What Brendan Rodgers told me about Rangers managers rings loud as Mr Trophies stares down EIGHTH Celtic rival

At the time, it felt like Brendan Rodgers was ready to unload and get something off his chest.

It just so happened that a question from yours truly was the catalyst for a Celtic address that went viral.

In December 2023, Rangers arrived at Parkhead for an Old Firm derby having gone 16 games unbeaten under new boss Philippe Clement.

The Belgian had got the Ibrox club to within five points of the champions and league leaders.

In Rodgers’ own words, Rangers ‘were coming’.

But after a comfortable 2-1 victory at Celtic Park, Clement and his team were soon sent packing again. And the Hoops gaffer couldn’t wait to hammer that message home.

My question to Rodgers was along the lines of, with all the pre-match talk of a Rangers resurgence, how important was it for him to assert his authority in the fixture.

The manager’s eyes lit up and you knew what was coming.

Without repeating it word for word, the gist of his answer was that he’d now seen off FIVE Ibrox gaffers who - at one stage or another - were supposedly ready to topple Celtic.

Rodgers made it abundantly clear that day that he wasn’t about to let that happen.

The video clip was quite rightly lapped up by supporters.

Their manager had actually done himself a dis-service because if he had included former Gers interim Graeme Murty - it would have been six.

Later that season, Rangers actually WERE a threat to Celtic's title hopes when Rodgers’ men had a wobble over the New Year.

But again, that’s when he really proved his worth as an elite-level boss.

Rodgers decided to foster a siege mentality at that stage, probably for the first time in his Celtic career.

All of a sudden, he drove a narrative that outsiders were against his players and - stealing a phrase from