Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers agreed with Rangers legend Ally McCoist about people’s general perceptions of the Old Firm clash.
The Hoops earned a 3-0 victory against Rangers last week in the first Old Firm derby clash of the season, and McCoist was impressed with Celtic’s squad, especially how well the core group of players performed.
Rodgers was on talkSPORT this morning (3 September), speaking to Jeff Stelling and McCoist, and made some very interesting points.
McCoist suggests that many people think that the Old Firm is an easy fixture, but that’s not the case. Rodgers was in agreement with the Gers legend and added that players who have succeeded in the Premier League have often failed to show their quality for either Celtic or Rangers.
“Brendan, I always think particularly playing for the Old Firm isn’t necessarily as easy as per haps a lot of people suggest,” said McCoist on talkSPORT.
“I judge a lot of Old Firm players and how they do in Old Firm games, Rangers and Celtic games, and I’ve got to say I look at the spine of the Celtic team, Kyogo and particularly with Callum McGregor, also Carter Vickers, I think the big, big players perform for you in big games.”
Rodgers replied: “That’s a fair assessment, and you’re absolutely right.
“People who don’t understand the state up here in terms of Celtic and Rangers. Because there have been many players that have come up here and they have found it really difficult to deal with the pressure.
“If you look through the spine of our team like you say, Kasper Schmeichel is still a world-class goalkeeper. You get Cam who marshalls the defence very very well. Callum McGregor is an unbelievable captain, real humility but plays with quality.”
Brendan Rodgers spot on with his assessment for Celtic
It is a general perception outside the border of Scotland that the Old Firm is an easy fixture. It is true that the quality of the league is not great compared to other top-five leagues in the world, but there is immense pressure here to perform for both clubs.
Many players who have done well in the past elsewhere have failed to make an impact in the Scottish league; for instance, Aaron Ramsey comes to mind immediately. At Celtic and Rangers, it is all about handling the pressure.
The Old Firm games are the ones that mostly decide the fate of the title, and the pressure associated with this fixture is massive. Rangers have started poorly this season, and they are already five points behind Celtic.
The Hoops have looked in better shape than their rivals, and many pundits also feel that there is a big gap in quality between the two sides.
Celtic have a great balance in their squad, while Rangers boss Philippe Clement still doesn’t know his best starting line-up.
McCoist is absolutely spot on that the spine of the Celtic squad never disappoints in big games, and Rodgers should get credit for that. The players understand their roles and what they need to do in big games.
In other Celtic news, Greg Taylor was blown away by ‘unbelievable’ Bhoys player after what he did v Rangers.
