Keevins decides he’s now Lord Protectorate of the Celtic manager. I’m sure Brendan Rodgers is flattered…

This time last season, Hugh Keevins was telling us that Brendan Rodgers would be gone from Celtic by the end of the 2023/24 campaign.

That particular assertion was both unfounded and irrational.

It was typical Keevins, stirring things when things required no stirring at all.

Its what Keevins does.

I would say he specialises in it, but there’s nothing special about it.

As is always the case with Keevins, his predictions never amount to anything.

They are always wrong.

So, here we sit, almost a year later, with Celtic 18 points clear at the top of the table, and the Ibrox side in freefall.

Which goes to show just how wide of the mark Keevins was with his statement back then.

Imagine my surprise this morning then, or lack thereof, when Keevins decided it was time to have a potshot at the Celtic support in his usual Sunday morning drivel column.

Combined with declaring himself Lord Protectorate of his good friend, Brendan Rodgers.

Interestingly enough, after singing Brendan Rodgers’ praises, Keevins then goes on to state that the Celtic support has it in for the manager.

This is entirely based off the opinion of two callers who rang in to Clyde Super Scoreboard.

Two callers.

The below paragraph is a prime example of Keevins’ total exaggeration of our support’s opinion on the manager:

He was, in response, variously accused of egomania, deflection and “working his ticket”. His accusers being, in the main, hardcore supporters who would reserve the right to verbally slaughter, slander and savage, from the vantage point allotted them by the club, their chosen targets.

However, it is this particular opinion of ONE supporter that Keevins decides is the crux of his article:

I thought about that phrase when I remembered the call I took on the radio from a Celtic supporter who had left the home game with Ross County on November 30 at half-time. The scoreline at that point had Celtic five goals in front without reply – but the fan in question said that type of game was boring to watch and a poor reflection on the state of the league in general.

Rodgers has no chance under those circumstances. If his team passes the ball backwards, there’s disagreement. If they score five goals in 45 minutes, there’s still disaffection. It is the definition of a no-win situation for the manager. I know Rodgers is still held in contempt in certain quarters because he once left Celtic for Leicester City.

As a standalone opinion, this is ridiculous.

Off the wall.

But that is exactly what it is, the opinion of one oddball supporter, who decided it was worth stating this nonsense on the radio show Keevins takes part in.

Keevins runs with it as if it is the opinion of the entire Celtic support.

What he decides not to address is the real reason Celtic supporters, including myself, were pissed off.

Unlike Keevins, Brendan Rodgers understands why we were pissed off last weekend.

It really didn’t have anything to do with the result against St. Mirren either.

And Rodgers understands, because he himself was pissed off with the same thing we were.

But we all chose to vent it in entirely different ways.

None of us, including Brendan Rodgers, likes to lose at Ibrox, under any circumstances.

The fact that we decided not to show up on the 2nd of January was what drove supporter discontent last Sunday.

There was residual feelings of disappointment last Sunday following on from that.

Further compounded by the fact that a rookie manager in David Gray, had just made a fool of the man who made a fool of us at Ibrox a couple of hours previous.

I recognise all of the above, however, its clear who does not.

He instead chooses to weaponise it, and once again use the manager’s comments last Sunday as an outlet to attack the wider Celtic support.

Based off the testimony of two crackpots who rang into Clyde Superscoreboard.

He also decides to point out that the Celtic support’s chanting of Kieran Tierney’s name in closing stages of the St. Mirren tie was disrespectful to Greg Taylor.

Therefore, it must also have been disrespectful to Greg Taylor to invite Kieran Tierney to Celtic’s Annual Gala dinner in London last October, right?

Mountains and molehills come to mind.

But where ever there is the slightest bit of controversy surrounding the Celtic support, Keevins will take it, and run with it.

He will use words like slaughter, slander, savage, rammy and recrimination.

In reality, Brendan Rodgers is content with the Celtic support, and the Celtic support is content with him.

As with any close knit relationship, when things go wrong, questions will be asked.

But the discontent never lasts very long.

Especially when you consider since we lost at Ibrox, we have scored 9 goals, and accumulated the maximum 9 points on offer.

Reading what Keevins has written in his article today, you’d think we hate the Celtic manager.

An assumption that is as ridiculous as the article in question.

And equally ridiculous is the suggestion that Keevins is somehow leaping to the defence of Brendan Rdogers.

I’m sure Brendan Rodgers is flattered.

Yeah, right.

Give it a couple of weeks and he’ll be writing another negative story about the manager.

Predicting something as wide of the mark as he always does.

One thing you can say about Brendan Rodgers is that he certainly isn’t predictable.

Especially when you look at the way he set his team up at Dingwall yesterday.

Keevins, however, is as predictable as Philippe Clement’s away form.

Both have been producing utter garbage.

Long may it continue.