'A real test' - Ex-Celtic boss confident Brendan Rodgers can help Parkhead club recover from slump

Former Celtic manager Gordon Strachan has acknowledged that Brendan Rodgers faces "a real test of his management" to get his faltering stars back on track in the Scottish Premiership title race.

The Hoops have been heavily criticised by supporters and pundits after losing back-to-back league games for the first time in a decade, with a 2-1 defeat at Kilmarnock followed by a 2-0 loss at home to Hearts last Saturday.

With injury-hit Rangers firmly on an upward trajectory under Philippe Clement and now only two points behind their cross-city rivals with a game in hand still to play, the pressure is steadily mounting on the champions to halt their slump in form heading into the winter break.

Rodgers enjoyed a fairly smooth run of silverware during his first spell in charge of the Parkhead club but is now facing his toughest challenge to date after returning to Glasgow's east end in the summer, with the majority of summer signings failing to strengthen the squad.

But Strachan reckons the Northern Irishman has the required experience and knowledge to a get fans back onside as he highlighted the adversity he faced during spells at Liverpool and Leicester City.

"The thing about Brendan is, he knew what was coming because he knew about the stress of managing Celtic," Strachan told BoyleSports.

However, he wouldn't have known what it was like to lose at Celtic because he wasn't used to that in his first spell, apart from maybe in Europe. It's not easy going back somewhere, I've not done it before myself, so this is a real test of his management.

"But he has experienced tough times with Liverpool and Leicester before so it gives you experience and knowledge to deal with moments just like this. There is no secret and no shortcut to dealing with tough times as a manager sadly. The only thing that matters to Celtic or Rangers is just being better than the other. It doesn't matter about the style of play, the formation, the players or anything like that - you simply have to be better than the other and winning games of football.

“Don't forget, Brendan has had to deal with an awful lot of goals going out of the team. Jota leaving was huge, but then also injuries to Liel Abada and Daizen Maeda really harmed the squad - that's almost 40 goals that has just left the team there. What has happened is that when they had the front three of Kyogo, Abada and Jota, that is a front three where all of them can score goals. Now, you have wingers in their place and they are not goal scorers, which is a huge difference."

Celtic host Rangers in a crucial Old Firm showdown on December 30 but there will be no away supporters in attendance as the ongoing ticket dispute between the two clubs continues to rumble on. And Strachan reckons having only one set of fans inside the stadium will ensure there is a less toxic environment.

He added: "It is going to be noisy, aggressive and nasty. Anyone who hasn't been already, you need to go and see it. It is exhilarating at times but sad at times when you listen to the songs. There are no away supporters this time, which some people think is a bad thing but I actually think it is a positive. We don't need to give a platform sometimes for the people and we need that nonsense out of the game."