WARBURTON WILL LAND TOP BOSS JOB IN ENGLAND SAYS PAL RODGERS

Rodgers tips pal Warbs to land top boss job... and get revenge on Ibrox critics

BRENDAN Rodgers last night tipped Mark Warburton to walk into a top club and prove his doubters wrong.

The Celtic manager also hinted Rangers would need to get their house in order at board level – or it wouldn’t matter who replaced the Englishman ahead of next season.

Rodgers and Warburton are friendly and, while they haven’t spoken since the dramatic events of last Friday night, the Northern Irishman sent his old Watford coach a private message and was happy to back his abilities in public.

And he was adamant the former Ibrox boss would not be out of football for long.

Rodgers said: “Mark will get a really good job. He’s an outstanding coach and a good man. He’s got good values. He did a brilliant job for me in

the short time I was at Watford. A conscientious guy who wants players to develop. A lot of the work which went on behind the scenes will have gone unnoticed at Rangers but his passion was definitely for Rangers and he loved it.

“I can’t help but feel disappointed for him and Davie (Weir) and Frank (McParland). I remember after the Celtic-Rangers game at Hampden, not that long ago, when everyone was lording about the work Mark had done.

“He had come into a difficult situation. He’s trying to provide a base for the club which allows it to hopefully grow after he’d gone in terms of imposing a playing style and in terms of where the club was at. And he’s looked to build on that.

“They had a great year in the first year, imposed that style, the supporters enjoyed it, they had good success, they beat Celtic which was a big measure for them and so much so that they thought they would win the league this year. It’s never that easy.

“They came in this year and of course it’s been a little bit difficult because of so many signings and what-not. But it’s a tough league. When you are Rangers then people want to do very well against you.

“I knew his passion for Rangers and I knew how much he wanted to do well and I don’t think anyone was arguing that before the summer.”

Without mentioning Rangers, Rodgers made the point that any club has to get it right at the very top or the manager, no matter who he is, has little chance.

Rodgers said: “The key thing you look at as a manager before anything is the alignment at the top.

“If there is alignment at that level, it will allow you to build, develop and grow. I came to Celtic because of the stability of the board.

“I knew when I met and spoke with them what their interests were. I needed to ensure that the strategy which I wanted to work was aligned with that.

“There is no big confusion. There are major shareholders who invest in the club. But sensibly. There is consistency in how the club is run. Peter (Lawwell) on a day-to-day basis. Me in football.

“That’s it. I speak with Dermot (Desmond); that’s the leadership. There are no messages on email, no nothing. It’s very simple and simplicity is the best way.”