QUOTE OF THE DAY
Stubbs: Chasing 10-in-a-row and Trebles will keep boss in Glasgow for years to come
‘What a job Rodgers has done at Celtic and he’s achieved a feat even the great Stein never managed, winning four on the spin at Ibrox’
in our last two away games against Aberdeen and then Rangers. It still resulted in six points and that says it all. We welcomed the chase but mind the gap.”
said: “Rangers have no excuses this time as the Hoops were in total control apart from two defensive mistakes.
“Kilmarnock and Hearts gave us harder games so all this talk of closing the gap is nonsense.”
said: “Murty showed exactly what he is at the moment – nothing more than a youth-team coach. His exposing of dressing-room cheers when the Scottish Cup semi-final draw was made played right into Rodgers’ hands.
“What gets said in the Celtic dressing room stays there. Already Murty’s statements regarding the game at Hampden sound amateurish and will be dealt with.
“Celtic have better players waiting to get back in the side and even with 10 men the Hoops didn’t panic at Ibrox and got the job done.”
said: “I was there at Celtic Park in 1979 when ‘10 Men Won The League’ and I was at Ibrox when 10 men more or less clinched the Premiership title.
“What a job Rodgers has done at Celtic and he has achieved a feat that even the great Jock Stein never managed and that is to win four on the spin at Ibrox. I was so proud of Celtic on Sunday.”
was still spewing at Jozo Simunovic’s red card and said: “The sending off was a total joke. If you look at the linesman he was shouting, ‘Red card, red card, red card!’
“This is the same linesman who did not even flag for the shocking two-footed tackle by Declan John on Tom Rogic. If the Australian did not jump then he would have been left nursing a very bad injury.”
e-mailed: “The Old Firm game was entertainment from start to finish but you couldn’t assemble a back four from both sides put together.” CALL THE HOTLINE TODAY FROM 11 TILL 12 NOON on: 0141 309 3306 or email us: hotline@dailyrecord.co.uk SOUTHAMPTON have raided Celtic for three of their stars over the past five years but they have no chance of adding Brendan Rodgers.
The Celtic manager may well be on a wish list of Saints owner Gao Jisheng following Monday’s sacking of Mauricio Pellegrino but Alan Stubbs is adamant the attraction won’t be mutual.
Not when Rodgers has Trebles and 10-in-a-row to chase.
Former Celtic defender Stubbs, who managed Hibs to the Scottish Cup in 2016, also knows the pitfalls of heading south into the wrong job after he was sacked within five months of leaving Easter Road for Rotherham immediately following his Hampden triumph.
He is convinced Rodgers won’t be in any hurry to return south unless a huge club expresses an interest. And that club isn’t Southampton, who spent a total of £32.5million on Victor Wanyama, Fraser Forster and Virgil Van Dijk between 2013 and 2015.
Rodgers signed a four-year deal at Celtic last April, raking in £2.5m a year in the process. Money aside, Stubbs reckons the manager has two main reasons for staying in Glasgow for now – Champions League football and personal happiness.
He said: “Brendan is at a fantastic club. Celtic are a massive club and he has stated he is perfectly happy at the moment. There is a lot to be said for being happy where you are. Brendan will feel he has unfinished business at Celtic.
“Reading between the lines it is going to take a really interesting offer to prise him away from Celtic. He doesn’t look like he is in a rush to leave at the minute.
“With all due respect to Southampton they are a really big club, have a superb academy and have great values.
“I know they’ve signed the likes of Wanyama, Forster and van Dijk for decent sums of money but Celtic got three good deals out of that.
“It is an entirely different ball game for Southampton if they want to try to land one of the most successful managers in Celtic’s history. The bottom line is Celtic are a much bigger club than Southampton.
“They also have Champions League football to offer Brendan, which Southampton won’t be able to offer now or at any time in the near future. They cannot offer any form of European football and their immediate priority is staying in the Premier League.
“I can’t speak for Brendan but I don’t think the Southampton job is something that would interest him. Looking at the two clubs and where they are right now you have Celtic looking to establish themselves as a competitive Champions League team and Southampton still trying to find out what kind of club they are.
“There is a lot of instability there because they’ve had 10 managers in the last 10 years and two since Ronald Koeman left two years ago.
“The power of the English Premier League is not to be underestimated but I cannot see Brendan leaving.
“His mind will certainly not be on the Southampton job.
“He will be too busy focusing on successive Trebles and continuing to create history with Celtic.”
Indeed, having pulled off a clean sweep last season, Rodgers’ men are homing in on a historic double Treble which has never been achieved in Scottish football.
If Celtic reel in six out of six pieces of silverware in two years of Rodgers’ tenure then he might well start eyeing up 10 titles in a row.
Stubbs believes Rodgers will want to create a lasting legacy in Glasgow’s East End before he opts for pastures new.
He reckons the Hoops boss will also want to continue the trend of improving Celtic and next season’s target will be to reach the Champions League last 16.
Stubbs said: “Celtic are on the cusp of achieving something that has never been done in Scottish football, the double Treble.
“You can look at every excuse in the world but the fact Celtic are on the brink of achieving that just goes to show how well Brendan and his players have done.
“People say Celtic haven’t reached the same heights as last season but they are still in there with a great chance of landing a second successive Treble.
“I’d like to be in those shoes. If Brendan does achieve it then there is a possibility he will fancy a crack at trying to win the magical 10.
“Nobody has ever won 10-in-a-row. So that would be the next historical milestone for him and Celtic. I think there is a bit of Brendan that wants to leave a legacy at the club.
“What better way would there be than back-to-back Trebles and clinching 10-in-a-row?
“Brendan is creating history as we speak. He got Celtic into the latter stages of Europe this season when they competed in the Europa League beyond Christmas. Celtic
ANTHONY HAGGERTY