Hartley hails Rodgers but hopes to delay any title celebrations
Dundee boss Paul Hartley has revealed how Brendan Rodgers has become a close postmatch ally – but still plans to wreck his potential title party on Tayside this weekend.
Hartley is a big fan of the Celtic manager, whose unbeaten side could clinch the Premiership crown at Dens Park on Sunday should nearest challengers Aberdeen lose to Hearts at Pittodrie 24 hours earlier. Rodgers has been a revelation since replacing Ronny Deila in the Celtic dugout back in the summer and as well as bringing his managerial magic to the Scottish top flight, Hartley has been bowled over by just how helpful the Northern Irishman has been.
Hartley, who was yesterday named Manager of the Month for February, said: “He’s an outstanding manager and someone who’s got a lot of time for other managers when he comes in the office.
“Any time he’s been in and we’ve been in his company, he’s been excellent. We’ve had a chat and a couple of text messages. The last time he came into the office, he gave me his number straight away. That tells you the type of person he is. He’s got time for eve- rybody involved in the game. He’s done an outstanding job. He’s an excellent manager and anybody that talks about him, the way that he works and his man-management, he has something about him.
“I think he’s been an excellent addition to Scottish football, something that we did need.”
Rodgers’ rampant side are 25 points ahead of secondplace Aberdeen as they march towards being crowned champions.
Hartley knows Dundee face a mammoth task in trying to become the first team to inflict a domestic defeat upon Celtic this season, but that won’t stop him from attempting to do so having beaten Rangers at Dens Park in front of the live cameras recently.
He said; “They’re potentially only one game away from securing the championship, the way they perform and the way they enter the football pitch, they just want to win the game of football.
“They’ll be trying to get the league title sewn up as soon as possible.
“We’ve been good against the top four teams – we’ve always ran them close.
“We beat Hearts and Rangers and we’ve had close games against Celtic.”