How Brendan Rodgers' Celtic trebles stand up to weak Rangers argument - second time round will be no cakewalk

The nature of Glasgow’s football rivalry is such that the seemingly impending return of Brendan Rodgers to Celtic hasn’t just been picked over meticulously by the club’s support.

Inevitably, the Rangers faithful have rushed to offer a very different slant on the Irishman’s coaching capabilities, naturally with particular reference to his monopoly of domestic honours across the two-and-a-half years he previously helmed the Parkhead side. The Ibrox followers aren’t guilty of revisionism in recalling the period from the summer of 2016 till February 2019, when Rodgers presided over two trebles and had set Celtic firmly on their way to a third. That is not open to them when it is a matter of record he is the only manager in the history of the Scottish game to win seven consecutive domestic trophies. Instead, what they have sought to do is zero in on the difficulty - or rather lack of - for Rodgers in ransacking that silverware. Citing the acute advantages on all fronts enjoyed by Celtic over Rangers as they ragdolled rivals then just stepping up to the top flight as he swept into Scottish football.

It might surprise this faction to know that among those who concur with the assessment that the playing field was so far from level between the country’s big two as Celtic utterly dominated it is the very man himself. Rodgers has confessed to associates he is well aware how much he benefitted from the real weakness in the challenge mounted from across the city. As, to outside observers, they churned through wholly ill-fitting managers and players prior to Steven Gerrard’s arrival in the summer of 2018.

There has been no end of head-scratching over Rodgers’ possibile motivations for taking the reins again at Celtic. It makes sense, as has been reported by one reliable source, that he has looked at the move as providing an opportunity for him to repair his relationship with a Celtic support that turned on him viciously over his flit to Leicester City. A fanbase already, largely, on-side with his taking charge once more in recognising he is precisely the sort of proven, top operator required to fill the void left by Tottenham Hotspur having spirited away Ange Postecoglou.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers (left) with Rangers manager Pedro Caixinha in 2017.

Yet, as a man of such self-assurance, it can be safely assumed Rodgers would be drawn to Scottish football again at this very juncture because it would pit him against a much stronger Rangers than he was confronted by first time around. Picking apart Michael Beale’s reupholstered side would put to bed any suggestions he merely made merry when the Ibrox men were in a state of flux. That challenge could only have obvious appeal. Not least because the more that Beale drives up standards in the team he crafts, then the more Celtic require to react with investment in their own squad. And the more outlay this affords Rodgers, the greater the prospects he would feel for making an impact on the European stage.

This upscaling across the city comes with obvious dangers for Rodgers should he sign on the dotted line for Celtic once more. Rangers have moved through a recovery phase - as their hierarchy calls it - in claiming a title and earning significant tranches of revenue from their Europa League final journey, Champions League participation and player sales. Rodgers wouldn’t be guaranteed to pick up where he left off, even if this appears to be the blase assessment of the Celtic faithful. Last season, Celtic’s operated with a wage bill of £59m, compared to Rangers’ near £55m spend. A minor difference. Contrast that with Rodgers’ invincible treble season of 2016-17 when Celtic’s salary costs were £52m. As he struggled to make any impression at the top of the table and paid with his job, Rangers counterpart Mark Warburton operated with a squad drawing the guts of only £18m in wages. Or, if you want to frame it another way, a third of Celtic’s expenditure.

Such differentials were reflected in the playing personnel as Warburton gave way to Pedro Caixinha and Graeme Murty as rivals for Rodgers. For the Irishman’s first derby - a 5-1 home horsing in September 2016 - he selected such as Moussa Dembele, Scott Sinclair, Scott Brown, Tom Rogic, James Forrest and Kieran Tierney as Warburton had Joe Garner, Josh Windass, Joey Barton and Rob Kiernan in his ranks. Come Rodgers’ last and 13th experience of the fixture - which brought a first defeat in the contest with a 1-0 loss at Ibrox in December 2018 - Gerrard could feature such as James Tavernier, Connor Goldson, Alfredo Morelos, Allan McGregor, Ryan Kent and Ryan Jack. All important figures in the club snaring the 2020-21 title and reaching a European final last year.

In Rodgers’ first Celtic stint, Rangers’ vulnerabilities meant they dribbled away points so regularly they failed to finish even in the top two over his full campaigns. In the past three seasons, their points totals of 102, 89 and 93 all eclipse the 82-point haul that proved more than enough to allow Celtic to canter to a second title under the Irishman. Indeed, evidence that Beale’s coaching wiles would ask questions of Rodgers if the pair should be ranged against one another next season is reflected in how he fared subsequent to taking charge at Ibrox last November. Despite working with a squad that had clearly reached the end of the line, outside of facing Postecoglou’s men, his team dropped only three points as the title remained live. The second best sequence of points-gathering by any Rangers team in 15 years.

None of this would strike fear into Rodgers, even if he is sure to feel a little bruised over his jettisoning by Leicester in April that gave way to the club’s relegation from the Premier League. All it demonstrates is that, even allowing for the fact Celtic are fresh from bagging a record eighth treble, the landscape has very much changed since Rangers were no more than playthings for his Celtic sides.