As Rangers returned to the top of the Scottish Premiership, the difference in reaction around Philippe Clement and Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has been stark.
The 49-year-old Belgian has scarcely meandered from his strict “one game at a time” mantra and has treated the challenge in front of him with the utmost respect.
As some Rangers fans get carried away, and others goad their Celtic rivals as is their duty, Clement is clear that there will be no slacking within Ibrox on his watch with the ex-Monaco manager very much “in control of the controlables”.
Across the city, control is not a word which could be attributed to Brendan Rodgers and his Celtic side with a distinct lack of unity from top to bottom disrupting our Old Firm rivals.
Celtic arrogance turns to Rangers confidence
No-one inside Rangers will let it go to their heads after topping the Scottish Premiership, but there’s a slickness and unity at Ibrox which is glaringly missing from Celtic Park.
Brendan Rodgers has swanned back into Celtic after a Premier League absence with an air of arrogance which has been shattered in recent weeks.
Rodgers’ Celtic Park detractors were initially instructed to meet him back at the stadium’s car park come May. We assume Rodgers meant to celebrate a title, but if things keep going as they are it’ll be to demand the £2m-a-year manager is sacked.
Philippe Clement was also apparently the fifth Rangers manager to be swatted away by his arrogant Celtic excellence in December’s dodgy Old Firm encounter.
Those are comments the stumbling Parkhead boss has quickly sought to backtrack on in the weeks since the season resumed.
Heading into the weekend’s draw with Kilmarnock the seven-point Celtic lead when Clement took over was apparently a media-manufactured fallacy. Turns out it wasn’t.
It’s almost like this isn’t the same Rangers team from Rodgers’s first stint which was propped up by Joe Garner, Philippe Senderos, Joey Barton and co.
Only the Celtic manager didn’t appear to get the memo.
Philippe Clement piling on Brendan Rodgers pressure
Perhaps Rodgers feels he’s too good for Scottish football, perhaps he feels he’s better than his squad, but the difference in atmosphere between Rodgers at Parkhead and Clement at Rangers really is palpable.
There are no excuses within the walls of Ibrox – Philippe Clement has taken absolute responsibility of what happens at Rangers with a full focus on his side and nothing else.
The Ibrox boss has overcome a monumental – and ongoing – injury crisis, whilst bad weather, bad pitches, a lack of transfer resources, and a lack of synergy between fans and players have been viewed as athletic hurdles to clear rather than crippling handicaps.
At Celtic, stumbling transfer windows, injuries, the media, the conflict in the Middle East, and everything in between, have provided enough distraction for a club on the verge of implosion.
There is real confidence that even if Rangers are to stumble, manager Philippe Clement can retain full focus on the Scottish Premiership title and prevent a complete collapse.
At Celtic it really feels like Brendan Rodgers’ side are one more bad result away from karmic free fall and as Rangers keep winning the pressure is rising to boiling point.
