BRENDAN Rodgers has fared far better than most managers who have arrived in this country in recent seasons pledging to deliver success while playing in a style that is enjoyable for supporters to watch.

Ronny Deila, the man he took over from at Celtic, was certainly never quite able to make good on his early promises despite the two Ladbrokes Premiership titles his side lifted and the last 32 Europa League place they secured in his time here.

Across the city at Rangers, meanwhile, Rodgers’s friend and former coaching colleague Mark Warburton came undone last season due to, among many reasons, an ill-advised refusal to make winning more of a priority than winning well.

Walter Smith recognised, due to his lifelong affiliation with the Ibrox club and his understanding of the unique demands of the Scottish game, that not losing was a prerequisite of his job. He flourished during two lengthy spells in charge at Rangers due in no small part to the fact that his teams were difficult to beat. It is impossible to argue with his track record.

Rodgers has done well on all fronts since being appointed last summer. Should his team beat Hibernian in the Betfred Cup semi-final at Hampden this afternoon it will be their 60th consecutive match without defeat domestically. They have been a joy to behold in many of those games.

Yet, the Northern Irishman should reconsider his approach to Champions League matches against football’s elite and make avoiding heavy defeats by whatever means necessary his aim.

The logic behind sending his team out to attack Bayern Munich in the Group B match in the Allianz Arena on Wednesday night was sound. He is convinced his charges will only learn how to perform at the highest level in Europe if they attempt to play their usual way.

Losses like the one in midweek may well be difficult to take. But he is adamant the long-term benefits of such experiences will be great. Fair enough.

Stuart Armstrong, Scott Brown, James Forrest, Craig Gordon, Leigh Griffiths and Kieran Tierney have all developed and improved greatly in the time they have worked under Rodgers. If the former youth coach feels they will come on further still by striving to take the game to clubs like Bayern then it is very hard to argue.

They are certainly not going to become superior footballers by being part of a side which merely defends in numbers and looks to pinch a goal on the counter attack, as Celtic did when they overcame Barcelona back in 2012 and on many other occasions before that, in the Champions League.

But can Armstrong, Griffiths and Tierney and their team mates really reach a point where they can compete with players like Robert Lewandowski, Arjen Robben and Thiago in Europe, even at home, using the same tactics as they do domestically. It is hard to see it.

Many clubs have lifted silverware on the continent with players they have produced themselves in the past. The Lisbon Lions, who, of course, became the first British club to win the European Cup in 1967 while fielding 11 Scots, are perhaps the best example. Ajax, Barcelona and Manchester United are others.

Is it, however, still possible to do so in today’s game? The landscape has changed beyond recognition in the past decade or so. The major clubs in the top five leagues in England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain are now able to use the obscene sums they bank from the sale of broadcasting rights and their overseas owners to build squads comprising the best players from around the globe.

Their rivals from smaller and poorer leagues are being left far behind and there seems, despite the UEFA Financial Fair Play regulations, little or no prospect of the gap being bridged.

Rodgers, whose side drew with Manchester City both home and away and Borussia Moenchengladbach away in the Champions last season playing a high-pressing game, believes it can be done and he should be applauded for that ambition.

But there would be no shame whatsoever in Celtic taking a more pragmatic stance against the top sides in order to avoid more goings over like the one they were subjected to this week in Germany.