when Rodgers does this. There is no song and dance here. He doesn’t bang the drum by playing to the media gallery, and he’s certainly not a coward. Those comments were not Clement’s blunt instrument garbage about un-named players at un-named clubs. There is a sophistication to what Rodgers does which Clement simply does not have.

He is clear in what he’s doing, but his statement contained no direct insult because that is not necessary. He had a point to make, which is that he’s proud of his players and the way they handled the game, that none of them resorted to cheap tactics or cheating. It’s brilliant, because it has provided a contrast, that’s all. He has spelled out the difference in philosophies and cultures and it is now up to others to decide how, or whether, they report that.

None of them will. None of them are going to have the bottle, or to break with the orthodoxy, which is that Clement is a man who exemplifies those two traits, honour and integrity. But look at his conduct over the last few months and say that with a straight face. They can’t, and so Rodgers has shown again that he is streets ahead of these people.