Young gun Rodgers grateful for lessons from the old guard

Manager believes experience and longevity are attributes which should be cherished, hears Nick Rodger

HARRY Redknapp returning to the cut-and-thrust of management at the age of 70 with Birmingham City? Dick Advocaat taking up the reins of the Netherlands national team for a third time at a sprightly 69? Perhaps Methuselah might be tempted to stick his name into the hat for the director of football job at Rangers?

Old ’Arry and company may be climbing the brae on the age front, but the wisdom gained over the years remains a valuable commodity in a panicstricken era when managers get axed quicker than a tree at the World Speed Lumberjacking Championships.

Celtic’s Brendan Rodgers is one of the young guard but even he afforded himself a chortle when he was asked if those in the hot-seats these days are constantly peering over their shoulders at the new wave of coaches coming through. “I’m 44, I’m still young,” he insisted with a smile.

In many ways, Rodgers is the embodiment of a modern-day manager and his philosophy on how the game should be played is one that many look to emulate. Rodgers continues to cherish the wise ways of the past, however, and sees experience and longevity as attributes that should be cherished and utilised. When I was in the Premier League it was nice to see the likes of Roy Hodgson, Manuel Pellegrini and Harry,” he said. “These guys have great knowledge. Neil Warnock was there, too, and up here I would see Walter Smith and Alex Smith. That was so refreshing for me. They all still have that glint in their eyes for football. “They should be in roles that allow them to pass on that knowledge and experience because the game is better for it. Football is not rocket science. Listen to Jock Stein, Bill Shankly or Brian Clough? You’d think they were modernday managers now and that was in the 1960s and 1970s. It’s still the same game.”

Bridging a generation gap can often pose its problems. To a young, money-soaked footballer, who sports a cutting-edge haircut that looks like it has been directly downloaded from the internet and is draped in all the funky paraphernalia of the day, someone like Redknapp probably looks as antiquated as the hand-cranked mangle.

“The problems are often the perceptions,” Rodgers said. “Harry has been an outstanding manager. What is important for managers is that you stay in tune.

“When you are working with players, they will always be somewhere between 16 and 35. That doesn’t change. And each year you are moving away from that.

“The key is to stay in tune, but not make yourself an idiot. Don’t think you

are young as well. Have the co-operation with players, build the rapport and communicate but you don’t have to have your hat on sideways. Harry is a great chemist. He can pull together all the different types of players and deliver the type of football he wants. Birmingham have been very lucky.

“It’s about energy and happiness. They all relate to positivity in your life. The modern world is deluded. In modern football, if you’re optimistic you’re deluded and I think that’s nonsense.

“You grew up looking to have a good, balanced life and do that through optimism. These guys [the older managers] have that. They love being around younger people. It keeps them young.”

All being well, Rodgers has plenty of managerial years ahead of him. Twenty- six more Scottish titles in a row with Celtic will take him to Redknapp’s vintage. So, what are the chances he will still be barking orders from the dug-out at the ripe old age of 70?

“I’d like to say ‘no’ but you never know,” chuckled Rodgers. “I remember watching my son, who was playing for Oldham at the time, and I drove to Walsall on a winter’s night.

“Sitting across from me in the stand was an older player who I really admire, but I won’t say his name. He was sat in the cold and I was looking at him, blessing him and saying ‘what a player you were’ and he just sat there in the freezing cold in Walsall. I thought ‘when I’m that age, I want to be on a beach in Majorca’ … or maybe Gibraltar.”