RODGERS MUST PASS ATHENS TEST

IT IS a huge game in Athens for Celtic tonight; for Brendan Rodgers, too. Steven Gerrard’s arrival at Rangers creates extra pressure, as does the early-season form of Hearts, but Rodgers (right) knows that, beyond Scotland, Celtic managers are no longer judged on domestic campaigns. If his ambition, long term, is to return to the Premier League in England, getting knocked out of the Champions League at the qualifying stage by AEK would be a significant setback. As the saga around the signing of John McGinn showed, Celtic still struggle to compete financially with even Championship clubs such as Aston Villa, so to miss out on the Champions League proper would be greatly damaging. Equally, it would weaken Rodgers’s wider reputation south of the border. Despite winning consecutive trebles, he wasn’t considered a serious contender for the jobs at Arsenal or Chelsea this summer. It shows how far a Celtic manager must go to convince his achievements have merit. Taking a 1-1 draw to Greece is now a huge test, one he can ill afford to fail.