Brendan Rodgers Discussion Thread

What Ange has over Rodgers though is that he took over the club when it was actually on the back foot, 2nd best and the squad was a mess. Rangers were probably the strongest they had been in a decade. The transformation job Ange did that year to rebuild the team, win back the title and follow it up with a treble was probably the most impressive of the last 2 decades or so. A lot of people saying that if we complete the treble this year it will be our best season since Seville. But Id argue Anges first season in charge was the most important.

 

I wasn't happy with how he left, and thought his football had gotten tedious after season one but the football has been excellent this year. So wasn't sure about his appointment. It's been fun to watch this season though, we've held our own against some big teams in Europe. I really think some people just need to let it go.

 

If he manages a win next week then I'd be more than happy to let any lingering resentments go.

 

I wasn’t happy with how he left, but more has came to light around that that does go some way to explaining it more and the challenges he faced. But take his name away, any manager we get that delivers the level of success he has had in both spells, as well as the advances in Europe, a double this season and looking good for a treble, the clear ambition to push on in Europe….you couldn’t really ask for better. Bout time he has the full backing, even during the * games. It’s impossible to be drubbing teams 5-0 every single game, blips and downturns are natural, but he has always had us responding. Nothing but credit from me. Just make sure we batter these hun * next week, and draw a line under the gap.

 

For those who still are mad with him just let it go. He is officially a club legend and easily one of the greatest ever Celtic managers. The success he have brought to this football club is out of this world.

The club is made for him. He loves the club and its good to have a manager with such "ego/self belief" as a club of our nature feeds guys like him.

 

No Celtic fan should have a problem with Brendan now. He is doing a fine job and I think he will do even better next season. He cares deeply for our beloved Club and his job you could clearly feel that in the interviews straight after clinching the title.

 

I wish people would stop with the suggestions that we were 2nd best to rangers when they won that title... It was a perfect storm of things going wrong for us, and right for them, that got them that title... Ange did brilliant to correct the blip, and strengthen again, but we were extremely unlikely not to rebound given how lowly we/the whole spfl had performed and how fortunate they'd been.

That year was a truly needed tonic of reality, delivered at the worst possible time for us, that matches/seasons need to be earned, they're not just handed out. But we had the complete infrastructure in place to respond to it. In honesty, if it hadn't been for the exceptional circumstances of that year we'd probably have replaced Lenny before the end and have been on our correction before the season ended.

We are an absolute machine behind the scenes, as recognised by almost every authority of note who really know the game. Only our league status stops us being one of the greatest teams in the world. Rangers are a pipedream, bag of cats, held together with duct tape...

 

We were second best to Rangers that year by some distance - thats the reality. Lets not pretend we werent. Easy to say we would always have bounced back the next season irrespective. But we were 20 odd points worse off than them in the league with a squad that needed an overhaul. We were losing to Rangers regularly and they had a far stronger team than the one Rodgers had faced in first stint. I dont really think going into Anges season that the fanbase were taking it as a given we would win the league. The momentum was firmly with Rangers.

Yes, we are far better run club than Rangers - no argument there. But the challenge Ange faced the season he came in was far tougher than what Rodgers has had to face here by comparison.

 

I argued it at the time that people were massively overreacting to the league loss, although somewhat understandable, and that any competent and capable manager would have put us back on the front foot... We average around the low 90 point mark in our usual campaigns, and the Huns around high 80s... That season was an absolute blip on the norm...

Look, I'm not saying they didn't trounce us that year, but it was an absolutely bizarre year, with all that could go wrong for us doing so, and everything that could go right for them doing so... That Ange turned out to also be a top manager was just a cherry on top...

Anyway, that's my opinion, I'm sure it's different from others and you're perfectly entitled to yours... Personally, I think that if the other spfl teams stopped believing the Hun hype they'd drop to not much better than a Hearts or Aberdeen... Our main opponent is ourselves!

 

I mean, we could argue how good Rangers were / were not when Ange came in. But I think we can agree they were substantially better than they had been when Rodgers was here.

Rodgers first stint Pedro / Murty Rangers were at McKinnes Aberdeen standard. Getting 60-70pts per season. When Ange arrived they had the highest wage build in Scotland, had gone unbeaten for a season and would come within a penalty shoot out of winning the Europa League the following season. Thats not evening factoring in the job Ange had to do to overhaul a squad that was badly in need of a rebuild and had lost their captain. To overturn that in the space of a season was for me, the most impressive of the 14 titles and counting. Happy to disagree of course and Im sure others will, but the point Im really making is that Ange had a tougher set of circumstances to win his trophies than Rodgers did.

 

It was an amazing season, especially when you think CCV and Jota didn't come in right until the end of the end of the window with O'Riley, Maeda and Hatate not joining until January. We lost our first 3 away games and then didn't lose another game all season. * knows how we did it. We had to bring in almost a whole new team.

Line up for game against Hearts at the start of the season (refs still had to cheat us though).
Bain
Taylor
Bitton
Starfelt
Ralston
McGregor
Soro
Turnbull
Abada
Forrest
A checked out Eddy


Despite that there definitely was an anomaly with the previous season. The only first team squad players to leave the huns in 21-22 was Defoe and Patterson. Neither starters though. They brought players in despite that. They lost in the CL qualifiers, were losing games all season. But we were so poor 20-21 that they didn't have to go unbeaten really, 70-odd points for second place is poor (most Huns can get this season is 79). I think that season we were of similar quality to the huns this year. Bad tactics, players who didn't want to be here and Johnny Kenny. So I think we definitely catch up no matter what and put up a fight.

 

Christ it is actually hard to close your eye's and imagine that team as a starting 11

 

Dear lord that is a * lineup lol