Rodgers can consign another Ibrox affiliated manager to the scrapheap, if Celtic dish out a hiding to Hearts this weekend

I get the feeling that Steven Naismith has had a few sleepless nights in the run up to taking his Hearts side to Celtic Park tomorrow.

I, for one, am really looking forward to watching him squirm as Rodgers and his on form charges will probably hand his hapless side a footballing lesson.

And I think I speak for most Celtic fans when I say that we all developed a strong dislike for Hearts last season.

Our December defeat to Naismith’s side was a tough one to swallow.

With their horrible brand of defensive football, the Jambos had two shots on target in the whole contest, and scored from both.

Celtic had 77% of the possession that day, and 22 attempts on goal.

It was a smash and grab, and it left most of the bewildered Celtic fans walking out of Celtic Park that afternoon wondering if we really could win the 2023/24 title.

However, it wasn’t that game against Hearts that really intensified our dislike for Naismith’s side, and his rancid brand of football.

It was the follow up fixture at Tynecastle in March of 2024.

A game that will go down in infamy.

It was the John Beaton and the Don Robertson show.

Beaton was in the VAR room (or van, not sure which), and Robertson was the man in the middle.

Beaton decided, you know, because he’s the best and “toppest” referee in Scottish football, that he was going to take over proceedings entirely.

Robertson effectively became his puppet (or bitch, whatever way you want to look at it), questioning absolutely nothing Beaton asked him to look at it.

The end result was Celtic being reduced to ten men, then having a goal disallowed, and finally, the most absurd penalty decision you’ve ever seen to ensure Hearts took the lead.

It was an uphill battle thereafter.

By the end Celtic found themselves on the end of a 2-0 loss.

As a result, we missed the chance to return to the summit of the league table.

To say Rodgers was seething at the end of that game against Hearts would be an understatement.

This was his initial reaction on Sky sports afterwards:

I never like to comment on officials but that cost us today. The officiating from on field to John Beaton being on VAR, that was really poor. I look at the first incident (red card) and if you put a still on that it looks dangerous, but that’s not the reality of the move. There’s no force there, the ball’s popped up. It’s a booking.

That’s really disappointing to go down to 10 men for that but to receive a penalty against us, wow, that was even worse. If you watch the incident again Tomoki’s jumped, he’s on his way down and he’s not looking as he’s been nudged a little bit which then pushes his arm out.

If that’s a penalty then you will have penalties in every single game, every single week. That is just absolutely shocking decision making and I feel really disappointed for our players and our supporters.

Rodgers went further afterwards, and stated that Beaton was incompetent.

A comment that resulted in him being hauled up in front of the Hampden beaks.

Whereby he was represented by a KC, who presented a dossier of evidence to the SFA which called their decision making into question.

It was clear the SFA’s ultimate goal was to have Rodgers serving a touchline ban for the upcoming Glasgow Derby at Ibrox.

However, while the Kangaroo court did find him guilty, they only imposed a two match ban, with one match suspended until the end of the season.

Rodgers served his first of those two match bans at Livingston, where his side comfortably despatched the home side 3-0.

The SFA couldn’t be seen to back down.

But they knew banning Rodgers for the Derby would have caused uproar.

And it would have been blatantly obvious what they were up to.

The whole affair left a sour taste in the mouth, and Hearts were the clear beneficiaries of it.

Now, I’m not saying its Hearts’ fault that they benefitted from Beaton’s shocking decision making.

What I am saying, is that both fixtures against the Tynecastle side in late 2023, and March 2024, did not endear them to us.

Or Steven Naismith, for that matter.

Let’s just say there’s no love lost between us and Hearts, and certainly none lost between us and their ailing coach.

Which brings me to tomorrow’s fixture.

Celtic, on current form, are in a position to dish out a hiding to Naismith’s side.

The Jambos are enduring a horrendous start to the 2024/25 season.

Sitting second from bottom, without a win to date in the current campaign.

Naismith’s deficiencies as a coach have become blatantly obvious this season.

Its become quite clear that he is no master tactician, and some of the more wily, and experienced coaches in this division can easily dance a jig around him.

Tony Docherty, Stuart Kettlewell, and Jim Goodwin have all inflicted defeats on him.

Tomorrow, he faces an elite coach.

You know?

The coach who is probably the cause of his sleepless nights.

Naismith knows his managerial career with Hearts is hanging by a thread.

At this time, and on this form, Brendan Rodgers is the last coach he wants to be facing.

I cannot see anything other than a complete capitulation at Celtic Park tomorrow.

Naismith does not have the tactical nous or footballing brain to compete with Rodgers.

Not even close.

I see Rodgers running rings around him.

If this happens, and we inflict a severe defeat on Hearts, I don’t see Naismith surviving that.

Well, if he does, then it just proves how ridiculously stupid and naïve the Hearts hierarchy are.

They might have thought their gamble on Naismith paid off last season.

This season, they’re seeing the real result of that gamble.

Hearts are a club with decent infrastructure, a decent sized support, and on paper they have a decent squad.

Yet for some inexplicable reason, they can never seem to appoint a decent coach.

They always seem to go for the cheap option.

Or the untried, and untested option.

Who knows?

Maybe Brendan Rodgers will hand them a golden opportunity tomorrow?

Maybe he’ll make their decision very easy when it comes to Naismith’s future.

Then Ann Budge might actually hire a coach who matches the size and stature of the club.

I doubt it though.

She stood by and allowed them to be relegated only four years ago.

A rot that was started by her insistence in retaining the services of Craig Levein, and then finished off by German coach Daniel Stendel.

Stendel now resides in 3. Liga, the third tier of German football.

Enough said.

Will Budge finally wake up and hire a coach who might actually make the capital club a force in Scottish football?

I doubt it.

One way or another, Brendan Rodgers will probably leave her with a decision to make tomorrow.

If he does, I doubt too many Hearts fans will lose any sleep over Naismith’s dismissal.

And Celtic fans will happily wave him on his merry way.