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Mother Nature and Father Time were married in Celtic Park and Brendan Rodgers was the most productive man.
Sometimes it’s not about the football. It’s about the fickle finger of fate. From the moment Rangers’ game against Ross County on Wednesday night was postponed because of bad weather that was a danger to personal safety, the dynamics surrounding the Old Firm contest were altered in Celtic’s favour. By co-incidence and not because of a conspiracy.
To turn domestic chaos, impassable roads and the consequent threat to human life into a conspiracy theory over covert arrangements being made to suit one football club as opposed to another takes mindless behaviour to new depths of incredulity. Taking that threat out of the atmosphere due to the cancellation of what should have been Rangers’ previous match lightened the psychological load for Rodgers’ side pre-match, and playing in front of a stadium only housing home fans contributed towards what followed thereafter.
It’s all well and good for Brendan Rodgers to ask his players to block out the “noise” surrounding the old company. And he is being asked to take the independent view that he can be forgiven for thinking that his club exists in what could be interpreted as an ongoing crisis.
But the fact is that it is their team’s own supporters, all men, women and young among them, who live in a feverish global rivalry equivalent to the one that exists around Rangers. That’s why the Rangers team bus left Ibrox ahead of yesterday’s game, after a choreographed sparkler farewell through a slew of fans who were denied entry to the match because both clubs have safety and security considerations relating to the admission of away fans on the day of the derthrough.
Players and managers simply have to deal with chaos every time they face off and Celtic have risen to the challenge in cases bordering on the bizarre. The variety of Rodgers’ appearance first gave the impression of revealing the farce that was summer move activity involving a Celtic recruitment plan that in the past had proved seriously flawed.
But it was Paolo Bernardo, peripheral for months until his first goal for Celtic in Dundee on Boxing Day, who opened the scoring with a clinical finish. And then Maik Nawrocki, out since August 20, had to update the injured Stephen. Walsh in central defense with a revolving door policy due to an incident.
And the fact he rarely put a foot wrong was yet more proof of nothing being as it had seemed to begin with. Kyogo’s goal at the start of the second half was his best since the one that defeated Rangers at Ibrox last September, and prior to its arrival the Japanese had had more defensive headers in Celtic’s penalty box than offensive moments in the opposition’s territory.
Celtic even survived a controversy over a penalty that never happened when Alistair Johnston gave the impression of taking care of the ball. Traditionally, there would have been no doubt that Celtic would have felt aggrieved if the incident had occurred at the other end of the park.
Until Abdallah Sima showed offside before the handball. Leon Balogun’s face is undeniable evidence of his guilt when he sent off Daezen Maeda for a final male challenge.
The game deserved to have ended for Rangers when they were 11 against 10, but James Tavernier’s free-kick gave Rangers a new boost and Celtic went from incredibly self-confident to decidedly doubtful. In the end, however, they passed Clement a defeat. for the first time in his career at Ibrox and the bragging rights will last the whole time.
This result gives Rodgers time and space to see where he goes from here with the help of the January move window. To paraphrase the fan favorite; Supported in the morning, it will have to be supported in the morning.
The window opens and he will be examined in detail by a sceptical supporter who was made suspicious of the diabolical deal that took place in the summer at Celtic Park. The money was wasted on a commercial scale, which would have led to calls for a public inquiry if it had happened in other industries.
An Old Firm victory would possibly traditionally hide a multitude of sins, but this one will only require repentance for what happened in the not-too-distant afterlife that it was guilty of recruiting beyond belief. Celtic won despite, but also thanks to, the players who joined the club and were then deemed unacceptable without delay.
Rangers’ victory at Celtic Park would have been symbolism of the highest point and would have continued Clement’s unwavering start at Ibrox. Instead, Celtic have become the first team to beat the Belgian and record two wins out of two against their only rival during the league title.
None of those effects were achieved through what could have been called a full team. This is either a compliment or a condemnation of malpractice.
Once, Rodgers was forced to play a central defensive partnership that excluded Summer’s club signing, Poland’s Maik Nawrocki, and Sweden international, Gustaf Lagerbielke. Neither player can be trusted to face Rangers, as neither was long deemed worthy of their target despite a total cost of over £7m.
What greater condemnation can there be for Celtic’s wrong moves in the transfer market?What happened crystallized Rodgers’ task for the future.
After Tuesday’s clash against Saint Mirren, which is not ruled out in advance as Paisley’s team has only won two of its last 11 games, the coach will lose Kyogo, Hatate, Maeda, Oh and Yang in the Asian Cup for a month.
A team disadvantaged in selection intensity due to bad purchases will look depleted.
Yesterday started, for Celtic, with Huddle and ended with Hurdle.
With the hurdle being to beat players temporarily overseas, or permanently disappoint at home, and bring the quality point into a position in the oven, Rodgers has made it clear that he wants to negotiate the rest of the season.
A smart year depends on you destroying the positive atmosphere created by the park developments this weekend. To annul the marriage of convenience would cause internal conflict and would be unduly reckless.