In 2014 Brendan Rodgers was within touching distance of immortality on Merseyside, but Manchester City were on Liverpool’s tail throughout the campaign and snatched the title by two points.
The locals were distraught but loved the incredibly attacking formations Rodgers deployed. Liverpool were back, or so it seemed. Within 17 months, Jurgen Klopp made his availability known to Liverpool and in October last year Brendan was out of a job.
Celtic wanted Rodgers from the off but their major concern from the start was the familiar lure of English and Welsh lucre. Average managers there can command between £3m and £5m a year, getting on for 10% of Celtic’s income – and we pay tax and employer’s National Insurance, remember!
In recent weeks it became clear that Brendan is a Celtic man and was very interested in the job, while an offer he couldn’t refuse from England or Wales didn’t materialise. What went wrong for Brendan in Liverpool, after coming so close to the title, opened the door for Celtic.
The Merseyside team dropped from second to sixth last season, still higher than they were when he picked them up, but the slip worried the club to the extent that they could not resist Klopp’s availability. There’s reason to believe Liverpool were a tad hasty.
Much of Rodger’s success at Liverpool was based on getting the very best out of Suarez and Sturridge. They electrified English football in a manner which just didn’t happen before Brendan arrived, but Suarez fled for Barcelona as soon as he returned from his infamous World Cup, while Sturridge missed most of the following season through injury.
Suarez will be the first to break the Messi-Ronaldo Ballon d’Or duopoly. He is one of the world’s truly great players. Remember our own experiences when losing world class players.
We went from double winners to fifth (and sacked Jock Stein) when Dalglish left, and from 26 consecutive league wins to second when Larsson went. Losing one of the best players in the world takes time to recover from. What made Liverpool championship contenders just wasn’t there anymore. This cost Brendan his job, and a little of his reputation.
Before last night’s Europa League final the inane commentators told us, when discussing Klopp, that good managers can always improve players. This wasn’t meant to be a slight on Rodgers, but neither was it a deserved accolade for Klopp. Liverpool finished the season 8th in the league, lower than at any of Rodgers’ finishes.
Good managers can improve players, but only if they are taking over from less-effective managers. Klopp is one of the very best in the business, but Brendan Rodgers bettered him with the same team. He’s a manager at the absolute peak of our reach, it will be a remarkable appointment.
Usual caveats apply, until the lawyers have triplicate copies signed……
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BIG WAVY on 19TH MAY 2016 2:50 PM
As a proud occupied six counties exile have we completed the set in the last decade now ?
Brendan (Antrim)
Lenny (Armagh)
MON (Down)
Niall McGinn (Tyrone)
Paddy McCourt (Derry)
Looks like Brendan’s first signing will need to be Kyle Lafferty (Fermanagh) to complete the set….
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Big Wavy
Why not Michael McGovern (Accies) to complete the set?
Guys, you might want to bookmark this comment for some undetermined point in the future as proof positive of my prescience……
It just isn’t working out with Rodgers now, time to part company and move on.
Big Wavy…. I was going to say your post @ 2:50 is the post of the day… made me smile…. but then your post at 2:53 made me spit out my water! LOL! top two posts of the day, sir! :)
sadiesbhoy …. What is wrong with JH? I am not saying as No.1, just now. I am thinking more like the original RD situation was supposed to be (and which I think would have worked well for Celtic) ; he is brought in as No. 2, learns the ropes, and is ready to step in when BR moves on.
Just a hunch, I know, but I think his teams play decent football, and I think with a bit of time at Celtic, he could develop into a really good manager for us. We will llkely never find out if I am right…. but there is something solid and decent about the guy that I like.
WINNING CAPTAINS. @ 2.07pm
RES 12 NEWSPAPERS ADVERTISEMENTS
Brilliant news that funds in place for the “Guardian” and Swiss paper. It is a remarkable effort to raise that amount of money in such a short time and shows the depth of feeling about the issues involved.
