BRING THE NOISE!
Rodgers needs to make sure Celtic supporters are fully re-engaged... ... and nurturing best young talent is their safest bet for a bright future
NEIL LENNON famously vowed to bring the thunder back to Celtic Park. Brendan Rodgers has his own variation on the theme.
‘Get the numbers back, that’s the one,’ said the new Parkhead manager when asked for a mission statement. ‘Inspire the supporters to come back and fill Celtic Park.
‘When you have over 60,000 in the stadium it’s a special place. Not just for European nights but week in, week out. It’s a challenge here, we need the supporters if we’re going to succeed.’
Judging by the 13,000 who turned out to see the former Liverpool boss’s formal introduction last Monday, the reported £2million plus annual outlay on his contract is already on track to pay for itself.
Yet before fans next congregate at the stadium, Rodgers will look to whittle another number down.
Alongside dwindling attendances, a by-product of Ronny Deila’s lacklustre second season at the club was the stockpiling of a surfeit of players, a policy that led to an inconsistency of selection and frustration among those repeatedly overlooked.
Rodgers has stated he prefers to work with a lean squad but his bloated inheritance features no fewer than 12 first-team midfield players, in addition to which youngsters Liam Henderson and Aiden Nesbitt are due to return from loan spells and 18-year-old Norwegian Kristoffer Ajer is set to arrive at the club from IK Start.
A quick cull is desirable, especially as Rodgers is bound to have his own reinforcements in mind, but the lack of resale value within the Scottish market is a barrier to change.
‘I’m not sure if that’s going to be a problem but we need to get the squad down, it’s as simple as that,’ said Rodgers. ‘I’ll look at loans but I think we would all agree that 30 as a squad is too big. You can’t work with quality with that many players.’
Celtic players are due back at Lennoxtown for pre-season training on June 20 and there will then be an intense period of preparation ahead of the first Champions League qualifier on July 12 or 13.
‘Physically, there’s a lot of work we can do in that time,’ added Rodgers. ‘We’ll put in a lot of aggressive work, with and without the ball, and we will do our best to be in condition. It’s very early, of course, but we’ll be fine.
‘So it’s full-on and it started the night I agreed to come here. I’ve had a holiday. I’m now working and I need to spend time at the training ground and have meetings with agents and personnel about players.’
Rodgers is likely to retain John Kennedy, a first-team coach under Deila, in some capacity. But while remnants of the old regime will remain, fans can look forward to a variation on the rigid 4-2-3-1 system favoured by the Norwegian.
‘The identity of my team will take a bit of time,’ said Rodgers. ‘We have got to get to work and look to qualify, and as the season goes on we will get better and better.
‘It’s very much about the players you have. I have an identity and a way of working based on aggression without the ball and domination when you have it. The system is irrelevant. ‘Over my time as a manager I’ve played various systems — 3-4-3, 4-3-3, whatever. It’s based around the players you have at your disposal and how tactically flexible they can be.’
That could mean company in the frontline for Leigh Griffiths, who scored 40 goals operating as a lone wolf last season making him one of few unqualified successes in the side that claimed a fifth successive title.
Kieran Tierney would be the other to achieve a resoundingly high mark and Rodgers admits he has been encouraged by what he has seen of the teenage defender.
‘He looks a good boy. He’s 18 years of age and has given the impression that he’s dealing with playing for a big club very well,’ noted Rodgers. ‘From what I’ve seen he has a great left foot.
‘One of the great joys of being a coach and a manager is seeing a young player come through with dreams to be a professional footballer and then grow and flourish. There is nothing better than seeing a youngster do it.
‘And with my background in coaching and youth development, it is something I always look to.
‘I will always look in-house. If you look at my record, they will all get an opportunity to play in a magnificent stadium for an incredible club and they have to take that opportunity.’
It’s not just Celtic’s own youngsters Rodgers will have a chance to develop. After an impressive end to last term, Manchester City’s Patrick Roberts will spend the entirety of next season on loan at Parkhead.
‘Patrick is a David Silva type,’ said Rodgers. ‘I had Raheem Sterling at Liverpool, who was similar in that he was young but different in that he played more as a winger, with speed.
‘Patrick plays more on the inside and he looks like he has an eye for goal. He’s young and looks a talent.’
Much has been said, not least by Rodgers himself, of the influence the late Tommy Burns had on his career as he started out as a youth coach at Reading.
Had Burns still been around, he would have been the first port of call for advice to the Northern Irishman as he embarks on his new job but one of his oft-quoted pearls of wisdom remains: ‘One half of Glasgow hates you and the other thinks it owns you.’
If Lennon embraced that mantra and Deila shrugged it off with carefree abandon, Rodgers is likely to prove a more circumspect custodian of the job.
Kieran looks a good boy. From what I’ve seen he has a great left foot
High-profile he may be but he knows the pitfalls of working in an environment where every word is scrutinised. Lennon, the last Irishman to manage Celtic, was the victim of assaults and threats.
Rodgers insists he had no concerns about entering the sometimes incendiary environment of Scottish football.
‘Neil’s a good man,’ he said. ‘He has a passion for football and a passion for Celtic, but we’re different characters. ‘The big clubs in the big cities, it can
be the goldfish bowl. But it’s why you come here. There is something about us managers... that’s what excites me. You try to win every game but, although you can’t, the rules are simple here, at least you know. If you win, it’s great. If you don’t win, they’ll tell you.
‘You don’t mind that, as long as it’s straight like that. I’ve never had a problem with it. My only notion is to do the best I can for Celtic. ‘There are parallels between Liverpool and Glasgow but this is different. This is family. This is blood. This is Gallagher, Johnstone, McGrain. ‘Liverpool, I loved my time there. To go in there at 39 years of age as a manager and feel that was brilliant for me. It has created a great platform for me coming here.
‘I may be young as a manager but I have quite a bit of experience and hopefully Celtic can benefit from that.
‘We nearly won the title but it just wasn’t to be. But what I did there will be similar to what I can do here in terms of the expectation.
‘Liverpool were never expected to be near the league within two years but with a bit of luck we could have won it.’
Rodgers’ background as a Celtic supporter growing up in the fishing village of Carnlough is well documented but the first derby of the new season against Rangers will be an entirely novel experience for the 43-year-old.
‘I’m looking forward to the derbies,’ he admitted. ‘I’ve never been to one, even in my time as a supporter. Because of the Troubles, I was never allowed to travel over because I was young and at that time it was different.
‘But over the years I’ve listened to the radio and watched them on the telly. My uncles and cousins have been to plenty of them. It’s a unique atmosphere.’
Had Rodgers managed to get Liverpool over the line in 2014 he would not now be preparing for his debut season in Scottish football.
Be it the opportunity to establish a new dynasty at Anfield or fry bigger fish on the continent, a Premier League title would have opened any number of doors but he insists Celtic was always on his list of career ambitions.
‘I think it was fate really that got me here,’ he added. ‘There are so many stars aligned for me to be here at this time.’
Patrick is a David Silva type. He’s young and looks like he has an eye for goal