Brendan Rodgers' Celtic return brought with it a lot of scrutiny from fans and the media alike due to the circumstances surrounding his departure to Leicester City.
Sometimes Rodgers' tendency to be outspoken can be to his detriment, with many quotes surrounding loyalty coming back to bite him when he jumped ship back to English football. His choice of words can, however, also be used to great effect.
Rodgers is a master at handling his media duties, and he played his cards to perfection whenever he spoke publicly in his first few months as Celtic manager. He knew he had to work on gaining the trust and acceptance from a sizeable section of the Celtic fanbase, and he went about it as soon as he returned to the club.
Over the last few weeks, we have seen Rodgers at his brilliant, calculated best and it looks like his comments have gotten under the skin of Rangers boss Philippe Clement.
Brendan Rodgers has an incredible record against Rangers, and that form has continued this season as he has remained unbeaten since his return to Glasgow. This record is even more extraordinary when you consider that Celtic had gone into every derby this season as the underdog.
The tables have turned this time round, as Celtic are the favourites heading into the final league derby of the season. The advantages that Celtic have over Rangers don't stop on the park, with Clement taking the bait from Rodgers as he spoke to the media on Sunday. This has resulted in Celtic looking to have won the psychological advantage heading into this powderkeg match at Parkhead.
After Celtic's victory over Hearts on Saturday, Rodgers stated to the assembled media:
“I said before, the first six months were a challenge for everyone and everything. But now you start to see a bit more of what a Celtic team of mine should look like. And still with a lot of work to do to get it to that point. But it’s certainly heading in the right direction.
“Eighty per cent of it now is mental. Physically they are in a really good place. This stage it’s all about mentality. You can see mentally we are in a really good place. Take nothing for granted, keep our composure, we have a lot of work to do in the week, get our plan ready.
"And then next Saturday we can have a bit of fun.”
Talking up his team's mental edge, Rodgers' comments were predictably thrown like a grenade at Rangers' boss Philippe Clement, who took the bait, much to the amusement of the Celtic support.
“That it is something I would never say about an opponent,” Clement blasted.
“It’s not really respectful towards my team. That is what I think. I am looking forward to that [game] and to be honest, as a manager, I would love that it was tomorrow instead of next week."
It is difficult not to look too deeply into things heading into this afternoon's game, but Celtic seem to have the psychological advantage off the pitch, which could put the home side into the driving seat for the derby.
James McKenzie // @JamesWHMcKenzie