Brendan Rodgers cranks Celtic mood music up to 11 as Rangers anthem doubles as derby day warning

The motto might belong to Rangers. But the recent shift in momentum suggests otherwise.

So when Brendan Rodgers concluded his team is in “simply the best” form of the season so far, he was also sending out a warning across the city of what lies in store for his rivals this weekend. If the Northern Irishman is being honest with himself, he’ll admit that his big return to Parkhead has not run anywhere near as smoothly as he would have wished it to, at least up until this critical point in the campaign.

In fact, he has done as much on several occasions. Rodgers has described it as one of the most testing periods of his entire managerial career in comparison to what he calls the ‘magic carpet ride’ he enjoyed during his first stint in Glasgow’s east end. This time around he started off in the knowledge he faced a personal battle just to win back the hearts and minds of a support which had not fully forgiven him for leaving for Leicester.

Then came the raft of injuries and fluctuations in form which combined to further hamstring a manager still searching for the kind of magic potion which Ange Postecoglou had previously used to intoxicate the masses. As results stuttered and Philippe Clement began to build something meaningful out of Michael Beale’s leftover rubble, so Rodgers began to show signs of a man feeling the strain.

But something has changed quite noticeably over these past few weeks. The mood is more upbeat. The options available have increased while also improving in quality.

The tempo of his team has picked up too, along with an upturn in results. And on Saturday, as Celtic built up a head of steam by sweeping to all three points against Hearts, Rodgers sensed everything click into place.

Perhaps for the first