PEDRO Caixinha, the Rangers manager, may be of the view that Scott Brown, the Celtic captain, is a dirty player who was lucky to escape a red card for the second Old Firm game in succession for elbowing an opponent.
Yet, Tom Rogic is in no doubt whatsoever he is currently playing alongside a man who will one day be considered an all-time great of the Parkhead club.
Rogic might have opened the scoring for the Scottish champions in another one-sided triumph over their Glasgow rivals at Ibrox with a well-taken second half goal at a Leigh Griffiths corner.
But the Australian forward’s fine personal performance, and indeed that of every one of Brendan Rodgers’s players, was once again overshadowed by that of their central midfielder and skipper Brown.
The 32-year-old snuffed out Rangers attacks, won balls in the air, distributed possession intelligently and didn’t stop running once for 90 whirlwind minutes.
Few in the 50,116-strong crowd, not least his team mate, was in the slightest bit surprised at the contribution of a man who flourishes in the intense and, for some at least, intimidating atmosphere of the Old Firm game.
“Scott is massive for us,” said Rogic. “When you have your captain leading by example in almost all of our matches - you saw it in the Betfred Cup tie at Dundee as well – it helps you enormously.
“He seems to win every 50-50 he goes into. He puts himself about for tackles and when the ball comes to him, he is calm and composed. He gets us set up on the right foot. He is crucial for us. He is a leader who leads by example.
“He has been an exceptional player for a number of years now. We are fortunate to have a captain like him to play under. It makes our job easier. He will be one that, when he stops playing, people will look back and see him as a real legend of the club. I guess time will tell.”
Caixinha took great exception to the Scotland internationalist’s challenge on Alfredo Morelos shortly before half-time and approached him as he made his way up the tunnel.
Rogic, though, felt that Brown had once again helped him, and all of his fellow Celtic players, to perform at their very best by playing with the utmost commitment and desire to succeed.
“He’s been at the club since day one for me,” he said. “He’s one of the few who are still here since I joined. He doesn’t always have to say something to you, he just leads by example. It rubs off on his team-mates.”
“I think we felt good on Saturday. Our performance was good. I think form start to finish we felt pretty comfortable in the match. We possibly could have had a few more goals.
“We feel like we are going to win every game we go into. We have that mindset. I think it is important just to focus on ourselves. That is what we did. That is what gives us the confidence to keep going game after game and keep winning.”
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