Rogic’s spot blunder landed Rodgers and now maybe Gerrard
IF Tom Rogic does leave Celtic in the summer he should go for Neil Doncaster’s job.
Seriously, has there been any individual in the past 20 years who has done more to raise the profile of Scottish football with one single act than the Australian?
Rogic is a brilliant player and will be remembered fondly forever by the Parkhead fans whether he stays or goes for the strike that brought the club just their fourth treble.
The playmaker’s convincing right-foot finish in the final minute of the William Hill Scottish Cup Final to defeat Aberdeen ensured a clean sweep of trophies for the Hoops in an unprecedented Invincibles season.
But it’s what he did the season before when attempting to shoot into the same goal which has changed the course of footballing direction in Scotland, altered the landscape in stunning fashion and revived a game which was starting to struggle with its profile outside of its own borders.
When Rogic’s penalty in the shootout against Rangers in the semi-final of the William Hill Scottish Cup just over two years ago almost cleared the Celtic End of Hampden Park, it landed with such a thud it shook the game to its foundations.
The understandably joyous reaction of Dave King and the Rangers directors in the National Stadium at that precise moment sparked a shockwave that has not stopped rippling through Glasgow.
It certainly shook the boots of Dermot Desmond to such an extent his contacts book fell out of his pocket and opened at the R page.
A few taps on the Irish tycoon’s telephone keypad and Celtic were making a seismic change that would see Brendan Rodgers walk in the door.
Given the status of Rodgers through his efforts at almost winning a title at Liverpool, the cameras crews flocked from all over the UK and the story spread throughout the world.
Scottish football was back on the world map. People have started to come back. It’s hard to imagine Kilmarnock could have attracted Steve Clarke or Ross County Owen Coyle without the lift of the Scottish game’s profile through Rodgers.
Rangers had to try to respond and one of their first acts was to sign Joey Barton.
He was absolutely hopeless on the pitch as a midfielder at Ibrox but it was yet more impressive PR for the game, even if he has spent all of his time since leaving trying to dumb down the standards he encountered up here.
Mark Warburton’s pitch geography sat-navved him out of the door and down to Nottingham Forest before the bullfighter Pedro Caixinha entered the ring and was like one of his victims in a china shop as he crashed around the game with his eyes shut in a masterclass of heavy-handed blundering.
And so to now. The prospect of Steven Gerrard becoming the Rangers manager.
An elite English footballer of his generation. A man who had
If it wasn’t for Rogic there wouldn’t be any Rodgers. Subsequently there wouldn’t be any Gerrard
superstar status with his boots on. No one knows if he’ll be any good at management.
He might be brilliant and lift Rangers out of the doldrums, he might be utterly useless and improve nothing before scurrying back to Melwood and retreating into the Liverpool Academy.
But the fact he is here is enough to put the eyes of the world back on Scotland yet again. If it wasn’t for Rogic there also wouldn’t be any Rodgers. Subsequently, there wouldn’t be any Gerrard.
And there wouldn’t be the type of global interest which is now building and will have Doncaster and the clubs rubbing their hands as they step into the plush offices down south to thrash out a new TV deal.
With one loose kick Rogic has opened the door to a vat of interest and a potential pot of gold. OUR TOP WRITERS GIVE THEIR FEARLESS VERDICTS EVERY DAY IN RECORD SPORT