BOSS REGRET AS DREAM IS OVER
KEITH JACKSON SCOTT WAS ONLY ONE WHO KNEW I WAS OFF
IF he said it once, he said it a dozen times yesterday afternoon. “I had to take the emotion of out of my decision. If I hadn’t done that I would never have left Celtic,” was the message Brendan Rodgers was attempting to get across. But for the club’s supporters, staying detached, logical and reasoned has not proved to be so easy. Rodgers accepts that too. How could he not when even members of his own family were left heartbroken and reduced to tears by his decision to cut and run for a new life with Leicester? “They were shocked,” Rodgers said when asked how his Celtic-supporting siblings reacted to the news that he had chosen to turn his back on Paradise. “The family were shocked and in tears. They were in tears when I took the job and then when I was leaving. It is still hard for them to comprehend, probably because they were living the dream. And I was living my dream. Unfortunately, dreams do come to an end sometimes.” And yet the reality of this BRexit was the stuff of Celtic’s worst nightmares. Bad enough that he chose to leave for a middle-of-the-road English club such as Leicester. But that he chose to make the move in the dead of night? With two more trophies still up for grabs and a third successive domestic clean sweep beckoning him forward into history?
That’s where the sting in this tale of treachery has come from.
It is his hope now that time will prove to be a healer and that, one day, Celtic’s people will look back upon the last two-and-a-half years and see them for the halcyon days they undoubtedly were. It says everything about the excellence of Rodgers’ time in charge that his stand-in replacement, Neil Lennon, will probably have to deliver both the league and the Scottish Cup if he is to secure this gig on a more permanent basis. Rodgers is asked for his own personal highlight. He says: “Just every day from the day I walked in, it was amazing. Absolutely amazing. “So many games, going 69 unbeaten, creating that record which will be hard to beat. “Winning the Treble twice. The success we had is actually measured on the expectancy now to win a treble. “Only two managers in the BRENDAN RODGERS insists he chose not to tell Celtic’s players he was off to Leicester because he feared it might derail their surge towards eight in a row. Rodgers made his way across the border on Monday night to thrash out his return to England’s Premier League – less than 48 hours before Scotland’s champions faced a crucial clash at Hearts. But Rodgers k.jackson@dailyrecord.co.uk history of the club managed it before I went there. The measure we are now measured at is winning trebles. So I think we did okay.”
And yet the awkward truth in all of this is that, when push came to shove and Leicester knocked on his door, Rodgers reached an inescapable conclusion. That he had reached the end of this road.
He goes on: “I will always be thankful to Dermot Desmond and Peter Lawwell for giving me the opportunity. The board were absolutely brilliant for me.
“But you have to make decisions for a number of reasons. We had success, we played a brand of football.
“When I spoke to Dermot the other day he said he felt there’s a new Celtic way now and he will always be thankful to me for the legacy I have left and everything I have given the club. But, like I say, I had to make a very hard decision in terms of leaving.”
There’s a very palpable sense here that Rodgers has been shocked by the toxic levels of malevolence which took hold from the moment he chose to call it a day.
But it’s not all been bad blood and mean spirit. Asked if he has received any kind of emotional support from the Celtic fans he has left behind, he nods and says: “Yes. I’ve had letters already. Messages from staunch Celtic supporters who travel from Northern Ireland and have been for years. Of course it’s hard for them. But time will be a healer.
“I’ve been thanked for delivering the memories they’ve had in the last three years. They’ve been grateful.
“So I hang on to that. It’s important that I know I made people happy.
“I know we succeeded. And ultimately that’s the measure I look at. The changes we made off the pitch, the success we had is adamant he kept the trip a secret from his players in an attempt to protect them from the bombshell news.
He said: “I always try to protect the players. I always try to give them the smoothest runway I can.
“I even did that on the day I was leaving. I had a half a mind that it might be my last time as I was going to speak to Leicester and I might not see the guys for a little while.
