Would you accept Rodgers back as manager?

A majority vote of TC posters now favour a BR return, surely this is enough to convince Brendan we forgive him

 

https://www.mailplus.co.uk/scottish...ight-managers?contentLayout=Scottish Football


In March 2019, a distressed Celtic supporter from Paisley staged an armed stand-off with police officers. Smashing the windows of neighbouring flats, he equipped himself with a kitchen knife and bound the door of the close with a cable to prevent anyone entering or leaving.


Claiming to have taken people hostage, he damaged vehicles by lobbing missiles at the police below. His conditions for ending the terror went viral within hours.


‘I want a bag of cans, I want Brendan Rodgers back, I want a job.’


The last thing this fan needed was a bag of cans. He was tired and emotional enough already. The return of Brendan Rodgers? Four years ago he would have been as well calling for the second coming of Mo Johnston.


The day wee Mo turned his back on his boyhood club to sign for arch rivals Rangers the fans who once worshipped him gave him a new nickname: Judas. And, when Rodgers fled Glasgow for Leicester, there were plenty who felt his salary of £6million-a-year should have been paid in pieces of silver.


Turns out the Brodge is not so different to the rest. Ange Postecoglou followed his lead by capitalising on two seasons of dominance at Celtic to land a huge pay deal in the biggest, most lucrative league on the planet.

The Australian was plotting a move south before patronising fans with those references to Tommy Burns on the Parkhead pitch on trophy day. While he was cut a bit of slack, however, Rodgers was painted as a rat scurrying up a gold-plated drainpipe.

He committed no crime. He murdered no one. And people really should have seen it coming anyway. The signs of growing frustration with life in Glasgow were there for all to see.

Where Peter Lawwell always had an eye on the bottom line, Rodgers wanted the flexibility to push the boat out. He craved the means to spend £8million on Timothy Castagne or Cristiano Piccini of Sporting Lisbon. When John McGinn left Hibs to join Aston Villa instead of Celtic, it felt like a straw snapping the camel’s back.




When Rodgers was offered a chance to move to China for big money, an attempt to use the opportunity as a bargaining tool for more funds to buy quality players didn’t go to plan. Celtic called his bluff.

In a press conference at Lennoxtown, Rodgers was asked how he would respond if he felt the club was no longer moving forward. ‘My job is done then,’ he replied as jaws hit the floor. ‘Terminado. Gone.’

Celtic crashed out to AEK Athens in the Champions League qualifiers and, by then, there was no more talk of establishing the club as a fixture in the sunlit uplands of the last 16.

The board’s horizons seemed to extend no further than the other side of the city and staying a toenail ahead of Rangers. An obsession with the meaningless bauble of ten-in-a-row, meanwhile, made the club seem small and parochial. In hindsight, it’s a wonder Rodgers hung around as long as he did.

If he felt that way then, there’s an obvious question to be asked now. What brings him back? It’s true he still still owns a home close to the training ground. Sacked by Leicester in April, however, the Northern Irishman planned to take a long sabbatical away from the game.

When the time was right he’d have had opportunities to earn more cash managing a struggling team in the English Premier League. Maybe a chance to brush up on his Spanish in La Liga.

If he wins another Treble at Celtic, people down south won’t care. Lose 7-1 to Paris Saint Germain in the Champions League, like he did last time, and that won’t do much for his reputation as an elite manager either

If Rodgers is returning, then, it has to be based on a belief that — this time — Celtic will back him to the hilt.

Mail Sport broke the news of chief executive Michael Nicholson and finance director Chris McKay flying to Mallorca for face-to-face talks with him last weekend.

Terms of engagement were thrashed out before the Champions League final. Subsequent discussions with Dermot Desmond provided the assurances he craved that, this time, there would be latitude to invest in the players and infrastructure necessary to become a competitive force in Europe.

Since Celtic last reached the UEFA Cup final in 2003 Rangers have weathered a financial catastrophe and still made it to twice as many.


Last year Rodgers led Leicester City to the semi-finals of the Europa Conference League. Privately, he believes a European final in the next five years should be Celtic’s target. Even if his European ambitions prove to be pie-in-the-sky, he’s still the best option out there.

A list of runners and riders featuring Enzo Maresca and Daniel Farke was patchy and unconvincing. Maresca — assistant manager to Pep Guardiola — made it clear he would rather stay in England. Farke was sacked by Borussia Monchengladbach and fancied the Leeds job.

Managers willing to entertain a move to Scotland in the current climate are hardly ten-a-penny. And, for Celtic, Rodgers is the devil they know.

