Rodgers can’t be airbrushed from history forever

FOOTBALL is riddled with tales of sad, sometimes bitter, break-ups. Together, Brian Clough and Peter Taylor were an all-conquering management team. When they fell out in 1982, neither could bring themselves to pick up the phone. Taylor died in 1990, with much left unsaid. Jim Leighton, meanwhile, still hasn’t forgiven his former mentor Sir Alex Ferguson for the events of 30 years ago.

Shipping three goals against Crystal Palace in an FA Cup final, the Scotland goalkeeper was then axed for the replay. Leighton played one more game for United before a sour parting from the manager who built him up then knocked him down. ‘We’ve never spoken since and we never will,’ is all he’ll say of the matter now. If we only get one life, it seems a shame to spend it bearing a grudge.

But this week Brendan Rodgers did a piece with Celtic’s media team praising nine in a row. And it went down badly. Rodgers managed the Parkhead club to title numbers six and seven and a large chunk of eight. But when he walked out to join Leicester City, Celtic supporters accused him of jeopardising ‘the nine’. All that syrup about being a dyed-in-the-wool fan of the club was laid on with a trowel. It was too much.

Irrespective of whether the former manager is everyone’s cup of tea, however, his role in ‘the nine’ can’t be airbrushed from the record books. Maybe it’s just too soon. Maybe the wounds need time to heal. But Rodgers became an important figure in Celtic’s modern history. To carry on pretending it never happened would be a sad end to a relationship that worked out for both sides.