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The Celtic lesson Brendan Rodgers learned from Rangers boss that proves he is 'far from stupid' amid Ange aftershock

Gordon Strachan has lauded the slow build in Rodgers second coming at Celtic Park.

Bullish Gordon Strachan reckons Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has learned from missteps at rivals Rangers since his return to the dugout.


The Irishman has fined tuned the Scottish Premiership champions since taking over for a second time at Celtic Park in the wake of Ange Postecgolou's Treble winning success - providing the best performance since his return on derby day to send the Hoops four points clear of their Ibrox rivals in the early rounds of the campaign. And former Parkhead boss Strachan reckons the Celtic boss has made the correct choice to slowly implement his style after the success of Angeball in Glasgow's east end,


Strachan reckons Rodgers will have learned to slow down his overhaul after Gio van Bronckhorst ripped up the Rangers playbook when he took over from Steven Gerrard - noting the uphill battle Rodgers faces after taking over from a "successful coach" who is now plying his trade at Tottenham. Strachan told Gambling Zone: "Brendan is far from a stupid man. He must have known that when he went into the job, taking over from Ange Postecoglou, how difficult it would be to follow him.


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"I’m not talking about just keeping to the same standards that Ange and his team set, but in many ways, he would be wary of not making too many changes while also having the self-awareness to not completely plagiarise what Ange did with his tactical set-up. He wouldn’t sit back and think to himself, ‘let’s keep everything exactly the same’.

"There are always tweaks and tactics that managers will naturally defer too. Brendan knows that if he tries to change things completely, that can be disruptive, so it’s about finding the right balance. Gio van Bronckhorst had that problem at Rangers.

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"Gerrard had a successful system using inverted wingers whereas Gio van Bronckhorst wanted his wingers to stay out wide. He changed the style that Steven Gerrard had successfully put in place and went for a brand of football that was typically Dutch – we all know what happened there.

"It’s very difficult for a manager to take over from a successful coach, especially one that was playing the football that Ange was playing. He played a brand of football that nobody had seen at Celtic before. We also know that Brendan has been very successful playing his way."

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Celtic FCRangers FCScottish PremiershipGio van BronckhorstSteven GerrardBrendan RodgersMichael Beale
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