THERE was a moment at Celtic Park on Wednesday night, more of a feeling inside the ground, but it was one Brendan Rodgers will be hoping sets the tone for the final 10 fixtures in the cinch Premiership season.
With Cameron Carter-Vickers’ headed opener having given Celtic an early lead against Tony Docherty’s Dundee in Parkhead, there was a second ripple of excitement amongst the 60,000 inside the Glasgow cauldron with just over 10 minutes played – with the news that down the M77 in Kilmarnock Danny Armstrong had converted from the spot to put Killie ahead against Rangers coming in via headphones and smartphones attached to the gripped green-and-white faithful inside the Glasgow cauldron.
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One complaint Rodgers has had of his team this season is in getting ahead early in games only to find themselves grinding it out late on, with the recent 1-1 draw at home to Derek McInnes’s side which allowed Rangers to go top of the table a case in point of the nervous energy which has accompanied his team at crucial stages during the defence of their treble. It is a pattern reflected in their position in the table, having seen a seven-point lead overturned by their rivals under Philippe Clement.
Whether it was the players responding to that scent of blood among the supporters on Wednesday night, or whether it was simply a case of the instructions Rodgers has been setting his players all season finally coming together, something clicked during that first 45 minutes as Adam Idah, Matt O’Riley, Daizen Maeda, Greg Taylor and Callum McGregor all continued the siege on Dundee’s goal to give the Scottish champions an unassailable lead at half-time.
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For Rodgers, the final run-in towards the league championship and Scottish Cup is now fully under way, and the Northern Irishman insists he is relishing the challenge as he takes his side to Tynecastle this afternoon to take on third-place Hearts in the wake of that 7-1 thrashing in midweek.
“Well hopefully, it is a feeling isn’t it?” Rodgers said of the psychological effect of his side’s barnstorming first half against Dundee. “I think it is that feeling you want on the pitch. Stood on the side I felt this was a team more looking like I would expect it to look like.
“With all the inconsistencies and all the issues we have had through the season, it is quite a good time to be making your mark. Hopefully we can do that.”
"It's brilliant, it's absolutely brilliant - isn't it?” Rodgers said of the title race this season. "I was here last time when we were 30 points ahead or something like that and I had some people saying it wasn't very good. It's competition. We're here to compete and, of course, if you do win by ‘X’ amount of points, great. But if you win it by one point, that's great as you still win.
“It's about winning and we're in this business and we take this pressure. Why? Because of competition. We're competitors and now we have a challenge.
"We lost the points. We lost the points and we have to gain them back. Now that message is very clear and now we're ready for the fight."
On the sense of excitement coming from the crowd after Rangers fell behind on Wednesday night, Rodgers added: "That seems a long way out! There's still a lot of games left.
"We do our own job, that's what we focus on. For the supporters, clearly the rivalry is there in the stands. But we've got to focus on our own game.
"That's why we play. We play to create goals and score goals and we could have had seven before.
"We've created so many chances this season in certain games and not taken them and then the anxiety kicks in a little bit.
"Then when the team isn't as experienced as it maybe could be, of course we end up with what is a negative result - be it a draw or [worse]. But we were in flow the other night and that's great to see going into this stage."
After all the success during his first spell as Celtic manager, the impartial onlooker may suggest it is someone’s else’s turn to get their hands on some silverware at the Northern Irishman’s expense. Rangers manager Clement has already succeeded on that front this season, of course, after prising the Viaplay Cup trophy out of the Parkhead trophy room in December.
And while Rodgers has enjoyed smatterings of success in winning the Championship play-off final with Swansea and the FA Cup and Community Shield with Leicester City, he is no stranger to the disappointments which tend to accompany football managers more often than not. So, with Clement having built a formidable challenge across the city, is this the toughest test of his managerial career to date?
“It’s been colourful,” Rodgers said with a wry smile. “Yeah, since coming back it has been one of the toughest.
“If you trace back my career, it has normally taken off in the first couple of years in a job. But this has definitely been a challenge.
“It’s never all going to be plain sailing so you have to adapt and find a way. But it has been a challenge. You never think anything other than you’ll hit the ground running. But you also know through experience there will be bumps in the road.
“There has been more this year than I’d have thought. When I looked at the squad, guys like Jota and Starfelt were here but that all changed. Then we had injuries and other stuff going on outside of the pitch. These were all things we had to manage and get over. But I’ve still enjoyed being here, it’s immense.
“There’s no doubt this one would be sweeter because of the challenges we’ve faced. Every title you win feels great in different ways. But there’s no doubt that with everything that’s gone on this year - to get over the line this time would be a significant achievement for sure.
"I think Philippe has come in and done a really good job,” Rodgers said of his Ibrox counterpart. “He's clearly a very competent manager who has got experience.
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"He's been able to come in and galvanise the group.
"I think Celtic and Rangers should always be the teams up there fighting. I expect nothing less.
"If Michael [Beale] was there earlier in the season, I'd expect nothing less.
"If you look at points and everything else, there probably is not a big difference I would have said between them.
"For me, I respect the work that's there. I always respect every team I play.
"For me, it's really about ourselves and the challenge should always bring the best out of you. That's what we look forward to in this last period."
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