Chris Sutton issues Rangers claim amid Brendan Rodgers ‘good girl’ controversy at Celtic
Brendan Rodgers is “under the pump” and is railing against a perceived narrative that Rangers will now win the league, according to Chris Sutton.
The pundit said on It’s All Kicking Off on 26 February that the controversy around Rodgers’ dismissive “good girl” response to BBC Scotland’s Jane Lewis, after the late 3-1 win over Motherwell on 25 February, was overblown but accepted the line of questioning was legitimate as the Celtic boss refused to elaborate on the supposed “story being written” about his side.
Sutton admits Rodgers is feeling the pressure after a “ballsy” return to Parkhead, with his side now behind the Light Blues in the title race when “second in Glasgow is last”, and gave his own interpretation of what the manager is trying to do with the Rangers narrative.
(38m 20s): “This is a guy who’s gone back to Celtic. He left under a bit of a cloud, we all know that. I thought he was really ballsy to go back and take the job.
“He’s taken the job and it’s been a really difficult season. The Champions League hasn’t gone well, second in Glasgow is last so the pressure is on him, and he would have been a bit cranky…
“The stuff about the narrative, the question Jane Lewis asked, I thought was a legitimate question. Nobody knows what narrative Brendan is talking about. I can only assume he’s talking about people expecting Rangers to win the league now and that’s dead and buried, the title race, and he’s trying to use that galvanise his team and his dressing room…
“There is no other city like Glasgow in the footballing world as far as I can see, it’s a goldfish bowl, it has that reputation. This is guy who is under the pump. His Celtic team haven’t performed as they should have done this season, and I think he’s feeling it.”
Brendan Rodgers ‘under the pump’ with Celtic behind Rangers in title race
Confidence is understandably high around Rangers thanks to the stunning revival Philippe Clement has staged since he took over from Michael Beale.
A nine-point swing in the Scottish Premiership, while picking up the Viaplay Cup along the way, will do that.
But the general attitude from the Belgian and his players is that nothing is decided yet, with the 5-0 demolition of Hearts at the weekend suggesting they are still fully focused on the task at hand.
Rodgers can try to build an us-against-the-world narrative on the other side of Glasgow, but while some have suggested it is the Light Blues’ title to lose that is far from the prevailing position, and it is Rodgers himself who is arguably the most high-profile figure to bring it to light.
He was highly dismissive of Lewis in a way that a manager who wasn’t under pressure surely wouldn’t have been, so he can push back against his side being written off by all means but his demeanour suggests he fears that more than anyone.
In other Rangers news, a pundit apologised over his furious reaction to controversy at Ibrox.
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