Setting aside Brendan Rodgers’ achievements at Celtic, where he won all seven domestic trophies on offer at his time here, his best season in football south of the border was 2020-21, at Leicester City. That season he won the FA Cup, the first time Leicester lifted that trophy, and finished fifth in the league. Dropping five points in their final two games of that season saw them slip from third. A late collapse against Tottenham on the final 14 minutes of the season saw them lose out on a Champions League spot.
As he watched Casper Schmeichel lift the FA Cup a week later, Brendan was at the peak of his powers. Two years after taking control at the midlands club, silverware was back in the trophy room, and they had qualified for the Europa League. Until the closing weeks of the season, only the two Manchester clubs were above them, neither of whom were in contention when Leicester’s miracle league win happened in 2016. Without Claudio Ranieri’s achievement, Brendan’s would have received even greater praise.
There was no shame in the fact that Leicester did not kick on in the following season. They slipped to an eighth place finish that year later, as Arsenal, Tottenham and West Ham all moved above them. European competition seemed to tax his side, where they ended third in their Europa group, before a run to the semi-finals of the new Conference League.
The wheels came off spectacularly last season. A home draw against Brentford and win over Nottingham Forest was all they had to show after nine league games, a run which saw Arsenal hit four, Brighton five and Tottenham six against them.
New signings were made last season, the joint-most expensive of whom was the £17m capture of Aberdeen-born Australia international, Harry Souttar (24). Harry was part of the Australia side that won admirers during December’s World Cup. Brendan moved for the player a month later.
Dundee United and Ross County fans pondered what happened to their former player to cause such a dramatic improvement in form, while some of us wondered if Brendan had made a classic tournament-scouting mistake. In other news, Jack Hendry made seven league starts at Brugge last season, he was surely available for a lot less than £17.
Brendan can motivate and man manage with the very best of them. Alongside Chris Davies, who yesterday joined Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham, he was able to coach and organise. For me, his Achilles Heel is player trading. Fix that, and you have a more complete package.
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Player trading improvement needed by ???????
John McGinn
Ivan Toney
How many have got out on loan right now including Ajeti….
Nae white smoke…?
Mibbe too hot for a fire .
I don’t normally do this but I’m predicting the Brendan and Scott Brown will be announced tomorrow afternoon.
Tom McL
I want the Aussies and I have an English wife.
It probably is an anti English thing though after living in Engerland for so long.
It’s about 50/50 so far today. The Aussies would have taken the idea of 5 wickets by mid afternoon. Maybe not 200 runs.
It’s going to be a great series judging by today so far.
It doesn’t quite feel the same without Warney floating around the periphery, or at the heart of it all.
There was a great programme last night about the 74/5 series. Lillee and Thompson and the famous Clem Jones ridge at the Gabba.
⌛🍀💥✌️
Hard ro believe no one knows anything.
KLV
The Stock Exchanged is closed at the weekend, I believe.
exchange ffs
Barring kieran Tierney, which current players would you trade for those of the Rodgers era?
—
Good question.
I’d go:
Ajer over Starfelt.
Tierney over Taylor.
Rogic over O’Riley
Brown over McGregor
Ntcham over Hatate
Sinclair over Maeda
Dembele over Kyogo.
Forrest, Armstrong, Roberts, Lustig, Boyata, Griffiths & Edouard better than what we have in reserve too.
That invincible team were bloody excellent.
HH
I’m getting a wee bit concerned.
Has Brendan reneged?
Are we speaking to someone else?
THEORIGINALSADIESBHOY on 16TH JUNE 2023 3:15 PM
I don’t normally do this but I’m predicting the Brendan and Scott Brown will be announced tomorrow afternoon.
_______________________________________________________________________________
As Celtic is a PLC I believe that appointments like this have to be announced on the Stock Exchange first, they are not open on a Saturday or Sunday, so it will have to be Monday at the earliest?
you can announce to the stock exchange 1 minute before closing today
I read Brendan was still contracted to Leicester untill the 1st of July recently how was the parting of him and the club reported anyone know?
SCULLYBHOY on 16TH JUNE 2023 1:05 PM
You can feel the venom from Mr. English
…………………….
Why should Brendan fret over the drivel that English writes. After all, this is what Tom had to say after Stevie G’s Glorious “55”.
Rangers: ‘Domestic treble & Champions League run must be targets’
By Tom English
BBC Scotland
Last updated on
28 July 2021
28 July 2021
.
From the section
Rangers
Rampant Rangers won their first top-flight title in a decade last season with a 25-point margin and 100% home record
The last time we saw Rangers in a competitive match – if you can call a 4-0 victory competitive – they were monstering Aberdeen on the final day of a league season that brought them the title they desperately wanted and needed.
