BRENDAN Rodgers, the Celtic manager, last night warned that a football club can only achieve success if there is unity behind the scenes following the sacking of Pedro Caixinha, his opposite number at Rangers.

Rodgers, whose friend and former colleague Mark Warburton parted company with the Ibrox club in acrimonious circumstances back in February, admitted he had “professional empathy” for Caixinha.

The Northern Irishman, whose team will equal a century-old British record and go 62 games undefeated if they draw with or beat Kilmarnock at home this afternoon, stressed that a manager can often pay the price for divisions behind the scenes.

“If you don’t have everyone pulling in the right direction, it’s a problem,” he said. “One of the first things I said when I came in here was that we had to have one vision which makes one club. That’s what we’ve focused on.

“If there is not alignment in strategy and the interests at a club, then it becomes fragmented. So that’s where it starts, the top end. That’s what we’ve focused on.

“I think it’s just common sense that, if there is not alignment in strategy and there is not alignment in the interests at a club, then it becomes fragmented. So that’s where it starts, the top end. That strategy and interest has to be unified.”

Rodgers added: “I think key strategy is important. Everybody has to be aligned to the strategy you’re following. I think that’s important. There has to be a leadership that’s clear and that everyone is aligned to. And you can’t divert from it. That’s the simplicity of it.

“If it’s fragmented and people want to chase one thing, others want to do it a different way, then that’s when there is a problem. I think it has to be clear what the strategy of the club is. What the senior directors and owners want. From that, you get the right personnel in place.”

Rodgers admitted the manager was always the individual who paid the price for poor results with his job.

“Even more so now,” he said. “In new football, it’s always the case. Just the speculation now around, it’s easier to move one man than it is to maybe move groups of players under contract. It’s the way football is.”