Brendan Rodgers has expressed his sympathy over Philippe Clement’s dismissal but emphasized that the former Rangers manager simply couldn’t keep pace with Celtic’s relentless pursuit of success.
During Rodgers’ time at Celtic, Clement has become the fifth Ibrox boss to depart, following Mark Warburton, Graeme Murty, Pedro Caixinha, and Michael Beale.
Rodgers commented: “Like it is for any manager, I’m always disappointed when a manager loses his job. Obviously, Philippe has been in there for the period of time that he has and I’m disappointed for him as a coach. I think we all know the conditions up here.
“You have to be winning and show that consistency to win. I’m always sad when another manager loses his job. Philippe has shown previously, coming into the Rangers, that he’s a very good manager. He’s won titles. He’s not just a good coach, he’s a winning coach and has won.
“Like I say, we know the conditions up here. There’s relentless pressure on you to win at Celtic and Rangers. Expectation is there. That doesn’t stop on a daily basis. You have to then come out and be a consistent winner.”
Rodgers acknowledged that Celtic’s unyielding drive for dominance has significantly raised the bar for their rivals at Ibrox.
He stated: “I think that’s been key too. I think we didn’t get off to the best of starts last season when I came in, certainly in terms of consistency and performance level. I think when Philippe came in, obviously, they had that bounce and had a really good run.
“But then once we started to find our feet and get our rhythm, then I think how we dealt with pressure, we dealt with it really, really well. From that moment, we’ve continued to grow and improve. It’s a great credit to the players and how they’ve coped with that and how they’ve consistently performed.”
Rodgers revealed that while he wasn’t particularly close with Clement, he held respect for his work. He said: “You don’t really have that (relationship). That’s the honest answer. I think that you actually play enough times, you come up against each other quite a lot, of course.
“But in terms of the interaction, there isn’t so much. But like I say, I’ve seen his work outside of Rangers as well. You need to look at that in his CV to show that Rangers employed a very good manager. That’s what they felt at the time and that’s why they gave him the job.”