In the most emphatic way, they dynamited the chat about Celtic’s 10 in a row and sparked a debate of their own – how many titles can they win on the bounce and what represents the next level for them this season?
With their stability and remarkable squad depth – in Scottish football terms – they’re holding every ace. They actually have two strong teams – one that would be hot favourites to win the league and a second that could well finish runner-up if they were given a shot at it.
Where Celtic are struggling desperately for players, Rangers have, if anything, too many. George Edmundson has now left but at centre-half they still have Connor Goldson, Filip Helander, Nikola Katic, Leon Balogun and Jack Simpson. Experience, a bit of defensive dog and touches of class. That list is also an illustration of their numbers and it’s repeated throughout the squad.
They have a battalion of midfielders, which has been supplemented by the arrival of the experienced Premier League player John Lundstram. At centre-forward they have Alfredo Morelos, Kemar Roofe, Cedric Itten, the everlasting Jermain Defoe and the intriguing Fashion Sakala, who scored 16 league goals for Oostende in Belgium last season and got one against Real Madrid at the weekend.
* Malmo beat HJK to set up Rangers tie
* Former Rangers player Dawson dies at 63
* Gerrard praise for ‘exciting’ Sakala
Rangers have just come through a pre-season campaign featuring a win against a Madrid team featuring Marcelo, Nacho, Isco, Lucas Vasquez, Martin Odegaard, Luka Jovic and Rodrygo.
Steven Gerrard’s side won 2-1 despite starting without Morelos, Roofe, Glen Kamara, Joe Aribo, Nathan Patterson and the injured Ryan Jack. It might not have been a high-octane affair, but it was an eye-catching result.
They also had a highly creditable draw against an Arsenal side that started with Cedric Soares, Emile Smith Rowe, Nicolas Pepe (£72m), Thomas Partey (£45m) and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (£56m). Kieran Tierney, Alexandre Lacazette, Willian and Hector Bellerin came on as substitutes.
The Ibrox club played without Helander, Morelos, Borna Barisic, Ryan Kent, Aribo and Jack in that game. Their early-season form line is streets ahead of all others. Celtic, toiling horribly to get a competent goalkeeper and a defence worthy of the name in place, lost 6-2 to West Ham on Saturday.
One league title should not sate Rangers. And it surely won’t. Gerrard might not say it publicly but a single trophy last season – albeit the big one – was an underwhelming return on their overwhelming superiority. They won the league by 25 points, they scored 105 goals in all domestic competition while conceding just 17, they won 74% of their games in Scotland and lost just 5%.
Rangers fell to St Johnstone in the Scottish Cup after St Mirren knocked the Ibrox men out of the League Cup
Those numbers reflect their dominance and yet they only had one trophy at the end of it. Given their momentum and personnel they should have had all three, but St Mirren did them in the League Cup and St Johnstone did them in the Scottish Cup – on penalties.
Over five games against Callum Davidson’s team, Rangers won by a combined 9-2 last season. They played against Jim Goodwin’s side four times and won the head-to-head 10-3. The cup defeats were an aberration, a glorious one for Davidson, in particular, and his brilliant double winners.
Celtic, in their now distant pomp, won four trebles on the spin. They were never caught the way Gerrard’s team were. They were too good, too resilient. A full house of domestic trophies has to be the target for Gerrard this time.
Not just that. There’s Europe, too. This is a side that has had notable victories in recent seasons. They’ve beaten Braga, Porto, Feyenoord, Legia Warsaw, Midtjylland, Galatasaray and others. They’ve drawn twice – and should have won twice – against Benfica.
They’ve now earned a shot at the Champions League group stage and all the glamour and pound signs that come with it. All of this is clearly within their grasp. More trophies at home and a place with the big boys in Europe – those are the next goals.
We expected some high-profile departures from the club but none have materialised. Not yet at any rate. Rangers, through their managing director Stewart Robertson, have gone on the record about their need to sell a player or two to address their financial situation – they can’t keep relying on soft loans from supportive directors – but there’s no sign of a notable exit.
They have numerous marketable assets on their hands and, in most cases, decent back-up. They’re in a good place even if they do end up selling Morelos, Kamara or Aribo. A ton of Champions League loot wouldn’t half alter the fiscal picture at Ibrox.
Rangers have reached the Europa League last 16 in each of the past two seasons and now have their first tilt at the Champions League under Steven Gerrard
There’s a debate ongoing about their new policy of charging the print media £25,000 for entry to the inner sanctum. It’s an odd one. Rangers don’t want to give away access for free, but there’s an obvious quid pro quo in doing so. Their sponsors derive value from the reams of coverage that newspapers give them. This is not a one-way street.
