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Glasgow Live
Glasgow Live
Sport
Steven Mair

Brendan Rodgers lifts lid on Celtic's Red Imps debacle as angry team bus send off led to key realisation

Former Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has lifted the lid on the Lincoln Red Imps debacle that saw his dominant tenure in Glasgow get off on the wrong foot.

His first competitive game as Hoops boss was a Champions League qualifier against the Gibraltarian minnows in July 2016.

And against all the odds, a Lee Casciaro strike delivered the hosts a shock 1-0 victory.

The return leg would deliver a comfortable 3-0 victory to overturn the deficit - but Rodgers didn't have time to think about home comforts when a group of irate Celtic fans who had travelled to the rock gave the team bus an angry send-off.

In conversation with Liverpool legend Robbie Fowler on his podcast, Rodgers began: "We had a really good pre-season, and then we were drawn this team in the Champions League.

"Without being arrogant, I know over the two games we would get through. But that night, I knew that... 'right, Christ'.

"I walked over to applaud the Celtic supporters for coming and, erm... they weren't happy.

"Even though it was pre-season, and even though they could probably see there was a huge demand.

"I remember getting in the bus and leaving the ground and there was the support around the bus that weren't happy.

"I thought, 'wow, right, you've got to be good here'. There's no grace, you've got to be good in every game.

"So we lost that, it was a horrible evening, 36 degrees on a dry astroturf pitch.

"Craig Gordon was about 1,000 yards from a Monarch airliner that was just coming in around the back.

"The setting was lovely, but the result wasn't so good!"

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