That’s why supporters have spent this week coming around to the idea. The days of phoning Rentokil every time the name of Brendan Rodgers crops up in conversation are over. A back-of-a-* packet calculation shows that opinion is now swinging in favour of forgiving — if not forgetting — the events of four years ago.

Who knows, maybe Postecoglou’s flight to Spurs will have done the fans a favour. For many, there’s a realisation now that idolising fly-by-night managers is absolutely pointless.

For the likes of that supporter from Paisley, investing emotion in guys who don’t plan to hang around Scottish football a minute longer than they have to is a waste of good drinking time.

Come the unveiling, Rodgers should spare fans any flannel about rekindled love affairs. Hiring a football manager these days is no different to an out-of-town businessman seeking the company of an expensive escort or swiping right on Tinder.

The entanglement rarely lasts terribly long. And it offers no guarantee whatsoever of a satisfactory ending.

 

Good article that and sums up quite a lot of the feeling to be honest..

 

Absolutely nailed it.

 

What's this being banded about 5 year deal 5 year plan I reckon DD wants to see us lift a European trophy during his tenure as owner

 

Still not voted

Waiting till I see the white smoke from the chimney before I decide...I still have a wee nagging doubt and some other team he always supported as a boy comes in at lastminute.com.

 

I'm sorry, and I'm sincerely not trying to be obtuse, but what evidence is there that Knutsen won't leave Bodo?

All Ive seen is paper talk suggesting it would be difficult to persuade him to leave in the middle of a season. As well as rumors he was on the Ajax shortlist.

We all accepted that if Ajax came in for him, we wouldn't be getting him. Bigger budget, better league, etc etc.

Did we even make an approach? Did we contact his rep? Was he invited to interview? We don't know ANY of these things.
What we do KNOW is that Rodgers appears to have been DD's 1st, 2nd, and 3rd choice. We've seen the private jets to Mallorca. We've seen the reports from trustworthy journos outlining discussions.

What I'm aggrieved about, and so should EVERY Celtic supporter, is that it looks like once again, DD is acting like a * tyrant, and NOT running this club the way it should.
This smacks of Lennon in the showers all over again. We're they admitted they didn't even LOOK at any other candidates.
That is not how a modern football club is run. You compile a list of realistic candidates, you invite them to interview, you weigh all of the criteria and you make a collective decision.
DD is running this club the way football clubs were run 30 years ago. Get the "Celtic friendly Irish manager in", he knows the craic up here.

In addition, any notion that Knutsen wouldn't leave Bodo is purely speculative.
I'm pretty confident we could get him on HALF of Rodgers salary, 2 year contract, and throw 3m+ at him as a signing bonus. He'd be on a plane in a * heartbeat.

If I knew, for ABSOLUTE definate, that we'd approached both Knutsen, and Iraola, with legitimate offers, and with high level of actual intent, and they both said no, a la Howe, then this Rodgers appointment would sit a * of alot better with me.

For now, there's zero evidence we've even looked at another candidate, apart from * Maresca.

That, to me, is utterly shameful.

And yes Jeannie, stamping your feet and screaming DOES influence decision making at clubs. We see it season after season. It's how we got Lennon out, it's how Leicester fans got Rodgers out.
If enough people had made enough noise, then the club would've seen that fans are actually worried about this appointment. Apathy is the enemy of progress. And I don't believe I've ever seen our supporters so apathetic about a situation.

Perhaps they're not apathetic. Perhaps I'm indeed the one who is wrong, and that I'll be eating my words in two years. I sincerely hope so. I really do.

 

I think it’s fairly safe to assume that Knutsen isn’t ready to leave Bodo. Given how well he has done and the number of times he has been linked to EPL jobs, I think he will have been approached a number of times before now. Now it seems even Ajax can’t tempt him away. There’s a reason for that. The rumour about him getting a percentage of player sales makes a lot of sense I think.

It’s funny though, because you are saying there is no proof that Knutsen won’t leave Bodo, but then you are saying Rodgers was 1st, 2nd and 3rd choice. You don’t know that either. By all accounts, we seemed to have a shortlist, and it then went down to two, Rodgers and Maresca. I’d imagine that is because either the others didn’t impress, or they weren’t interested.

It’s absolutely nothing like appointing Lennon in the showers. For a start, him and Rodgers are miles apart in terms of professionalism and ability as a manger. Lennon at that point was undoubtedly the cheap option, Rodgers is not. We aren’t rushing into appointing a manger after the season ended, we did with Lennon. It really couldn’t be gutted away from Lennon’s appointment in fact.

