Brendan Rodgers, the Celtic manager, has insisted that the criticism directed towards Pedro Caixinha after the pair shared an embrace on the Hampden touchline was misplaced.

Celtic triumphed in the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final and the television pictures of Rodgers and Caixinha joking and cuddling at the full-time whistle attracted some reproval given the ineptness of what the Rangers manager had witnessed.

Rodgers, though, has maintained that a simple gesture of respect between two managers who can each appreciate the magnitude of pressure that their post holds should not be used against either of them.

“We all know what you are representing, both he and myself,” said the Celtic manager. “We know the rivalry and the intensity of it but it shouldn’t in any way change your behaviour and your respect and that is what you are judged on.

“Ultimately you can be a great coach and a great manager but your behaviour earns you the respect. That is what we all look for. There was a warm embrace between the two of us; I didn’t know him, nor he me but we shook hands, he smiles and he is a good guy. He is a human being. He knows he has work to do there like I have work to do here but you don’t need to put on a face or a front that isn’t us.

“If you are humane then you shake hands before and after the game then you get on with your work and you look to develop. Him smiling and embracing me won’t change his passion for the job, the same as it won’t for any of the other managers that we embrace.”