Brendan Rodgers rarely raises his voice or reveals his anger in public but it was still possible to detect an air of irritation as he addressed the suggestion that he has been less than wholehearted in his commitment since returning for a second spell in charge at Celtic.

Rodgers has willingly put his hands up to offer a mea culpa for the team’s struggles at times this season, a situation that reached its nadir last weekend when his record and reputation were stained with the stigma of becoming the first manager in a decade to oversee back-to-back league defeats. Having his attitude questioned, however, is a different matter so it was not a surprise that Rodgers seized on the chance to defend himself upon hearing that Chris Sutton, the former Celtic striker turned loquacious talking head, had offered the opinion that the manager was “going through the motions” this season, as much to blame for the malaise encircling the club as any of his players.

It seems hard to imagine that Rodgers is already weary of the job just six months into his return, having recently rounded off a tumultuous Champions League campaign with a victory and with a resurgent Rangers due at Parkhead next weekend for a pivotal end-of-year derby. Those are the moments that stir the senses, especially in one as infatuated with the game as Rodgers clearly is, and he made clear to Sutton and anyone else questioning his dedication that the fire continues to burn brightly deep within him.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers observes training ahead of Saturday's match against Livingston.

“In my career, I wouldn’t be sat here if I went through the motions in anything,” he offered by way of response. “I had no big playing career, no big history in the game. I had to fight for everything I got in the game. That will always be the case. I’ve never been granted any privileges in my life as a young coach and as a manager. I said that to players in here earlier in the season, when we had the game against St Johnstone at home. I’m here to win, not to draw and certainly not to lose games. I know how to win. And that’s something that, over time, hopefully I can show here.

“I was here in my first time with a group of players and was able to maximise the potential of virtually all of them. It will be the same here. With the right profile of players – and players we can elevate – they will do that. That’s what I’ve done all my career. It’s a different period of my managerial career but I’m certainly not going through the motions. In terms of criticism, listen, it happens when you’re not winning. It’s something that could affect you when you’re a very young manager but it doesn't affect me. I’m here with a mentality to make this right and hopefully we can deliver that.”

Celtic Park bristled with discontent during last weekend’s loss to Hearts, with Rodgers, the players but primarily the board of directors getting it in the neck from supporters who also turned against each other in a flurry of angry shouts and finger jabbing. The return of the Green Brigade to their usual section should provide more audible backing for the team this afternoon, especially if Celtic can unpick what will likely be a heavily-manned Livingston backline to get back to winning ways. Rodgers, though, admits he has been unable to shake the feeling all season that something isn’t quite as it should be in the usually unbreakable bond between supporters, manager, players and club.

“In my whole time here during the first time I never felt it,” he added. “Never for a day did I feel it. [But] I probably felt it from the first day since I came back, whether it was [as a result of] me coming back, or whatever it was. If I was ever the cause of that, of course, then that’s something I would look at. Whatever it is, it needs to be together. If not, it’s very difficult to have success. We’ve seen it before. We saw it during the Covid season when supporters were not in. This is such an emotional club, the team really responds to the support. Normally it’s in a really positive way. If it’s not quite ticking, then that’s really difficult for a club like Celtic, whether it’s to do with the manager, the board or whatever. It’s definitely hard to pinpoint the why, but it has definitely felt different.”

Celtic have had a full week to get over last weekend's defeat by Hearts.

Supporters of other clubs must look at Celtic’s “crisis” and wonder what all the fuss is about. After all, Hearts’ victory was the first by a Scottish club at Parkhead for almost three years, while Celtic are still top of the table, even if their advantage over Rangers is not as commanding as before. They couldn’t have handpicked a better fixture in which to stop the bleeding – at home to a Livingston side that has taken just one point from nine matches – but Rodgers hoped the supporters would be patient if need be.

“Ultimately it’s about the team on the field receiving as much support as they can on the field to win,” he argued. “If that is sabotaged in any way, especially when you’ve got lots of young players… For the support to turn up is amazing, but you want to give everything to the team, because that is why we are all here, to see the team win. I’m really hoping now that we can draw a line under the situation with the support base, and that we can all come together and unify. We have to do our bit on the field and that will certainly have to be better than what it was last week.”

Irked Brendan Rodgers answers his Celtic critics: Chris Sutton retort, club 'has felt different', supporter patience