THE WARMEST OF WELCOMES
It is a very cosmopolitan city. People can never do enough for you
BRENDAN Rodgers feels he now belongs to Glasgow. Ten months after his arrival as Celtic manager, he is as willing to celebrate life in the city as much as the two trophies he has won.
Sunday afternoon’s emphatic clinching of the league title at Tynecastle was followed by a quiet evening at his home in the western suburbs.
The festivities extended to nothing more than ‘a wee glass of champagne’ with a roast dinner. A cup of tea accompanied watching a re-run of the 5-0 rout of Hearts that took his side over the Premiership finishing line.
Rodgers is clearly a man relishing where he is right now. In his personal life as much as the professional successes.
Negative portrayals of the Glasgow goldfish bowl are not for him. He peers through its glass from time to time in a social sense. Far more often than not, the 44-year-old likes what he sees.
Rodgers would not be here if there was not an intensity about football within the city. It’s what drives everything.
Yesterday, he spoke of his wish to help promote a more positive version of the Old Firm rivalry, free of its past baggage.
But the landscape that exists at present has not caused him any personal concern. Even when it came to the confined situation of a traffic jam under the city’s main waterway.
‘I’ve never been bothered since I have been up here,’ reflected Rodgers. ‘I say that hand on heart. I have met Rangers supporters and, in the main, they have been very good.
‘I remember sitting in a bit of traffic in the Clyde Tunnel. There was an incident which meant all the cars were stopped.
‘I saw this guy coming out of his car in a blue top and I thought: “Here we go”. But he said: “I just wanted to say thank you for coming up to Scottish football. I’m a Rangers supporter but you are a breath of fresh air up here”.
‘So I thought: “Right, get me out of this tunnel quick!” No, it has been great.
‘I live in a lovely part of the world just outside the city. I can pop into the city. I don’t go in so much, of course, but when I do people are great. You could go to a different restaurant every night and enjoy great food, it is a very cosmopolitan city.
‘But then you can also get yourself out to Loch Lomond or Gleneagles in very a short time.
‘I don’t know what Glasgow was like before but, to me, it seems a really regenerated city.
‘People can’t do enough for you. My family, who have moved up here, love it. Charlotte (his partner) loves it.
‘Don’t get me wrong, I don’t put myself into positions often enough to see what it’s like (all the time). But in the times that I have been out, it’s been all right.
‘Any city you would get a bit of stick, like when I was Liverpool manager and there were Everton supporters in.
‘I’m not saying all Rangers supporters have been very welcoming, but, you know, in the main.’
The ability to be unperturbed playing a round of golf or enjoying some fine dining is vital to someone who, like most managers of pedigree, has a workaholic streak within him.
‘I have always devoted my life to my career and my work,’ he continued. ‘People who know me understand that’s what drives me.
‘I am a professional and this is my profession. I’m not here to take shortcuts and get out on to a golf course as quickly as possible.
‘I get paid a good salary by the club and I need to earn that. I have a responsibility to the supporters.
‘But you need to come out of the battle at some point. You
need to
release the pressure valve at times and, as I’ve gained more experience in football, I’ve seen the importance of that.
‘You can be relentless, but it has to be in certain moments. When you get the chance to take the pressure out of it for yourself, you have to. It’s all-encompassing.
‘Obviously, the football has been great, of course. But I’ve really enjoyed it and met some great people up here, some real nice friends and it’s been good.’
Working at Liverpool obviously prepared Rodgers for much of the scrutiny that has followed at Celtic. He believes, however, that the Old Firm environment is more ruthless.
‘The cities of Liverpool and Glasgow are different,’ argued Rodgers. ‘What I would say is that that on Merseyside, you can have two teams doing well and that’s all right. It’s nice and it’s a real vibrant city.
‘It’s always seemed to me from the outside, and now having been in here, that one has to be doing really well and the other can’t. I don’t know why that is.
‘What I experienced at Liverpool in the season we finished runnersup, we were on a really great season and Everton were having a really good season.
‘It was Roberto Martinez’s first and they finished fifth, while we were second. The city was vibrant. There was good rivalry there, but it was okay.
‘I don’t think that’s quite the
same here. I don’t think it really equates to being that way.’ Not that those who follow his former club — or any other English side — have been willing to give Rodgers too much credit for his achievements in Glasgow. Sneering from south of the border has provided a regular soundtrack to appreciations of the Scottish game.
Rodgers, though, has been inundated with congratulatory texts from those who actually work within English football following Celtic’s clinching of the title with eight games to spare.
‘I think I have had more messages than for anything I have ever done,’ he added. ‘I think that is because of the nature of it, the way in which we did it.
‘Hopefully now, the profile of Scottish football, because of the way the boys have played, has opened the eyes of some people. It has been very, very complimentary.’