I heard Brendan Rodgers branded toxic Celtic nickname amid fan vendettas in house of sweating dynamite – Hugh Keevins

It would be for the best if the Celtic supporters prepared themselves for the worst at Ibrox next Sunday.

There are no words which can explain, far less exonerate, Celtic’s loss of points against the St Johnstone team who started the day bottom of the Premiership table. There are two words which adequately sum up the aftermath of Celtic’s failure to overcome a team who had lost five of the six matches prior to kick-off yesterday. Crisis time.

Defeat at Kilmarnock and elimination from the Viaplay Cup adds to the early season distress being experienced by the Celtic supporters dumbfounded by the negative transformation which has so visibly affected their team. The fall-out from a defeat to Rangers would be substantial and further complicate Brendan Rodgers’ second coming. But how could you possibly formulate a case for saying anything other than Celtic are set for a torrid time against Gers with a side unrecognisable from last season’s version?

Insipid. Ineffectual. Inefficient.

I feel the manager’s pain but his tolerance levels will need to be high in the days ahead. Rodgers is enduring the personal vendetta that is being waged against him by some supporters of his own club. I heard one so-called fan on the radio on Tuesday night refer to Brendan as “Judas” after last Sunday’s Viaplay Cup defeat to Kilmarnock. The new season began on August 5, which meant the betrayer barb came 17 days into the campaign.

Only 17 days. Rodgers has been accused of lacking conviction since his return to the club. His team selection and tactics have been rubbished and his remark that Celtic supporters should not take cup final visits to Hampden for granted will have been met with scorn. When Rodgers had his press conference to