I’LL MANAGE CELTIC AGAIN
»»Rodgers’ message to angry fans: What the f*** are you doing? I’m one of you »»Ex-boss wants to return to Parkhead once things calm down ‘maybe in 10 years’
BRENDAN Rodgers insists he hopes to return to Celtic one day to manage the team for a second time.
Rodgers made the astonishing claim yesterday afternoon – just an hour after being officially paraded as the new boss of Leicester City.
The Northern Irishman has been shocked by the furious backlash since he quit his position at Parkhead on Monday night to thrash out a move to the English Premier League club.
Rodgers has been branded a “fraud” and a “snake” by some of Celtic’s fans, while
HE’S tried his best not to pay much attention to the furious pandemonium he has left behind. Which is probably for the best.
He was shown a photograph of the banner which was unfurled for his benefit at Tynecastle the other night.
He’s not yet bothered to take a look at the viral video shot in an Edinburgh pub just shortly before kick-off even though he’s aware of its existence and its vile and sinister content.
But a look of horrified incredulity washes across the face of Brendan Rodgers when he’s told that his decision to bail out on Celtic has been received by the club’s supporters as the biggest single act of betrayal since Maurice Johnston crossed the great divide to sign for Rangers more than 30 years ago.
“Is it that bad?” he says as his eyeballs bulge in sheer disbelief. “So who is fuelling that? Where is it coming from?”
Rodgers appears to be genuinely shaken by this news from up north.
It’s an hour or so after his big unveiling in front of the cameras as Leicester City’s new manager. The reason we are here at the King Power Stadium. And the reason all hell has been breaking loose back up the road since Tuesday morning, when word began to spread that Celtic were suddenly missing their messiah.
Rodgers is sitting at a table inside one of this immaculate stadium’s executive lounges. He’s been busy pressing the flesh and being re-introduced to the English media circus. Handling all questions with in his trademark immaculate manner.
But this? No, this one has knocked him for six.
He’s asked what message he would give the Celtic support if given the opportunity to address them as one. Rodgers pauses for a moment to reflect then says: “I’d ask them, ‘What the f*** are you doing?’ Bloody hell, I’m one of you.’
“OK, I made a career decision. But that doesn’t make me any less of a Celt.”
That’s not the way this is playing out. Not among the people who cherished his very presence at Parkhead the most. Maybe, in retrospect, a little too much.
That last six words on that banner said it all. “Never a Celt. Always a fraud”.
There’s a viciousness about this which is difficult to compute given the successes Rodgers had given to these same fans. For the man himself, it’s pretty much impossible to fathom,
He goes on by blurting out a flurry of rhetorical questions: “A fraud? Someone who turned up at half seven every morning of his life? Who was in there until all hours of the night? Who took over 60 games a season, preparing a team,
changing a culture and a standard at a club, filling the support again?
“It is sad if it has gone that way. If it is to this depth, for someone who has given so many happy memories to a lot of people and has left the club in the position they are in with the stability, it is sad. I haven’t exactly left a sinking ship.”
And yet Rodgers always knew there would be some form of backlash.
He nods: “I understand it as a Celtic supporter myself. That’s the difference.
“Someone showed me the banner when I was at the Leicester under-18 game the other night. Of course, it takes you aback a wee bit. But the supporters are hurting and I understand that.
“It’s a shame, of course, because from the moment I walked into Celtic, I gave my life to the club. I put everything into the training and preparation of the team. A lot of the people wouldn’t know that.
“I then had to make a decision on an opportunity I felt would keep me moving as a manager.
“I said before when I was at Celtic, I had no interest in standing still. People have asked me about the glass ceiling.
“But I felt we had won the seven trophies and we were in a great position to have success again this year.
“I could have stayed and said, ‘I’ve won this and that’ but then maybe the opportunity to make the next career step wouldn’t have been there in the summer.”
That he left in such indecent haste – with two more trophies still up for grabs and the chance of a third successive domestic clean sweep – appears to be the crux of the matter. Which, in itself, is wholly understandable given this period of unblemished sporting superiority.
But to react by singing songs about Rodgers being executed in his sleep by IRA terrorists and posting this muck online?
Well, how on earth is he meant to get his head around that, having grown up during the Troubles in Northern Ireland?
Rodgers shakes his head and says: “I haven’t seen the video but I had heard there was something.
I don’t want that to be my final feeling of being at Celtic, especially when it’s your own.
“I don’t want that to be the final measure of my work there. I gave much more than that.
“For my family, it’s probably hard. They are lifelong Celtic supporters and have been taken aback by the speed of everything too.
“It’s really difficult for them but like I say, I haven’t seen the video. I have been to the training ground until late at night and I have been focused.
“Why have some fans reacted like this? I can only put it down to hurt.”
It is Rodgers’ hope now that time proves to be a healer.
Not only does he intend to walk back through the front doors of Celtic Park with his head held high but he says he wishes to return one day for a second spell as the club’s manager.
Right now the very prospect seems some way off.