Why Brendan Rodgers smashed egg all over the doubters faces

Deathwatch? Really. The more things change the more things stay the same - right? That's 14 Glasgow derbies that Rodgers has taken part in as Celtic boss. His record to date stands at: Played 14, Won 11, Drawn 2, Lost 1. That's an incredible statistic.

Sure Celtic were turfed out of the League Cup by Kilmarnock and were woeful against St Johnstone at home in the league when they drew a blank. Some 180 minutes of football without a goal - blame the manager. It was ludicrous then and it is ludicrous now.

A burgeoning injury list that comprised two lynchpins of the last two seasons Cameron Carter-Vickers and Reo Hatate. Add Maik Nawrocki, Stephen Welsh, and Marco Tillio to the crocked list. The retiral of Aaron Mooy and the £25 million transfer of Jota to Al-Ittihad. That alone blindsided those at the top of the Celtic tree.

READ MORE: Brendan Rodgers: Media 'placed me on death watch'

Celtic were allegedly heading to Ibrox in disarray. Despite dipping into the market and signing three players - Luis Palma, Paulo Bernardo and Nat Phillips on loan, Rodgers knew exactly what he was doing when none of them played at Ibrox.

Celtic's best signing of the summer? Why it was the elite-level manager of course. A makeshift team would be fielded, yes. However, those who chose to write Rodgers and his team off before the derby clash clearly weren't paying attention. Rodgers loves the big moments. He craves them. He functions at his best whenever they come along. Ibrox was one such moment.

Rangers games as well as the European nights tend to get your managerial juices flowing. The Northern Irishman was always going to come into his own on this kind of stage. Always.

Look at his press management in the lead-up to the game. He played on the fact that half his team was missing. There was no hyperbole or defensiveness. Just a master tactician at work and he allowed the players that breathing space whilst simultaneously working on the game plan that would come to fruition at Ibrox.

The not-so-subtle shot over the bow in the Friday press conference was all you needed to know as Rodgers issued a stern reminder that he knew a thing or six about this football management malarkey as he said: "I know what it takes to win and I will show the players how to win."

All bets were off at that point as Rodgers made a statement of intent. The subtext was clear - 'Write me and my team off at your peril'. The most remarkable fact about all of it was that Rodgers performed this managerial feat with the players that he had at his disposal. That was good old-fashioned, bonafide football management of the highest order. You know, the kind you get when you hire elite-level managers.

Rodgers had clearly been working on a shape, a system, a style that would blunt Rangers ever since the final whistle had sounded against St Johnstone. A back four comprising Alistair Johnston, Gustaf Lagerbielke, Liam Scales and Greg Taylor who had never played before had those of a Rangers persuasion licking their lips prior to kick-off.

It was Rodgers, Celtic and Kyogo Furuhashi who had the last laugh on this score: "I said to them before the game that I need my men today. You need to come here, with 50,000 baying for blood, you need to come and play like a man, even though you're really young players."

When it comes down to a tactical battle of football nous between Rodgers and Michael Beale there really was only going to be one winner in that contest. The experienced manager had stayed calm in the white-hot heat of battle in the most hostile of Scottish football's colosseums.

It was Rodgers: 'Veni, Vidi, Vici' moment. Not for the first time and it certainly won't be the last.

There's a manager he resembles in this second spell. Bear with me troops - but it's Walter Smith when he returned to Ibrox the second time around. The managerial fire still raged within Smith, of course it did, but like Rodgers, he cut an altogether more relaxed figure during his second bite at the Rangers' cherry. Like Smith, Rodgers has evolved and he has kept developing throughout his managerial career. He has returned to the club a more rounded manager now exudes calmness as well as confidence. Some have mistaken that change for a detachment. It's nothing more than experience, seen it and done it all nous. History tells us where that exalted level of know-how tends to lead - success.

By the time Celtic's game against Dundee rolls around they will have some of their injured players back as well as their new signings up to speed and fully integrated into the first-team fold.

Rangers had their glint of light. The weakness was there to capitalise on given the injuries and form. Celtic will never be as exposed again under this manager. Everyone knows this. Rodgers' men will only get stronger.

READ MORE: Brendan Rodgers outlines Celtic 'dirty stuff' Rangers plan

Perhaps the most ominous thing for the rest of Scottish football is that the manager told everybody all of these things himself. He said: "We are still piecing together a team that will look a lot more like it by the end of the season.” That's a sobering and terrifying thought for the rest of the Scottish Premiership.

Rodgers is a born leader. He is a born manager. He knows the game inside out. He of all people knew that a depleted Celtic side could go to Ibrox and win. The green and white hordes weren't so sure. O ye of little faithful.

Just ask Mark Warburton whom Rodgers put to the sword. Just ask Pedro Caixinha. Just ask Ibrox caretaker manager Graeme Murty and Steven Gerrard who also copped a dose before he upped sticks for Leicester. Now it's Beale's turn to feel the wrath of Rodgers.

It's largely why those who tend to doubt this manger in such moments tend to end up with egg all over their faces. Deathwatch? Really. Look at Rodgers' derby statistics alone. It holds the key to domestic success.

The Celtic manager still knows how to do a number on Rangers and then some.