There is such a thing as being a sore loser in sport that riles people and after watching Celtic last night, Brendan Rodgers could be forgiven if he ended up as one.
A 6-0 defeat is a bad result to take but despite that, Rodgers remained gracious and still showed respect to his counterpart, Diego Simeone, when the full-time whistle sounded.
Simeone on the other hand did not and it really riled Talksport presenter and former Rangers hero, Ally McCoist.
McCoist said [Talksport], “I have got to say you cannot argue with what he’s achieved at that club and he’s held in such esteem there and so he should be, Simeone, but I’m not having some of his antics.
“I thought it was embarrassing last week, not refusing to shake hands with Brendan but clearly Brendan was doing the honourable thing as you would expect wanting to shake his hand, and then he shoots away up the tunnel last night.
“It might be a small point but I’m thinking to myself have a bit of class.”
Brendan Rodgers shows his Celtic class
Even in defeat the Celtic manager still retains his class. Rodgers could have been bitter and refused to acknowledge Simeone, especially after his antics last week, but he didn’t and kept his head held high.
Cynics might say that that is all he could do after a 6-0 drubbing but do you know what’s worse than a sore loser? A bitter winner.
And despite his tremendous managerial record, Simeone has not come off well over these past two weeks.
A half-hearted handshake at Celtic Park after the 2-2 draw followed up with this is not a good look for a man who is reportedly now the highest paid manager in world football.
For Celtic, their Champions League dream is all but over. However, Europa League qualification is still a possibility and Rodgers must pick up his team to ensure they give their all to make that happen.
In other news, ‘If I was a referee’s assessor’…Stuart Pearce delivers his verdict on Daizen Maeda’s Celtic red card