Title is for Tommy, says Rodgers –
Parkhead manager keeps club legend in mind ahead of lifting Premiership trophy, writes Scott Mullen
TO absent friends. As with most big celebrations from weddings to Burns’ Suppers to potential title parties, the memories of those no longer with us are never far from the mind when it comes to toasting a prosperous future.
For Celtic this afternoon – if all goes according to plan for them, of course – it will be no different. Brendan Rodgers will stand in front of the small dugout at the mouth of the Tynecastle main stand today, his mind torn. Firstly focused on the 11 players he sends out on to the park in front of him, then, if they do their job as they have done all season, the Celtic manager will eventually gaze to his right towards a Roseburn Stand bathed in jubilant green and white bodies, revelling in another title trail successfully completed. In doing so, his thoughts will wander to those who have experienced a similar privilege before him and, indeedn those who haven’t despite great contribution and sacrifice.
“For everyone, I think of the great man Tommy Burns who never ever won a title here,” said Rodgers from the heart of Celtic’s tactical HQ at Lennoxtown. “And you think of the commitment he gave to the club and the privilege it is for me to lead the club when we actually do get over the line.
“There will be many thoughts for many people and hopefully they can be proud of the work we have done. Yeah, it’s been a great season so far but we want to get the job done as quickly as we can.
“We have a game on Wednesday. So we will be happy. Of course there will be a time to celebrate success. It is important you do that, at times you have to come out the battle and enjoy it. There will be time for that.”
Bizarrely, the reception that will greet Rodgers and his players this afternoon in Edinburgh will be less than half the amount who turned up to personally open their arms to the former Liverpool manager coming to Glasgow last May. On one sun-kissed Monday afternoon in Glasgow’s East End, around 10,000 fans flocked to Celtic Park on a special pilgrimage. The man whose name they sang recalls it fondly 11 months on.
“It was a spectacular welcome. I flew up from London that morning having just arrived back from Majorca the previous day. I had seen it before many times and I had envisaged the new manager stood on the steps doing his speech.
“The people at the club told me they were expecting a few more and as I got closer to the stadium they told me they would have to open up the stand. There are not too many managers in the world, at any club, in any league who would be afforded that. For me it was a special start to what has been a great season so far.”
It was just the start of the start, so to speak. While gravitating into the Champions League, Celtic have been an unstoppable force in the Premiership, so much so a win today would secure the club their sixth title in a row. The Parkhead club may be out of sight, but Rodgers knows any celebrations this afternoon in Edinburgh are only possible as a result of a blistering start to his tenure.
“The opening games are important. In the first eight games you can’t win the title, but you can lose it. In those first eight games we put down a marker. We were not at our fluent best but we showed signs mentally.
“We then gained confidence from the Champions League. We thought: ‘right we have qualified but we need to play the game in a better way’.
“We were then able to do that in the games.”
For Rodgers and his team, it will
You think of the commitment he gave to the club and the privilege it is for me to lead the club
be somewhat poetic if this title race is finished where it all began at the start of that run on the opening weekend of the season. It was way back on August 7 when a now unbeaten Celtic took the handbrake off, revved up the engine and hit the accelerator on their Premiership juggernaut at Tynecastle.
James Forrest got things going to start with only for a Jamie Walker penalty to hint at a potential stall for the champions in their first game. That was until substitute Scott Sinclair came off the bench to crown an extraordinary debut with the match-winner on 81 minutes.
The circumstances of the 28-yearold’s stunning introduction to Scottish football were hectic. Reunited with former mentor Rodgers only the night before, the former Aston Villa winger turns the clock back to recount a whirlwind 24 hours.
“I remember it being very rushed,” recounted Sinclair. “I didn’t think I was going to be involved – I hadn’t trained with the lads and had no chance to get to know anyone.
“I was straight into it. I had the MRI scans and then met up with the boys at 7.30 at the hotel and before you know it I’m on the bench.
“We all roomed on our own. So I got to the hotel and was literally straight to my room. I didn’t expect to play but the manager told me ‘get ready, you will be involved tomorrow’.
“My first contact with the players was in the morning. We had a walk and then breakfast. I can’t remember who I spoke to first. I was so looking forward to signing and had all these feelings running through me, so I was just ready.”
He added: “I’m looking forward to [going back]. We can win the league and Tynecastle is where it all started for me.
“It’ll be great. I always talk about the experience I’ve had, the battles I’ve needed to go through, so it’s great to get your rewards at the end of it all. It just goes to show that the hard work actually pays off.”