Brendan Rodgers has an incredible ability to capture a moment in a single sound bite. As a long-term student of politics, I deeply admire anyone who can simplify complexity and convey it to the layperson.
Sound bites often get a bad reputation, but sometimes they cut to the chase in a way that 500 spoken words never could. Rodgers is a master of conjuring up the memorable sound bite—any political machine would love to have someone with that gift.
After today’s game, he gave an interview to Sky Sports.
He did all the things you’d expect from a manager whose team has just won an important match: praised the players, their application, their energy, and the individual performances that delivered the goals and the points.
Then he was asked if he thought momentum was back. His response was a masterpiece, especially considering what I’ll write about later and the perpetual tripping over their own feet happening across the city. It hit like a sledgehammer.
“I think it’s been that way all season,” he said. “We had one really poor performance, but that does not define us.”
I love that: one really poor performance, but it doesn’t define us.
Meanwhile, the club across the city has arguably had one really good performance, but they’re allowing it to define them and fuel their hopes for the future. They’re obsessed with Celtic, and for many of them, that single moment will be their highlight of 2025.
They’re perfectly entitled to have that as their highlight this season.
It’s no different than that Kilmarnock fan I mentioned in a previous piece who told my old man after last year’s League Cup game that it would be his highlight. And sure, it might be the most they have to cheer about. But for a club to base its policies on a single game? That’s absolutely remarkable.
What’s also remarkable is our own reaction to the Ibrox result.
There was no panic, no losing our minds, nothing over the top. Sure, some sections of the support got bent out of shape, but the majority stayed calm and reasonable, treating it as a bad day at the office. Rodgers is correct to point out that our consistency is why we’re here, and it was unreasonable to think one bad result would derail us.
The Ibrox result is the exception.
Our recent results aren’t a flash in the pan—they’re the rule.
A season of excellent performances won’t be undone by one poor showing. In a statement to the wider media, he again caught the mood of the moment perfectly when he said of that display, “We were awful on that day. Goodness me, it was never a Celtic team playing that game.”
Contrast that with what’s happening across town, where a handful of good performances, especially that one against us, are being used to justify sticking with a failing, floundering manager.
We are not defined by a single result, even if that result came against them. But they are defined by their results against us. It’s all that matters to them. We were never going to be derailed by one performance.
And I know the media was desperately hoping that the Ibrox club wouldn’t stumble when it did and that they’d win those three key games to cut the gap to where a title race was technically feasible, but realistically—an alien concept for some of them—the title would still have depended on Celtic collapsing, which was never going to happen.
As Rodgers said yesterday, it’s our consistency that has us here, not anyone else’s results. We’ve put ourselves in pole position—it wasn’t handed to us. This echoes what I wrote about Billy Dodds the other day when he claimed that if the Ibrox club hadn’t lost at Ross County or drawn at Dundee, they’d have won the league last season. Nonsense. We’d still have won, regardless of their results.
And that’s why Rodgers’ sound bite hit so hard.
It’s the truth. We suffered a setback and immediately got back to doing what we do best. That’s why, when the season ends, we’ll be champions. Not because of what’s happening elsewhere, but because of what we’ve done and what we continue to do.
Photo by Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images
CHAMPIONS ELECT. OLE OLE
CHAMPIONS ELECT. OLE OLE
CHAMPIONS ELECT, CHAMPIONS ELECT
CHAMPIONS ELECT.OLE OLE !
Sane Huns are now saying keep flip flop as he
Is the only manager who has sussed out BR?
Did I say sane???
We seem back in the groove, I think Brendan is trying to distance himself from the Glasgow Derby. I have followed Celtic for 60 years and seen good bad and indifferent performances. I have however, never seen a performance like that game. I am not a conspiracy theorist, but still something seems off about that game. It was as though we were going through the motions and pretending to be competing. Eric your fellow podcaster put up a reactionary piece which was a bit conspiracy themed but I understand why he may have felt that way. Losing is not the issue, that will happen many times in the future. I was hoping Brendan would give some sort of explanation for that game (some sort of virus in the team etc) but he has not came up with anything and as this is one crazy league with five way agreements and a team going near two seasons without a penalty conceded, I will always wonder about it. I have spoke to do many fans who have similar feelings
That game might well be a thingy called SEVCO TROLLING Dan !!!
I said at the time that some of the comments post Sevco game, were verging on the ridiculous and that one game would not define our season.
I think the majority of us are sane enough to realise that it was a real off day and these things happen!
Although the more I see of Sevco’s recent performances and compare it with how bad we were on that day, I tend to think that there was some form of illness that really hampered our display !
Having watched Celtic for many decades, and experienced the many highs and lows, it is safe to say that it is an absolute pleasure to watch this current Celtic team and the endless success they bring to us, the fans!
Without sounding too critical of certain aspects of our fanbase, it is hugely important that we all relish and enjoy every moment of these glory days! We are very fortunate to have an elite ( imo he is) manager and a fantastically talented and hardworking group of players!
Long may it continue !
HH
Remember Malik Tilman, rangers loanee from bayern with a £5m buy clause (22-23 season). rangers then got, AHEM compensated (£1m) for NOT taking up the clause, no sniggering at the back…!
Tilman was subsequently loaned and then sold to PSV for around £10m not the circa £35m touted at the time by Scottish churnalists and hence the reason for the rangers getting £1m for a player they did NOT own. I cannot recall seeing this business in their books, surprisingly, maybe someone can enlighten me….
Now today –> https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/sport/14152828/rangers-malik-tillman-windfall-bayern-munich-psv-transfer/
Apparently rangers may get another sell on BACK to Bayern of wait for it 10%, £3.5m no less, the magical £35m back in play. Another record for the rangers, the only club in the world to trade and profit on players they do NOT own, incredible bit of business bearing in mind their last was to move 5 players out for £900k (in installments).
Tilman was only sold to PSV last July and has indeed score 7 league goals and transfermerkat has him now sitting at 30m, Euros that is. Trustworthy site it is.
I can only imagine the tea boy at the sun has been told to go research this and maybe added a few more to the value regardless of currency and then thought well what if Bayern have an imaginary buy back clause because of his amazing goal tally, why wouldn’t rangers be compensated also as sell on for that player they NEVER owned and got an imaginary compo of £1m for in 2023.
Wy put common business sense and facts in front of a good story?
Could be worthy of some more digging folks. Sounds like an ice cream and jelly story about to break.
Now what is fact, rangers in December issues another £8m of shares confetti. Clemente’s fighting fund??, nah, leccy bill to be paid, some current shareholder jiggery-pokery.