‘I don’t think I will ever get bored of managing Celtic’

WHATEVER misgivings there might be about the credibility or relevance of Scottish football, Brendan Rodgers is of a mind to treat them with the equivalent of verbal mace.

He’s not daft. He hears the sniggers echoing across the border about how he allegedly now operates in a pub league — and how even that might be an insult to many a fine pub team.

There were sneers last night. TalkSPORT host Adrian Durham suggesting on Twitter that the Northern Irishman has ‘effectively retired from top-level football’.

Frankly, it’s of no concern to Rodgers. In his debut season in Glasgow, he has presided over one of the most unremitting assaults on a league title in living memory.

Scoreboards have become an irrelevance at Celtic matches. Punters are either counting their fingers or digging out the history books to establish what record is about to be shattered. A Treble and an invincible season is now tantalisingly close.

But fans might also have become nervous about whether the former Liverpool manager would attract flirtatious glances from English clubs. Or might somehow become bored with a procession that secured the title before Easter.

With six-in-a-row secure, however, Rodgers delivered a message that will come as music to the ears of anyone of a greenand-white persuasion — and an ominous warning to any team who might harbour designs on toppling Celtic any time soon.

‘You never get bored of winning,’ said the 44-year-old after signing a new four-year deal which ties him to the club until 2021.

‘We will play Rangers six times this season. I am sure there’s a timeline when, sometime, you might look at it. But you don’t get bored of winning.

‘There might be other things you want to experience. But there’s never been a tired day since I’ve been here. I drive to Celtic Park and it’s like driving into the best cathedral in the world.

‘I don’t think I will ever get bored of managing Celtic. But, of course, there might be challenges later on.

‘I was very honoured when the club came and spoke to us. It might be a term (four years) that would frighten other managers. But, for me, it just felt so right.

‘I feel there’s a lot of work I want to give — the journey has only just begun and there’s a lot of differences I still feel I can make.’

Last year, Rodgers proposed to fiancee Charlotte in Times Square. On Valentine’s Day. In front of a webcam viewed by millions daily.

Clearly, he’s not one for halfmeasures. How pleasing it must be to Celtic fans, then, that he’s shown similar commitment to his marriage with the Scottish champions.

Winning is an infectious feeling for a manager and, having just won the first title of his career, not one he plans to give up any time soon.

‘Watford gave me my chance,’ he recalled. ‘We were able to get them out of trouble and then, seven months later, I decided to go to Reading.

‘Reading was a club I thought I knew. I signed for three years — and it only lasted six months. So I learned from that. I had a connection with Reading for 14 years and it never worked out.

‘I then went to Swansea and stayed there for two years. I achieved what I set out to do, which was to take the club into the Premier League and impose a style of football.

‘I went to Liverpool still as a very young manager at 39. So I have been able to experience a few different situations.

‘Happiness is key. If you’re not happy then, despite what money you get, you can’t work very well.

‘There’s maybe possibilities to have gone to the Premier League. But I would forfeit all of that to be here and happy. This is a club I love and know well.

‘I could be a manager till I’m 60, so that gives me another 16 years. But, in these next four, I want to give everything to Celtic.’

Stuart Armstrong, Tom Rogic and James Forrest are just three players who have benefitted massively from Rodgers’ ability to rejuvenate.

Armstrong is expected to commit his long-term future to the club over the coming weeks. In asking key players to sign up for the long haul, Rodgers felt it was imperative he did likewise.

‘Yes, trying to get these players tied down was part of my thinking,’ he said. ‘I love to improve players individually and within a team. These are guys I want to commit. I had one year (rolling contract) because that was the agreement with the club at the beginning. But I want to see through the stability to stay for three, four, five years.

‘It hopefully shows (the players) this is the best place for them to be. I want to show them I believe in what I say.’

After leading the club back to the Champions League, Rodgers is keen to ensure it’s no flash in the pan. Martin O’Neill led Celtic to a UEFA Cup final. Gordon Strachan and Neil Lennon to the last 16 of the Champions League.

‘We want to get back to that sort of level,’ said Rodgers. ‘The likes of Porto and Benfica, clubs that are synonymous with working well and strategically off the field. How they buy and sell players.

‘You can learn a lot from how they operate. They know they will lose players but have a pipeline in order to replace them.’

Celtic will be glad they don’t need to seek a similar managerial pipeline. Not yet, anyway.