If this is about their desire for extra money it would only bring in chicken feed in terms of revenue even if all titles were to go for it. In that sense there’s a touch of the car boot sale about it. Big clubs around the world don’t act like this.
Gerrard has an opportunity to emulate Rangers’ city neighbours this season. A treble and a Champions League adventure has to be the target. They don’t have to win the league by 25 points again. They don’t have to go unbeaten in the Premiership. They don’t have to threaten any goalscoring or conceding records. The clean sweep and the European run is what it’s all about.
Celtic are beginning a painful transition, Aberdeen, Hibs and St Johnstone are building and the hope is they’ll get some European loot to kick them on even further, but Rangers retain a massive advantage domestically and serious optimism continentally.
European-ready?
New GK
AJ > CCV > New CB > New LB
New CM > CMcG > Hatate
Jota > Kyogo > New LW
Just chewin’ the cud.
HH
SAINT STIVS on 16TH JUNE 2023 3:38 PM
you can announce to the stock exchange 1 minute before closing today
Is that at 4 or 5 or is there early closing on Friday?
SAINT STIVS on 16TH JUNE 2023 3:38 PM
you can announce to the stock exchange 1 minute before closing today
I think it was announced at Friday closing when Brendan was appointed last time.
Celtic Football Club
@CelticFC
BREAKING NEWS: Celtic FC is delighted to announce that it has appointed Brendan Rodgers as the Club’s new manager.
5:04 PM · May 20, 2016
Tom English really has his finger on the pulse of Scottish football, he really should stick to rugby. No doubt people who know about rugby think he should stick to football!
TOM MCL, B78, GENE and any other cricket fans…….Don’t like cricket, I love it🎼
The Botham/Willis/Dilley Ashes at Headingley (?) was the one that got me hooked, plus, of course, the great West Indies team of that era – early 80’s. I was rooting so hard for England vs Thomson and Lillee I couldn’t believe it. Wanted England to beat everyone except The Windies. That didn’t last too long,however, and I reverted to type after Botham retired. I know, I know.
Never been to a proper cricket game/match, never mind a Test series. Nearest I came was an Aussie pre-tour one day match that was washed out.
………Now back to café surfing and checking in here for the green and white smoke.
What!!! It’s happened,,!!!!
I had forgotten that English article – Nostradamus, look how much he got the predictions right.
With the 2nd Rangers now on 3 in a row and back to back trebles, and their appearances in the semi-finals of the european cup.
DOWNFORSAM
You Rascal🤣🤣🤣
DOWNFORSAM
You Rascal🤣🤣🤣
Apologies. That wasn’t my intention. Was just highlighting the time it was announced last time.
Downforsam
It was a Friday as well, Stock Exchange 4.59, Celtic twitter 5.03?
PHILBHOY on 16TH JUNE 2023 3:32 PM
I’m getting a wee bit concerned
Has Brendan reneged?
Are we speaking to someone else?
Wouldn’t put it past them/him
The Tom English article – did he start the closed season/friendly wins championship talk so beloved of their followers, what complete drivel from a so called sports journalist. That team which Sevco beat went on to win the Champions League the same season did they not? No doubt his pre season assessment the next year claimed that as they had already beaten Real Madrid in a pre season friendly they were in fact European champions, he is really is an idiot of the highest order, writing like that is for an illiterate Gers fanzine not a so called serious journalist who writes for the BBC!
THEORIGINALSADIESBHOY@3:41
That English bit looks more like a hun fan piece, something you would read on Ibrox noise. He did get the £25k entrance fee correct, clubs just don’t do that!
Favourite cricket line is still
The bowler’s Holding the batsman’s Willey.
The joy of a missed comma
Jenz away to Wolfsburg for €10m…..WTF
Where is oor manager.?
Impatientcsc.
Interesting read by Joe McHugh
https://videocelts.com/2023/06/blogs/latest-news/has-the-chairman-booby-trapped-the-return-of-brendan/
Time passes slowly when you take a holiday and you are awaiting word on a new manager.
I’ll give you laugh 😂 I just awoke on the deck here to be wakened by both of us snoring 😴 🤣
Does the stock market have a window and does it slam shut ?
HH
DOWNFORSAM on 16TH JUNE 2023 3:45 PM
Celtic Football Club
@CelticFC
BREAKING NEWS: Celtic FC is delighted to announce that it has appointed Brendan Rodgers as the Club’s new manager.
5:04 PM · May 20, 2016
=================
You’re a bad person
Monday to Friday London Stock Exchange trading hours are from 8:00 to 16:30.
Must shut at 5pm 🕔 going by the last time I’d guess.
‘SLAM’