Celtic home truths emerge from Brendan Rodgers huddle but anyone with Rangers title notions aren't paying attention

It felt like a definitive point in Celtic’s season season and dictaphones were placed on the table.

A huddle of sorts with Brendan Rodgers and a time for home truths, some from him and some from the assembled press pack. Rodgers was full and frank about the reasons behind the latest Champions League failure. The need for greater quality and his intention to address the issue.

I told him it all felt a bit deja vu. Best v best is a popular coaching phrase trotted out by bosses and it’s one the Irishman has used in the past and he was reminded of it on Friday. Improvements only come in the pursuit of excellence and Celtic are always going to be environmentally challenged by playing most weeks against teams which disregard the rules of engagement. There are a few exceptions to that rule but the facts are that they inflict nothing more than a few body blows on the way to another Celtic title. As for Rangers? Anyone who believes they are champions elect hasn’t been paying attention to the awfulness of their recent performances.

That’s the landscape for the champions for the next seven months, Rodgers won’t say it publicly but he will have sub-zero interest in taking his team to Perth to face St Johnstone on a freezing Sunday in December.

The summer and his unveiling as the highest paid manager in the history of the club already feels so last year, Back then he said: “It’s about being dominant in Scotland and transferring that into Europe and see if we can achieve something.”

What hadn’t been factored in is Scottish football’s age old problems which continue to prove to be Celtic’s Achilles heel. The abject poverty of the Premiership standard is exposed every time our clubs enter any European arena.

There has to be a