Celtic's Northern Irish coach Brendan Rodgers gestures during a press conference at the Metropolitano stadium in Madrid, on November 6, 2023, on the eve of their UEFA Champions League Group E football match against Club Atletico de Madrid. (Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO / AFP) (Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO/AFP via Getty Images)
Since taking the Parkhead bench again, Sky commentator Boyd has been dissatisfied with some of Rodgers’ remarks.
This season, Kris Boyd has accused Brendan Rodgers of playing to the gallery, telling the Celtics manager, “That’s just not you.”
recurring recipient of trophies If Rodgers orchestrates another Old Firm victory at Parkhead on Saturday, he will have one hand on the Premiership trophy. The Rangers legend Boyd, however, is not thrilled with how the Northern Irishman has behaved during his second spell in Glasgow and believes Rodgers has been making a valiant effort to please the supporters who never wanted him back.
Boyd claims that Rodgers “changed his tune” when Philippe Clement overcame a seven-point deficit and put the Green Bay Packers ahead in the championship game, without mentioning any particular remarks. And although the Celtics are about to win three straight games thanks to Rodgers, Boyd thinks the 51-year-old has revealed a new side to himself. Similarly, Boyd claims he’s been perplexed by Ibrox coach Clement’s response to his dugout opponent’s comments of “having some fun” in this weekend’s powderkeg derby.
“We have seen two sides to both Old Firm managers in this title run-in,” the Sky commentator stated to the Scottish Sun. Brendan Rodgers was just a class act during his initial tenure as Celtic manager. However, I don’t think I like how much he’s been playing to the galleries this season. Philippe Clement has also shown indications that he’s experiencing heat for the first time. In the upcoming days, we’ll find out which manager at Celtic Park can withstand the strain and win the Premiership.
“Rodgers had a degree of class about him with the way he conducted himself last time. He was never one to gloat. He’d never rub anybody’s nose in it when he won a game or lifted a trophy either. But with the pressure on? The Parkhead boss has been absolutely desperate to tell the club’s supporters what they want to hear.
“He’s going to get away with it, too. Barring a very dramatic collapse, Celtic will be champions this season, and Rodgers will be lifting that Premiership trophy for a third time. The fans he wanted to appease will stand and applaud. But I’ve listened to things Rodgers has said and thought to myself several times, ‘That’s just not you’.
“When he initially returned, he wasn’t like that. In 2019, Rodgers showed courage by declaring he had no regrets about his departure from Glasgow to join Leicester. However, he changed his mind as people began to inquire about performances and results. He displayed a different side of himself when the Rangers fought their way back into the title game.
“Rodgers attempted to fabricate a storyline claiming that neither the media nor commentators were giving Celtic nearly enough credit. While some fans believed it, the astute ones saw through it. However, Rodgers was mostly successful in winning over the supporters who would not accept him back into the team.
“It’s been a shame to see him behave that way but pressure does different things to different people. Clement didn’t put a foot wrong when Rangers were winning. But the defeat to Ross County and draw with Dundee brought bizarre comments from him which raised eyebrows too.
“OK, he didn’t want to throw any of his players under the bus, I get that. But in the cold light of day the Belgian must know what he said was wrong and didn’t cover him in any glory. The way Clement reacted to Rodgers’ comments about “having some fun” in today’s Old Firm derby was also alarming for me.
“I can understand why he was irked. But managers sometimes need to take the moral high ground and completely ignore attempts to rile them. For me, that’s what Rodgers was doing last week. You can now see what’s going to happen. Whoever comes out on top at Celtic Park this lunchtime will talk about how it was all just a bit of fun. I didn’t think Clement looked too clever over-reacting in the way he did. The comments from Rodgers and the Gers boss are just tit-for-tat, though.”