“But I didn’t want to destabilise on it. That’s my measure of success. There will be chat around other stuff but unfortunately that’s politics, religion and all sorts. As I said before, I’m not interested in all that stuff.
“I am not going to criticise anyone either for the way they have reacted. I had an amazing time at Celtic and the supporters are hurt and in shock.
“It happened very quickly, even for me. But that’s modern football and how it works.
“Leicester made it very clear to Celtic, when they spoke to Peter, that I was their only target.
“They were pushing out the boat to get me and I had to be convinced that this was the right club and right choice for ambition. I had no interest in coming to a club that was bottom end of the Premier League.
“Why would I leave Celtic and my life there for that? Leicester is a club with incredible ambition, with owners who want to push on.”
It’s Lennon’s mandate now to further Celtic’s causes along with assistant boss John Kennedy. And Rodgers will be left to wish them well from afar.
He says: “Listen, Neil will go on, he’s a good choice and knows the club and he’ll be in pole position to get the job.
“He’s got John in with him who worked closely with me for the period of time I was there. John will see the methods and where the continuity of success came from.
“It was based purely around hard work, planning, preparation, focus, attention to detail. And he has been a part of that.
“It’s a really good move by the club to increase his role. Neil will add his own slant to it. The most important thing is the club and its success. That will hopefully go on.” them because of the game on Wednesday, in case the talks with Leicester didn’t go as I thought they would and I did end up coming back.
“I put a culture in place that meant leaving the guys was really difficult.
“I spoke to Scott Brown at length. He was the only one I told before I went down.
“I pulled him into my office because he’s been amazing for me and we have a great relationship. I have always been honest with him and then I spoke to him after that on the phone. It was very tough.
“I have exchanged messages with some of the other lads since then and I have spoken to Browny at length on the phone.
“But I will speak to the rest of them in time. These guys and I created memories that will bond us together for a lifetime.” (35) Bury v Macclesfield ................... (36) Crewe v Northampton ............... (37) Exeter v Tranmere ..................... (38) Forest Green v Lincoln .............. (39) Grimsby v Cambridge ................ (40) Mansfield v Cheltenham ........... (41) MK Dons v Crawley ..................... (42) Newport v Carlisle .................... (43) Notts County v Port Vale .......... (44) Oldham v Stevenage ................. (45) Swindon v Colchester ................ (46) Yeovil v Morecambe ..................
(-) Hibs v Celtic .......................... 5.15
(-) Kilmarnock v Motherwell ............. (-) St Mirren v Livingston .................. (-) Dunfermline v Queen of South .....
LADBROKES LEAGUE ONE (-) Airdrie v Montrose ....................... (-) Dumbarton v Arbroath ................. (-) Forfar v East Fife ......................... (-) Stenhousemuir v Brechin ............. (-) Stranraer v Raith Rovers ............. (47) Albion Rovers v Berwick ............ (48) Annan v Queen’s Park ............... (49) Clyde v Edinburgh City .............. (-) Cowdenbeath v Stirling ................ (-) Peterhead v Elgin .........................
TOMORROW (4) Everton v Liverpool .............. 4.15 (5) Fulham v Chelsea ................. 2.05 (8) Watford v Leicester .............. 12.0 (-) Aberdeen v Rangers .............. 1.30 (-)DundeeUtdvInverness ....... 3.30
LAST NIGHT Ladbrokes Scottish Championship – Morton 1, Falkirk 1.
Sky Bet Championship – Leeds 4, West Brom 0.
Spanish La Liga – Rayo Vallecano 0, Girona 2.
Italian Serie A – Cagliari 2, Inter Milan 1.
German Bundesliga – Augsburg 2, Dortmund 1.
Dutch Eredivisie – De Graafschap 1, Den Haag 1.
Belgian First Division – Standard Liege 1, Mouscron 1.
Portuguese Primeira Liga – Aves 2, Boavista 0.