Back in those jittery times of yore, when medieval simpletons in smocks were frightened by the sight of a turnip, you had to watch what you were saying.

Dropping the words curse, jinx or hoodoo into everyday conversation would have had you condemned as a witch and immediately drowned in the village pond for heresy.

These days, of course, such terms are trotted out in regular abandon amid the rough and tumble of football reportage as a series of adverse results are suddenly wrapped in a spell that can only be lifted with some kind of elaborate ceremonial hocus-pocus.

Read more: Old Firm pain leads to gains for Scott BrownThe Herald: Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers celebrates at full-time.

The well-worn phrase ‘Hampden Hoodoo’, for example, was almost stitched into the Dundee United club crest after they lost six Scottish Cup finals at the national stadium before finally ending that wretched run with victory in 1994.

Given how many times Celtic have triumphed in various cups out in that big bowl in Mount Florida down the years, it would seem almost preposterous to suggest that this south side theatre gives those giants from the east end a sense of the heebie jeebies. These are preposterous times, though. How else do you explain the US presidential race? In their last three semi-final appearances at Hampden, against Rangers, Ross County and Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Celtic have lost and those superstitious souls are already wringing their hands.

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Today it’s Rangers again in the last four. of the Betfred Cup “It is something I’m not really worried about,” said Brendan Rodgers, the Celtic manager. That’s the run of defeats he’s talking about, not Rangers. Then again, after his team slaughtered the disjointed Ibrox men 5-1 in the league a few weeks ago, he could be justified in displaying shrugging nonchalance.

“I had the same thing with Tottenham when I was at Liverpool,” added Rodgers of this so-called curse. “White Hart Lane was this place we had struggled in, and never played well at by all accounts. The first season we went there we lost 2-0 but played well and gained confidence that we could actually play well at somewhere that notoriously was not so good. After that the following year we won 5-0, then the following year 3-0 and dominated at home so then all of a sudden Tottenham wasn’t the (bogey) team, the stadium wasn’t either.

“For us there are no excuses. It is a good pitch, a good size and it’s big which suits the pace in our game. You can make an excuse if you want. It’s not for me.”

Today’s occasion will mark a first visit to Hampden Park for Rodgers and while that may be something of a step into the unknown, the 43-year-old will no doubt be greeted by a familiar sight when the two teams take to the turf. With all the predictability of night following day, Mark Warburton, the Rangers manager, will probably stick to his preferred 4-3-3 formation. Rodgers is not anticipating any radical departures from the norm.

“I don’t think so,” he replied when asked if Rangers would spring a surprise. “If you look at Mark’s history at Rangers, he has played a way and has a belief in that system, whether that is 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1. We always prepare for what an opponent may do or what they’d maybe need to change but I think fundamentally they will be their standard shape and style.”

The revamping of the League Cup means Rodgers, who lost two semi-finals during his time at Liverpool, could have a bit of silverware plonked in the Parkhead cabinet long before the Christmas decorations go up. There’s still plenty of work to do to make sure that happens but Rodgers is eager to ensure it does.

“For myself and the group it would mean a lot,” he said of a potential cup conquest in his first few months at the helm. “Obviously it was one of our collective goals to get to the final and we have to go and do that and earn the right. We’ve sort of ticked off our goals of as we’ve gone along in the season. This is again something we are hungry for and want to achieve. It is a real stimulus for players, coaches and managers to have a chance of a trophy in November. It is great so you’ve got to get there.”

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The topsy-turvy nature of Celtic’s campaign continued on Wednesday night when they lost 2-0 at home to Borussia Monchengladbach in the Champions League. On the home front, Rodgers’s troops have established their superiority. In the wider, European battlegrounds, though, they have been on the back foot. The mid-week reversal was another eye-opening and chastening experience but Rodgers remains philosophical as he tries to maintain some kind of level-headed middle ground in a game where it is easy to lose the head.

“What I say to the players is always pretty much the same; don’t get too carried away when you win and don’t get too down when you lose,” said the Northern Irishman. “You have to reflect, you have to understand the reasons why when things don’t go to well for us. That is what we work on behind the scenes. You do that very quickly, put it to the side and then move on and get on with the next game. They come thick and fast so you can’t afford to analyse too much because you need to get confidence in the players so they can go again. There is no greater game to follow something like that than a semi-final.”