Re your proposal for a further advert in a Sunday paper, good thinking and I have sent a little donation towards it – not quite at the level of spending my children’s inheritance but, as the slogan goes, every little helps. HH
It’s a done deal. Paul the Tim confirmed that “Brendan will be on the Celtic Way next week” earlier on Kerrydale Street. :-))
Proudbhoy
Wasn’t aware that you were aware :-)
HH
Kill Ultra
You don’t fancy the Lafferty idea then ? :)
MiT
Thanks fella. Feeling giddy this pm. I have images of Warbs at Ibrox in our first meeting with thems on the touchline poe-faced and wearing a green and white magic hat whilst shouting instructions. I genuinely think the ‘peepil’ would implode on the spot.
That would make me chuckle even more….
Mike In Toronto
Yogi smacks of a lack of ambition. After Brendan Rodgers (I can’t even believe that I’m discussing BR’s successor when BR’s appointment hasn’t yet been confirmed) why don’t we continue showing ambition by appointing someone else of a similar ilk who has managed at a big club instead of dragging us back to Ronny Deila level appointments?
I think we should be careful about suggesting an assistant to BR or grooming someone who could take over. As I recall – that was what a lot of posters did with John Collins and John Kennedy.
Sadiesbhoy …. i guess I was thinking of LB… and the whole old Liverpool bootroom system …. for me, it is about a system …. when one part (whether it is a player or a manager) moves on, we should already have someone ready to move up and step in.
Yogi is a big genial guy but I can’t see him fancying being anyone’s number 2. No pun intended.
Hopefully the new man can bring in his own team but if a role was found for Willie Mcstay in the first team, it wouldn’t break my heart.
HH
I’m very pleased at the prospect of landing a top manager with just one note of caution…. expensive players don’t always guarantee success and neither does an expensive manager.
Anyway, hopefully the huns can now legitimately refer to Celtic Park as the ‘Brendanbeu’.
Stokes 15/2 first goal v Sevco,….would be rude not to….
Bada Bing – Has betting been suspended on ‘penalty Rangers’ at any time ?
Dexter
“No doubt the MSM will say that he “hopes to emulate the meteoric success (sic) of the Mighty Warbo” and that his signature wouldn’t have been possible without the return (sic) of Rangers (sic) to the PL.”
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And there’s the fly in the (app)ointment, because that SMSM garbage is the narrative of the “governors” of Scoddish football too, and they’ll feel vindicated, as “I am the SFA” said,while dismissing the blogger John Clark’s concerns about the ‘same club’ myth, attendances in 2016-17 will be the deciding factor on whether The Big Lie has been swallowed.
Great appointment as BR would (or will) be, it doesn’t change any of that.
No Al Farcismo.
Sevco to score a penalty 6/1,fill yer boots bhoys…
Dermot has selected Brendan
Paul the Tim has given the green light to Dermot
White smoke at last
Someone will need to inform Brendan that Celtic managers don’t wear suits in the dugout (apart from Cup Finals at Hampden).
looking at the Seville team from yesterday … interesting …. for a team that has won 3 EL trophies in a row, they didn’t win a single league game away from home all season!
it is a funny old game…
At the time of Ronny’s appointment I was underwhelmed and would loved to have had one of my preferred choices installed as manager. One of the choices was Brendan Rodgers.
Today however, if clarified, I will be disappointed!
Disappointed. Yes. I said disappointed.
Because today I want another one of my choices. Neil Warnock where are you? :-]
Right, now that I have that off my chest I am delighted that Brendan Rodgers, if confirmed, will be our manager. A class act IMO. I can only assume that with this appointment there will be a new direction in strategy with a focus on employing the best players for buck available over prospects * however many for future sell on value.
I don’t expect that the selling of our best players will end as players will continue to use our club as a stepping stone to greater richies in the EPL. But I now expect players employed targeted to the managers requirements to improve the team and strengthen the positions of weakness. While at the same time opening up possibilities for our youth program to develop further in the longer term.