If truth be told, even including Knutsen, who I wanted, Rodgers is probably still the best option available to us. If Rodgers hadn’t been here before, absolutely everyone on here would be desperate for us to bring him in, and rightly so, because he is a very good manager. His departure has left a bitter taste, which I fully understand, but the bottom line is, Rodgers is the most likely to bring us success out of all the people mentioned. Too many are forgetting football is a business, not a marriage.

 

I think that you present very fair points and I think that you're probably correct in your summation of what has likely taken place but as I said right now we are a club without a manager and if it's him we just have to accept it for now.
Where would it get us kicking up all * right now? I can see how you would regard this as apathy but I consider it pragmatism. Right now we need to sort out the immediate need and then we need to let the board know that the wool has been well and truly lifted from our eyes. I couldn't put this any better.

"That is not how a modern football club is run. You compile a list of realistic candidates, you invite them to interview, you weigh all of the criteria and you make a collective decision.
DD is running this club the way football clubs were run 30 years ago. Get the "Celtic friendly Irish manager in", he knows the craic up here."

I agree it is unacceptable. We are a rich mans hobby and one day he will get fed up with it. Maybe someone younger will step up to the plate. We've already seen some improvement in the boardroom. Maybe losing the biscuit tin mentality.

I still stand by the fact that, it's my belief, no top guy is going to come here whether it be lack or glamour or big money to play with. They might come like Ange did to use us as a stepping stone but ultimately the SPL isn't going to be their final destination. I know how hard that sounds to some. We believe in ourselves, our club and our history and can't fathom why we don't seem to be seen as more elite than we are in the bigger picture.

I will back the team and BR because that's what we do but the love affairs and emotional investment in managers has gone for me. It would take an exceptional manager to change my view.

 

Simply brilliant

 

Do you not have any concerns at all about Rodgers coming back mate?
I agree that he is a good coach but he has his faults as well. There’s a thread on here where he’s literally been slaughtered for 4 years now about his ego, his cheesy quotes and his tactical mistakes.
DD going to him with a massive salary offer will only boost his ego further and I think there have to be concerns about his relationship with Lawwell. They hate each other by all accounts.
I think we should have looked further afield and don’t see any evidence that DD has considered anybody else except Rodgers.

 

If he wants to win a European trophy needs to be this season coming. Champions League changes next year I think there might be no drop down to Europa etc in it, is that right?

Basically I’m now all aboard Brendan conquering Europe this season now!!!

 

As I said, and this is my FINAL say on the matter lol,

There's no choice but accept this cretin. As @Jeannie960 stated, there's no point stamping feet and screaming, especially if I'm in the minority.

I will not however give him my backing. Neither professionally or personally. I don't think he's the right choice.
I will back the players, the squad and the club, as always .
Personally speaking, unless it all falls to *, he has a two year period , I'm hoping after those two years I can look at the squad, the club's bank balance and indeed the trophy cabinet and say I got it spectacularly wrong. Rodgers was by far a great option.
It wouldn't be the first time I've got it wrong either. I backed the Lennon 2.0 appointment thinking he would bring "the thunder".
I railed against signing Griff, as I envisioned a half wit dragging the club down.
And more recently, got it so wrong about Gia. He was everything posters on here said he was.

So in the spirit of the Tim. Good luck Rodgers. Don't even dream about * this up.

I'm saving a space in my freezer for your * head if you even attempt it.

 

OK, shut the * up now thanks.

 

As much as I hate him, the more I'm reading up some articles on him recently and starting to come to terms with it and liking the tones of what's being said. If it's a 5 yr deal, he stays for 5 years with the sights on cracking Europe then I'm in. I'm 43 years of age, another 5 years of us destroying the Huns , winning more doubles and trebles, getting us to a European final till I'm 48 is sounding very appealing. I've some of the happiest moments of my life watching us and if this * can continue it on with going to another European final then he will be forgiven.

I'm starting to think it's abit personal with him now aswell because coming from the north, having a big Celtic family he knows the craic. Surely it plays on his mind being called a rat when he comes home! I think he definitely wants to amend this with making things up with his family and the wider Celtic supporters. Us celtic supporters are different from any other club and he knows it. With that said, I don't think he's going to * off again like he did first time. Here's hoping anyway.

Now on looking where the UEFA cup final is for next season

 

I don't think they interviewed many people at all. Think BR was indeed number 1-3 choice.

 

Stephen McGowan