During his two spells in charge of Celtic, Brendan Rodgers has seen off many a Rangers revival. And as he highlighted rather pointedly around a year ago, he had seen five Ibrox managers off the premises too. The departure of Philippe Clement since that barb, incidentally, makes it six.
Under his seventh Old Firm adversary though, Barry Ferguson, there is a notion that while Rangers may well be flakier than a 99 against the lesser lights of the league, they might just have Celtic’s number.
With the takeover from 49ers Enterprises in the pipeline and a summer of sweeping changes ahead, the recent upper hand that Rangers have enjoyed in this fixture is further fuelling hope on the other side of the city that a changing of the guard may well be in the offing, and that they can at last upset this era of Celtic dominance.
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Rodgers, and Celtic, may well have something to say about that, you would imagine. Though, when he was asked if he expects a stronger challenge from Ibrox next term because of the factors listed above, not just yet.
“Talk to me in the summer on that,” Rodgers said.
“We're not even finished this season yet. I know there's not a lot for you to write about or talk about or speak about, but speak about this season first.
“Speak about how good Celtic have been and how consistent we've been and how our mentality has been really good. How this group of players, despite some knockbacks, they keep going and they keep fighting and they keep running and they keep working. We can speak about next season then.
“But I think all we can do is control ourselves and control how we play and how we work, and the work that we do that can hopefully lead us to be a champion.
“So, that's something that I like to manage, that messaging with the players and that narrative around all of that. Because like I said, it's not our story, what's written and what people's headline is or what their themes are.
“People have to write, they have to report, they have to have podcasts, they've got to have shows on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Sunday this week too!
“So, there's lots going on there, isn't there? But for us, we control ourselves and it's easily done.”
Still, if Rodgers isn’t placing too much stock in the theory that the final meeting between the sides this season may produce a psychological effect that lingers into the next one, there is no disguising his determination to come out on the winning side this time after two defeats on the bounce.
“This is a game that is all about pride and we've proved our point over the course of this season in terms of our performance level and consistency,” he said.
“I think the challenge in these games is we've been so comfortable going into the games and I felt that has really disrupted our mindset.
“When it was win or bust in the cup final, we win it, that's it. These games, we've been so comfortable and even though you're pushing - I know what these games mean to supporters and what it means to myself and the club - there just can be that little bit in the back of the mind that you're 13 points clear or 16 points clear, and so that has taken a fraction of an edge off that you don't want, but there's maybe a subconscious thing there.
“But this here is our last game. We are fighting for the pride of our team and also for our supporters because we lost the last game at Ibrox, deservedly so.
“We shouldn't have lost the game at home, but we did, and we have to make that right in the last game. “I hear the talk up here about meaningless games. There's never that.
“A Celtic Rangers game, there's never a meaningless game, or there's nothing in the game. There's everything in this game, everything. So, we have to go and prove that on the field.
“Yes, we are champions, the best team, the most consistent team with the mentality, Champions League progression, all of that. But these are important games.
“So, the message, our preparation has been really good. We had our little hiccup against St Johnstone, from that you see the reaction, the players have been brilliant.
“I always think now at this stage of the season, we've set targets, we've set goals for the last five games and the cup final but we're also preparing for next season. We're trying to look to finish strong so we can prepare for that as well.”
Furthermore, there is a theory that all of this is rather easy for their manager, but Rodgers says that anyone who thinks so would soon be disabused of the notion if they were to spend a day in his shoes.
The pressure he is under at Celtic is, he says, the most he has ever felt in football.
“When you are in this run, this era that we're in in terms of winning, then it can be deemed as [boring] or tedious and all the words that are used, but it's absolutely not,” he said.
“I can tell you that from all the clubs I've ever been at, this is the biggest, pressurised job I've been in and that's because you cannot afford to lose a game of football.
“You imagine any team that's out there, they'll get a pass for a draw, they'll get a pass for a win. Sometimes we don't even get a pass for a win, we can get a win and be booed off!
“So, that relentless nature, that's what I love about the job. The expectation of the support base is to always be better, to always improve, and that drives you forward.
“You know you can never just rest on your laurels here at Celtic. So, that means that every single day of your life you have to be on it, you have to be really focused, you have to be prepared.
“You know that the other team you're playing against are going to give that extra 10-15% physically, mentally because every time you operate as a Celtic player, a manager, you're managing a final scenario.
“That is there virtually every game, and so to prepare the team, to prepare the training and the practice and the schedule and everything else that goes with that, to deal with that pressure, to leave you in the best possible position when you play your game, then it's not straightforward.”