This is a very difficult job to manage but a strong backbone of experience with some youthful flare and the odd very exciting purchase will see us leave the rocky road and walk a smoother path to greater financial reward in competitions we have failed miserably in this last 2 or 3 years.
I’m tempted. I am. I really am. I even opened my renewal forms today.
If strategy is changing it is a step in the right direction. That though will take a little more time to evidence but the appointment if confirmed will be a large step in the right direction.
The cherry on the cake will be a wee hand shake between Dermott and Pedro to allow someone else in to prove to Peter there is another way to count beans than the way he has for the last few years.
No more buying and selling just to enhance balance sheets around accounting dates solidifying CEO bonus.
No more bonus payments to CEO not related to on the park performance in some form.
COYBIG.
MWD
Mike In Toronto
Realistically, BR isn’t likely to be a long term appointment; if he does well, he will get offers from Engerlund again, which we probably couldn’t match. So, it would be good to have someone in place ready to step in.
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Agree with that (maybe not the John Hughes part mind). Would like to see an infrastructure and identity in place so that someone else can take over without having to rip up and start again.
Having said that – I don’t think there’s that many jobs in England he would leave for. Not Liverpool, obviously. You can rule out Everton and Man Utd due to his Liverpool past. Chelsea and Man City would probably be looking at bigger fish. Would he leave Celtic for a Southampton/Stoke?
Anyway – hopefully not an issue for a while!
MWD
You said yesterday that teh CEO’s bonus should be a 50-50 deal with events on and off the pitch.
Considering we are a football club, I would make the bonus 80-20 in favour of events on the pitch.
If we put a winning, entertaining team on the pitch, the bonus will pay for itself imo.
HH
EmeraldBee-
Hope you are comfortable, and you get it done and dusted ASAP. Again, as my mammie would tell you, the procedure changed her life.
Paul 67
From the depths of despair yesterday to the highs of today.
An incredibly ambitious move to get Brendan from an incredibly unambitious board.
For once I doff my cap to them.
Surely Brendan will have secured a quality budget into the bargain.
I see an era akin to Martin’s approaching.
HH
Gotta love CQN, the guy isnae in the door yet and we’re discussing whit tae dae when he goes:))
Bada and Big wavy
To you both as you say it would be rude not to double up on that Stokes first scorer and Sevco penalty….hold on…. wait a minute…. Maclean doesn’t do penalties at Hampdump!! HH
STARRY PLOUGH on 19TH MAY 2016 3:57 PM
Gotta love CQN, the guy isnae in the door yet and we’re discussing whit tae dae when he goes:))
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Starry its the CQN way!! ,,bring back Ronny soon!! :)
Mit,
That stat is just menthol!!!
HH
BlantyreKev
:-)
Burghbhoy on 19th May 2016 3:56 pm
I see an era akin to Martin’s approaching.
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Second time I’ve read that this afternoon. Sure gets the blood pumping:)
Stockpiling funds for the big Euro adventures, just in case ;)
HH
Embdae know dates of CL qualifiers?
Johann murdoch on 19th May 2016 4:00 pm
STARRY PLOUGH on 19TH MAY 2016 3:57 PM
Gotta love CQN, the guy isnae in the door yet and we’re discussing whit tae dae when he goes:))
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Starry its the CQN way!! ,,bring back Ronny soon!! :)
… Hey, if we cant talk s**t on CQN, where can we?
But, seriously, the lack of planning over the last few years has put us behind where we should be right now. Failing to plan is planning to fail!
Sin City Bhoy
My personal nurse has just informed me that I will definitely be slinging my hook tomorrow because there is no chance of letting me stay over the weekend.
Bada,
12/13th July is oor first round.
HH
12/13th July is oor first round.
– Wouldn’t it be funny if we got Crusaders away ?
EMERALDBEE
Just read back!
Hope the op goes well!
Good luck!
17s play Accies at D park tonite 7 30 k off. League decider
Emeraldbee
Best of
HH