Brendan Rodgers' Celtic 'narrative' quip addressed

Dial 'N' for narrative. Rodgers believes there is a perception out there that his champions are stuttering and that the rivals over on the other side of the city can do no wrong. Rangers drew level on points and goal difference in midweek with the men in green and white. Nothing changed though. Celtic remained top of the table on goals scored.

For the second time in succession, the Northern Irishman came out swinging and shooting from the hip. The 51-year-old wasn't buying any media narrative that Rangers were hovering like a praying mantis waiting to pounce on an unsuspecting prey. In most European leagues winning eight out of nine matches would constitute a team in red-hot form. Not in Scotland or Glasgow to be more precise. Nope, Rodgers knows that when it comes to Glasgow's big two it is he who is in charge of Celtic's title destiny., It is Celtic and only Celtic who can pen their own narrative this season and to hell with what anyone else thinks.

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When asked about the so-called narrative being constructed around his team and if it had lit a fire under him, Rodgers said: "No, not at all. I don't need what you guys say to spike me up. To be fair, I don't care. My focus is with the team. I understand and I get the feeling that you have to create that. I understand this city in that the two teams cannot be doing well.

"When I was at Liverpool, both Everton and Liverpool could be doing well at the same time. That can't happen here. One has to be pushed down. For us, it is us because we are at the top. We slipped up in early December but that narrative has continued right the way through even though the players have won eight games out of nine. They have won some tough games and drawn one game. I can't control that. What I can control is the mindset of the team, the attitude of the team and knowing that over this next period of games, we will be really focused and really aggressive and attack the game. What everyone else says or writes, I couldn't care less.

"I think our response from the two games where we conceded early in December has been absolutely brilliant. Probably in any other country eight wins out of nine is a very good return. I have been here in Scotland and I know that eight wins out of nine is a disaster when you are top of the league. I just focus on what we need to do."

Speaking of Liverpool, it was former Reds boss the legendary Bill Shankly who famously quipped: "Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that."

It isn't, of course. Rodgers was keen to stress that in the situation involving Celtic's Israeli winger Liel Abada Rodgers may have had cause to think of that line this week as he gave a rather candid update on Abada and his future.

Last Sunday, Rodgers revealed that the forward wasn't in the right frame of mind to play for the club against St Mirren and did not feature as he struggled to deal with the conflict in his native Israel. The winger is once again not in the squad for the Kilmarnock game and Rodgers insists that he has a duty of care to the player in this instance. He said: "It is still the same situation. I've had lots of conversations with Liel. I'm really empathetic towards the issue that he has.

"It is more than football, it's real on a human level. I have to respect that. He's training and he's working away. This period is all about the mind and if you are not quite right or ready then first I can't take any risk with him as a player as we will always support him. I also have to protect the squad as well.

"It is ongoing. We will just assess it this weekend and see where it is at. I take a great responsibility. That's why we are here. My job is not just a football manager. It is to look after players. This is a young guy who is 22 years of age, far, far away from home. People can talk about what is going on there and then they can forget about it. This is the reality for him, it is his life. Every single day, every night, families in a war. It is a really, really tough situation for him.

"On a human level, I have real empathy for him. It is my job and we will do that like I have done with many players before and take the human aspect and look after him and whenever he is ready, if he is ever ready then he will be able to give us everything. Family is more important than football. That’s ultimately where it’s at. This is family, and this is life. This is an incredible profession and it’s a great job but it’s not more important than life.

"There are many situations that I’ve had to deal with as a manager over time and in lots of them you don’t have to get on the coaching courses, but this is where experience and being empathetic to the situation. You have to understand and sit in his shoes as a very young guy. He’s done great for this club and it’s the sadness of it where he resigned for us because he had that great belief that he could go on and develop. Then he had a period out injured, which was a shame and then now having come back he’s found it a real challenge. I’m here for him to support him and everything else is secondary to that.

When probed if Abada would have to look elsewhere to play football or perhaps go out on loan, Rodgers said: "It’s a possibility, but we’ll see. We’ll work together on that."

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Meanwhile, Celtic' entertain this season's 'bogey team' Kilmarnock tomorrow on league business at Parkhead. Killie haven't paid any attention to anything all season and Derek McInnes' upstarts have upset the form book big time and are currently riding high in the table in fourth position.

McInnes is most certainly in the running as a manager of the year contender and his Ayrshire men sport three Premiership and League Cup wins over both Celtic and Rangers this season. However, Rodgers also wasn't interested in the narrative that Killie are one of the teams who have caused the most damage to Celtic's title chances by inflicting a league defeat on them back in December at Rugby Park.

Rodgers dismissed the notion that Celtic had squandered a seven-point lead at the top of the tree. He said: "There are still a lot of games to go. I think it is great for the league. You never go into any league or any league title and think it is going to be a procession. It is hard work and hard graft. Over 38 games the best team will always win the league.

"For us, it is all about ourselves and our own attitude and mindset. In that aspect, it is very, very good. We just have to focus on each of our games and worry about ourselves. Let's see where that takes us. I have seen that lots of times but the actual reality is the most we would have ever been in front would have been five points. If you take away the two games. We were never seven points clear.

"There were still two games that they had to play and they have now played them. We have dropped five points but I'm not kicking myself. It is what happens throughout the season."

Strap yourself in folks. The Scottish Premiership title narrative still has plenty of twists and turns to go yet. Even Rodgers is well aware of that.