FOOTBALL is a passionate game – particularly in the heat of the Old Firm battle with the league title on the line.
And players and staff of Celtic and Rangers wore their hearts on their sleeves this afternoon in the course of what was a dramatic afternoon in the Premiership title race.
While all parties exchanged handshakes at the final whistle as you would expect, the two technical areas are metres apart and it didn’t appear that they saw eye to eye on absolutely everything.
And while it wasn’t spotted during the live TV coverage, a still picture taken during the second half captured Rangers coach Alex Rae and Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers exchanging words, while Philippe Clement kept a watchful eye on the situation.
There were a number of controversial decisions during the match – with referee Willie Collum sticking with his on-field decision to award the Hoops a penalty which Jack Butland subsequently saved.
Hoops No 2 John Kennedy was also in attendance, and fourth official Don Robertson didn’t seem too concerned about anything that was going on.
There was an interesting build-up between the two camps after Rodgers said that he planned to have a “bit of fun” in the match.
After the 3-0 win against Hearts he said: “Take nothing for granted, keep our composure, we have a lot of work to do in the week, get our plan ready.
“And then next Saturday we can have a bit of fun.”
But his opposite number Clement was none too happy about the comment, saying: “That it is something that I would never say about an opponent. But okay, we will see.
“It’s not really respectful towards my team. That is what I think. So I will never say things like that about an opponent.”
Rodgers then said that the reaction was “totally without merit”, adding that the matches with Rangers were a bit part of why he returned to the club for a second time.
Rodgers said: “I think anyone who was at my press conference would have sensed the way it was said.
“Obviously the reaction to that is totally without merit and has no context whatsoever.”
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