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Brendan Rodgers and Philippe Clement weren’t having any of it in their Premier Sports Cup final press conferences when the line of questioning inevitably turned to their own personal fortunes.
Quick to make it all about the club rather than the individual, Celtic manager Rodgers and his Rangers counterpart Clement are too experienced, too long in the tooth to make it about themselves. They like to be viewed as mere pawns in the wider Old Firm chess board. The reality is different.
Only ten months separate Rodgers, 51, and Clement, 50, in age, but it is the former who has edge when it comes to these precise fixtures. Granted, he has been on the Old Firm scene for much longer – two spells from 2016-2019 and then his current 18-month tenure – but his record in such fixtures is extraordinary: played 19, won 15, drawn three, lost one. He is creating a Glasgow derby dynasty.
Clement, who took charge in October last year, only has one draw and four defeats from his dalliances with Celtic. Any green shoots of domestic growth have been trampled on by the jolly green and white giant from across the city. His best moment came in this competition when Rangers beat Aberdeen last year to win the final 1-0, his only silverware so far in Glasgow. The rest has gone to Celtic under his watch.
Should Celtic prevail at Hampden, then Rodgers will have snared his tenth trophy at Celtic. “I look back on that once I’m finished, and once I’m done,” was Rodgers’ retort when such a number was put to him.
He knows the importance of playing – and beating – Rangers, though. You can tell it is still a fixture that gets his juices flowing. His last encounter with Clement was a 3-0 success at Parkhead, while the two contested the Scottish Cup final back in May at Hampden, with Adam Idah scoring on 90 minutes for Celtic to win 1-0 in a game they far from excelled in.
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