London calling more than once for Rodgers?
Brendan Rodgers insists he is happy at Celtic.
But that doesn’t mean he won’t leave if the right club comes calling.
Hoops fans shouldn’t kid themselves – Arsenal could be just such a club. But they aren’t the only one. In fact, they aren’t even the only one in London!
I reckon Chelsea and Spurs will also be on the hunt this summer. And, for me, Brendan is more than qualified to do a job at all three clubs.
Of course, I’m only speculating on Chelsea and Spurs – albeit in an educated way.
But now that Arsene Wenger’s time is officially up at Arsenal, the Gunners will have first crack at the Celtic boss, should they fancy him.
There are plenty of other options on the table. Interestingly enough, all of them are foreigners.
But if Arsenal decide to go British, I reckon Brendan Rodgers is THE top candidate. Think about it. Who else is there? Sean Dyche maybe? He has certainly done a fantastic job at Burnley, but he hasn’t been to the same level as Brendan.
Dyche has no real big-club experience, no track record of dealing with top-level players and no Champions League background.
Those are boxes a club like Arsenal need a prospective manager to be able to tick. Brendan can tick them all. It’s obvious the Celtic gaffer would back himself to do a job at the Emirates.
The question is whether Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke and chief executive Ivan Gazidis would feel the same.
There’s the old Scottish problem. Is success in the SPFL worth the paper it’s written on when Premier League chief execs are sifting through CVs?
Then there’s the issue of Celtic’s performances in Europe under Brendan.
Not reaching the knock-out stages of the Champions League is no great crime, given Celtic’s budget. The Bhoys’ power brokers simply won’t spend the kind of money needed to allow the club to compete at that level. Doing so would be an enormous gamble. But I’m not sure many people down south would bother looking deep enough to see the full picture.
I’ll get slaughtered for saying this as a Celtic fan. But for Brendan’s sake, I hope they scratch below the surface of what he’s achieved at Celtic Park.
The same goes for Tottenham and Chelsea, should they, too, be looking for new managers in the summer.
It has appeared for a while that Antonio Conte’s time at Stamford Bridge is up.
Mauricio Pochettino? If Real Madrid come calling, do you really think he’d be able to resist?
So the Situation Vacant sign could be going up at another two London clubs and Rodgers would be in the frame.
It hasn’t been forgotten he took Liverpool to a Steven Gerrard slip away from winning their first league title in decades.
His CV and way of working makes him ideal for Arsenal, Chelsea or Tottenham.
He’s meticulous in his planning, tactically sound, big on man-management, highly driven and very successful.
Remind you of anyone? Arsene Wenger perhaps?
I’ve been critical of Arsene before, called him a stubborn man and said he should have gone from the Gunners years ago.
But looking at it again, I think he genuinely believed he could turn things around at Arsenal and get them winning titles again. Obviously, he turned out to be mistaken. But now he has recognised the situation, I hope he can go out on a high by winning the Europa League.
The Arsenal fans had spoken. A half-empty stadium isn’t something a club that size should ever have to deal with.
Now that Wenger has made his decision, I’d like to see the stay-away fans come back.
He deserves a top send-off for the way he transformed the club.
Then it will be time to usher in the new era under whoever gets the nod.
Is SPFL success worth the paper it’s written on when English clubs are looking at CVs?