BRENDAN Rodgers revealed he praised his Celtic players in advance of yesterday’s derby at Ibrox then watched them defeat Rangers 2-1 to conclude the year undefeated domestically. Goals from Moussa Dembele and Scott Sinclair sealed the victory after Kenny Miller had given the home side an early lead. Celtic now lead the SPFL Premiership by 19 points with a game in hand.
"I thanked them before the game on behalf of myself as manager and the supporters for how they have been playing for a magnificent club,” said Rodgers. “They have got themselves on a real exciting path going forward.
“They have reached the Champions League, won the League Cup, and shown an incredible resilience that we have tried to foster so that you are never beaten. You go right to the end. It has been a huge achievement for them, especially this month's nine games. To have won eight of those and drawn away at Manchester City in the Champions League, I think everyone would commend them for what a great effort it has been. Hopefully in the second half of the season we will be even stronger.”
In contrast, Mark Warburton could not hide his frustration as Rangers’ 15-month unbeaten run at home came to a crashing end.
“I’m disappointed obviously as we’ve lost a game of football,” he said. “And we’ve lost our record at home which is more than disappointing.”
Warburton also said he was disappointed with an apparent “conflict of interest” after the SFA offered defender Rob Kiernan a two-game ban for punching St Johnstone defender Steven Anderson in Rangers’ midweek draw at McDiarmid Park. The Rangers manager appeared to be referring to comments made by Stephen Craigan, the Motherwell coach, who was covering the game for BT Sport. If Kiernan’s bid is upheld, he will miss two matches against the Fir Park side.
“I’m disappointed, in terms of the coverage,” Warburton. said. “Both the coverage and the conflict of interest, for me. That is my own personal view. It doesn’t sit right with me. To have criticism of that level, and the impact it could potentially have, it is a conflict of interest and something that has to be better.”
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