When Brendan Rodgers’ time was up at Leicester City, he was asked what he intended to do next.

The manager ? who, as we all know by now, has a lyrical turn of phrase that isn’t to everyone’s liking ? is reputed to have said he was going to “Bank some blue skies”. It was his colourful way of saying he was going to retreat to his doubtless lavish home in Spain and draw breath.

On Saturday, he banked a fortune for Celtic instead, having foregone blue skies for the climate of suspicion that is Scottish football and proved wrong the supporters of his own club who denounced him in the most public fashion when he replaced the outgoing Ange Postecoglou at the start of the season. A win over Rangers is always the day when their rivals’ despair is of even greater satisfaction than their own happiness for the Celtic fans. And they earned that emotion after being put through the wringer by their own team.

After taking a two-goal lead the Hoops then displayed defensive laxity to allow Cyriel Dessers’ headed finish. Matt O’Riley joined in the loss of concentration after Rangers had been reduced to 10 men by the dismissal of John Lundstram . O’Riley’s penalty miss was an exercise in lethargy and over confidence and set a damaging tone for the remainder of a game for the home side.

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Lundstram’s day was a personal disaster, scoring a spectacularly awful own goal and then compounding the felony with a ridiculous lunge at Alistair Johnston that resulted in a deserved red card. As if Rangers boss Philippe Clement hadn’t enough to concern him after accusing Rodgers of disrespect ? then being let down by his own players, Lundstram having disrespected the need for maximum effort

Rodgers said he thought his team would have “fun” against Rangers and he was proved accurate when they achieved the result which makes them overwhelming favourites to retain the title. Glasgow must be the only city in the world where there can be such a forensic examination of a three-letter word by grown-up people.

When Clement seized upon the word “fun” it was imagined he was using it as a motivation tool for his players. But if you really need to manipulate a fellow manager’s words in order to motivate players for an Old Firm game which has the championship at stake, does that not hint at a character deficiency inside the dressing room?

The Glasgow vernacular, which has a phrase appropriate for every occasion, would sum up the league table as it stands by saying Celtic should get the jail if they fail to capitalise on their advantage. When a title win is formalised Rodgers is due an apology from the fans who occasionally made the load he was carrying even more cumbersome.

The man has been pilloried and vilified. But, throughout it all, Rodgers has maintained his composure and presented a public face which doubtless masked how he was feeling.

He would have been well within his rights on Saturday to have given full vent on the subject of how he has been treated. But temper in the midst of triumph isn’t a good look, and last week’s photo of Rodgers and 41 other Celtic employees to mark his Manager of the Month award for April was more in keeping with the club image he is intent on promoting.

Now will come the internal restructuring at Parkhead, beginning with a recruitment policy which did more than any rival club to sabotage the team’s progress. A grotesquely ineffective, and costly, raft of signings led to resignations once the extent of the flaws in the system had been exposed.

The Celtic players go into their pre match huddle as the Celtic fans unveil a banner aimed at their former manager Brendan Rodgers

Rodgers deserves recognition and commendation, for standing on the verge of a title in spite of, as opposed to because
of, the resources he had to work with. Those who called him a “Judas” for going to Leicester might now have to stand by and watch him plant the league flag on the moral high ground.

His credentials as the club’s most important man have been re-established, with or without apologies. Meanwhile, so near and yet so far is never an acceptable measurement of distance in the context of which order Celtic and Rangers come in the league table.

Clement can hope, of course, that the champions have a belated form of collapse on a cataclysmic level away to Kilmarnock and then at home to St Mirren on the final day of the league season. But Rodgers has surely come too far, and overcome too much, for that to be a realistic possibility. And Clement may still be haunted by the thought that his audacious transformation of the listless team he inherited imploded after back to back disappointments at Dingwall and Dundee.

Hard work lies ahead if Celtic now go on to add Champions League money to an extravagant ? by Scottish standards ? bank balance and create a financial imbalance. The going under Rodgers’ feet has gone from shaky to firm as the winning post comes into view. This should be his moment. Fun and games, you might say.