BRENDAN RODGERS
Celtic boss wants to take team to World Cup
BRENDAN RODGERS has revealed he hopes one day to lead a team to the World Cup – and it could be Scotland!
The Celtic boss was famously sounded out about becoming England assistant manager when it appeared Harry Redknapp would be handed the top job.
In the end, Roy Hodgson was given the nod, leaving Rodgers to concentrate on his club career.
But the Northern Irishman still harbours international ambitions, and he would be open to taking on any of the home nations in the years to come.
Asked whether he foresaw his future in international football, he said: ‘Yeah, one day.
“As you go through life as a coach or manager, you try to work at the levels and have different experiences.
“One day in my life, I’d like to do that.
“I have too much energy and too much enthusiasm and too many other things going on to think about it now.
“But if I’m going to be coaching for another 20-odd years, then at some point the possibility of going to a World Cup or European Championships would appeal.
“I’d be open to the experience in general. I’m Northern Irish, I’m very proud of that and pretty clear on that. But I’ve worked in England all my life virtually, I’ve worked in Wales and Scotland.
“I’m pretty open to it because
it’s an experience I want to have.
“The ability to work with a group of players and go to a major championships would be amazing.”
Rodgers is enjoying life at Celtic too much to consider making the leap into international football any time soon.
At 44 years of age, he believes he has plenty more to give at club level.
But as time marches on – and he collects ever more experience – Rodgers will start to consider himself ready for the next stage of his career.
“As you get older, you naturally
slow down a bit and it allows you to put all your energy into a block of time. You will come away and analyse more football,” he said.
“In terms of the role, think of the career line in coaching. You start out virtually as a teacher of the game, teaching young people. You move into coaching. Further along, you move into management.
“There it depends if you’re a manager and a coach or just a manager. Then as you become older, you then become a consultant/ advisor. That’s your time line.
“So when your each international football, you are head coach at that age but you can also use the great experiences you have to consult, advise, develop.
“Louis van Gaal did it a couple of times with Holland, Guus Hiddink, Dick Advocaat. It’s all or nothing, isn’t it?
“They are top-class operators so they do it once, come away from it and why shouldn’t you do it again?
“It’s likewise with me and England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Republic, it will probably never happen. But why wouldn’t it happen?”
The man who wanted Brendan to assist him as England boss, Harry Redknapp, made headlines last week when he came out of retirement to sign a one- year contract with Birmingham City, aged 70.
Rodgers is delighted to see him back in football, and he reckons Birmingham fans ought to feel the same.
“Harry has got great enthusiasm, a great man who just loves football. It’s his passion,” he said.
“I think what gets missed out sometimes with him is his knowledge. He’s a great chemist. He knows what he wants, knows what a good team looks like.
“The chemistry that he can pull together with all the different types of players, to go in and deliver the type of football he wants – he’s been brilliant at that throughout his career.
“I think Birmingham have been very lucky to have someone of that ilk, someone of that experience that can regenerate the supporters. He’ll be brilliant around the players.”