Celtic's seventh successive title could be Brendan Rodgers' parting gift if Arsenal believe he fits the bill
The serendipity of the fixture list sees two managers linked by speculation encounter each other at Easter Road on Saturday. A win for Brendan Rodgers and Celtic against Hibs would secure a seventh successive title for the Hoops and take them to within one victory of an unprecedented second successive clean sweep of the Scottish honours.
That accomplishment could be Rodgers’ parting gift to the Parkhead faithful, if his status as a favourite to succeed Arsene Wenger should culminate in a move to Arsenal. Celtic’s single largest shareholder, Dermot Desmond, made a telling intervention in that regard, when he told Sky Sports: “We wouldn’t want him to leave but we won’t force him to stay.
“Hopefully his love for the club and the set-up here will induce him to stay. I don't think you can put handcuffs on anybody if they want to go to a club as good as Arsenal. It will be Brendan's decision and his decision only.”
Should Rodgers depart, Neil Lennon – his opposite number today - will be cited as a prime candidate to return to the east end of Glasgow, from whence he departed in 2014 after four years in charge, during which spell Celtic won three consecutive titles to commence the sequence which is on the verge of being supplemented with another.
Lennon’s decision to leave was fuelled by frustration at the absence of a challenge in the league, with Rangers mired in the lower divisions after the financial implosion at Ibrox in 2012. He added a spell with Bolton Wanderers to his CV before leaving in March 2016 and joining Hibs that summer.
In Lennon’s first season in Edinburgh Hibs returned to the Scottish Premiership after a three-year absence and their performances have exceeded expectations, to the extent that they are only three points behind Rangers and Aberdeen in the tussle for second place. The conspiracy theorists have had fun with this weekend’s card, with one narrative suggesting that Celtic would not be unhappy to draw with Hibs, to boost their former favourite’s chances of overtaking Rangers while preserving the possibility of Rodgers & Co securing the title at home in next weekend’s Old Firm derby.
A supplementary contention is that, should such a possibility materialise, then Rangers will not exert themselves unduly to prevent Hearts securing some reward when the pair meet at Ibrox on Sunday, so that Graeme Murty and his players are not once more cast in the role of sacrificial lambs so soon after their slaughter in last weekend’s William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final at Hampden Park.
Such vapourings exclude Aberdeen’s part in the league endgame but they have added to the habitual gaiety of Glasgow pub conversations throughout the week. Not that Murty has been touring the city’s establishments in the aftermath of the derby trauma at Hampden, which was followed by news that two Rangers veterans – Lee Wallace and Kenny Miller – had been suspended by the club because of a dressing room row after the final whistle.
Murty refused to discuss the incident, citing it as ‘an internal issue’, but also declared that he had not kept himself out of sight. “What am I going to do, hide under a rock? No, I won't,” he said.
“Listen, I've walked around when we've done really well and people have been patting me on the back. We have to take the good and the bad times. You have to be man enough to front up to it.”
Murty revealed that he had received strong support from his directors and staff – although he has not spoken to the Rangers chairman, Dave King – but admitted that the reverberations from last weekend’s debacle were still being felt, particularly in the instances of Daniel Candeias and Andy Halliday, both of whom were visibly angered by being substituted, particularly Halliday, who got the hook five minutes before the interval.
“Andy didn’t direct any dissent towards me to my face, but I don’t expect him to be happy coming off the pitch, having been substituted that early,” said Murty. “Daniel plainly wasn’t happy to come off.
“He said afterwards that he didn’t believe that he had done himself justice. He was desperate to stay on and play in a big, big game.
“I am giving Andy a bit of space at the moment. He looks a little bit raw. As a human being I respect his space, but before Sunday Andy and I will have a sit down and have a chat.”
Asked if there was still an issue with Halliday, Murty said, “Possibly”. He added: “Andy has focused in to training really, really well. I commend what he’s doing. I will address an issue with a player, as a person, at a time I consider appropriate.”
No time like the present, one would have thought, but these are turbulent days at Ibrox – and perhaps there will soon be upheavals at Celtic Park and Easter Road, too, with the other domino in the series being resolution of the imminent managerial vacancy at the Emirates.
