Brendan Rodgers has told Sky Sports that Celtic should give Steven Gerrard’s Rangers a guard of honour this weekend.
The Leicester City manager has used the example of Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson giving a guard of honour to Chelsea to make his point.
The former Celtic boss has recalled how when he was a youth coach at Chelsea, he saw the first team get a guard of honour from the Red Devils after winning the title with Jose Mourinho.
Rangers have won the Scottish Premiership title this season and will take on Celtic at Celtic Park in the Old Firm derby this weekend.
As reported by The Scottish Sun in February 2021, Rangers chose not to give Celtic a guard of honour when the teams met at Ibrox in May 2019, and it remains to be seen what the Hoops decide.
Rodgers told Sky Sports: “My feeling is always that you should show humility and class and be a sporting team. I can never forget when I was at Chelsea as a young coach and in that first season with Jose [Mourinho] they won the title.
“I remember going to Old Trafford to watch the game that evening and I’m sure that the Man United players didn’t want to do it [a guard of honour].
“That must have been really, really difficult but it showed you the class of Sir Alex [Ferguson] and showed you the humility of him.
“It was sporting but can also provide you with great motivation going forward. It’s something that for me – despite the rivalry, despite how difficult it is – you should do and then use it as motivation.”
Big decision
Some Celtic fans are already against the idea of the players giving Rangers a guard of honour in the Scottish Premiership game this weekend.
One suspects that the Celtic players will not want to either, but it would show class.
It is a big decision from the Hoops, and one will get to know it on the day itself or perhaps in the pre-match press conference.
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