Celtic: Glasgow pressure ‘doesn’t stop’, says Brendan Rodgers after Rangers sack Philippe Clement
Image source, SNSPhilippe Clement (left) came up against Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers seven times
Scottish Premiership: Celtic v Aberdeen
Venue: Celtic Park, Glasgow Date: Tuesday, 25 February Kick-off: 20:00 GMT
Coverage: Listen on BBC Radio Scotland Extra & Sounds, live text commentary on the BBC Sport website & app
Celtic’s Brendan Rodgers says the “relentless pressure” of managing in Glasgow “doesn’t stop”.
The Northern Irishman expressed sympathy for counterpart Philippe Clement following the Belgian’s departure from Rangers on Sunday.
Rodgers got the better of Clement in four of their seven Old Firm derby meetings, including last season’s Scottish Cup final, and Celtic also beat Rangers on penalties in this term’s League Cup final.
“Like it is for any manager, I’m always disappointed when a manager loses his job,” Rodgers said before Tuesday’s Scottish Premiership visit by Aberdeen.
“I’m disappointed for him as a coach. I think we all know the conditions up here. You have to be winning and show that consistency to win.
“I’m always sad when another manager loses his job. Philippe has shown previous to coming into Rangers that he’s a very good manager. He’s won titles.
“He’s not just a good coach, he’s a winning coach and has won. Like I say, we know the conditions up here.”
Celtic could be 16 points clear at the top of the league by the time Rangers, under a new interim coaching staff led by former captain Barry Ferguson, take the field against Kilmarnock on Wednesday.
And Rodgers, who has won 10 trophies across his two spells at Celtic, added: “There’s relentless pressure on you to win at Celtic and Rangers.
“Expectation is there. That doesn’t stop on a daily basis. You have to then come out and be a consistent winner.”
Hibernian inflicted Celtic’s second league defeat of the season at Easter Road on Saturday and those sides will meet again in the Scottish Cup at Celtic Park on 9 March.
“We obviously need to bounce back from the weekend,” Rodgers said. “The weekend was another opportunity for us to show that, if you’re not quite on it, then teams can hurt you.
“But it’s also a great measure of how focused and professional the team have been that we’ve had very few slip-ups over the course of the season. We did at the weekend, but we’re hungry to respond now.”
