Talk of Brendan Rodgers being at Celtic for the long haul may still raise the odd sceptical eyebrow among the Celtic faithful, even if the vast majority of them have now made their peace with their manager following his ultimately triumphant return to the club last season.
He may well have been unable to resist the lure of the English Premier League during his first spell at the club, but according to former Celtic defender Charlie Mulgrew, that was then, and this is now. The temptations of the likes of a Leicester City may no longer hold the allure to Rodgers that they once did.
Mulgrew, who was recently appointed head coach of Hamilton Academical’s under-18 side, visited Rodgers at Lennoxtown as part of his pro-licence course, and he not only saw a settled man happy in his work, but one with a hunger to build upon his success at Celtic.
That means not only adding to his list of achievements in terms of silverware, but building the club in his own image, right from the grassroots up to the first team. And, of course, taking that next step that has so far proved elusive even to Rodgers, in making an impact on the European stage.
“I think a lot of managers say they are here for the long-term but really, they’ve got one eye on potentially going down south,” Mulgrew said.
“I can’t speak for him but Brendan Rodgers, in my opinion, he looks to me as if he wants to be here for the long-term.
“He’s been down south. He’s now back and it seems to me that he’s really settled here and wants to be here for long term and to really make the club better right through from the youths, to be there for a long spell, to challenge in Europe and be successful.”
For a long time last season, it looked as though Rodgers would struggle to live up to the incredible standards he had set during his first reign, and in terms of the trophies he managed to win, a double was one short of the trebles he used to routinely tuck into the Celtic cabinet.
For Mulgrew though, given the icy welcome back to Glasgow he received and the turmoil that seemed to follow the team throughout the campaign, to finish it as champions and to defeat Rangers in the final of the Scottish Cup represented one of Rodgers’ most impressive achievements as a manager.
“He did say to the fans he’d see them back in May,” Mulgrew said.
“They weren't maybe fully behind him, but he came back with a double and showed a lot of resilience.
“I’m a big believer in the team representing the leader and the coach and I think Celtic represented him well in terms of how resilient they could be.
“Right up to the cup final, that maybe summed the season up. It maybe wasn’t the greatest day for Celtic and Rangers maybe looked the better team at times but Celtic go and score a last-minute winner, so they got the job done.
“It’s one of Rodgers’ greatest achievements at Celtic even though he’s won double, trebles and whatever.
“He won that after being behind, having not had settled wingers, James Forrest coming in at the end, Cameron Carter-Vickers being injured, Liam Scales stepping up out of nowhere. It was a big achievement for him. He really showed his worth as a coach and a manager.
“The team reflects its leader. Whatever the leader is doing on a daily basis – and that’s everything – the players are watching and listening.
“Is he contradicting himself? Is he staying calm? There are situations when calmness is required. There are times when he had a go at the players. Motherwell away, one-nil down, he brought Adam Idah on [for example].
“So, there’s different ways and different types of things needed. He obviously got it bang on last year.”
All that being said, a signing or two might just ease any concerns fans are having at present over the state of their squad, with a number one goalkeeper top of the shopping list.
To come out of the window stronger than they ended last season will, Mulgrew acknowledges, be a far from straightforward task, but he has full faith in Rodgers to ensure that happens.
“I think they’ll be in a stronger position, you’d imagine,” he said.
“They’ll try and get the business done, even though it is difficult, at least a couple in and maybe a couple will leave, naturally.
“I would guess they will be in a stronger position. Even though it was a busy end to the season, the whole summer they would be trying to get these things moving quickly.
“It is such a complex situation because look at the signings they made last year. Look how many people that are in the building this year that they might need to move on.
“They need to juggle the squad. You can’t just bring players 40 in because then you need to manage those players. You have unhappy players in the changing room.
“I’d imagine some players need to go out because they want to play football and that’s not easy because they want to at least stay on the same money. Who wants to buy them?
“There will be some who many get in the team who had a bad first year, but now all of a sudden have settled in and now they are going to play.
“Who would have thought Liam Scales would have played last year and been one of the main players?
“So many things can happen. I understand the Celtic fans want players in the building, but, again, that is happening at other clubs.”
*Charlie Mulgrew was speaking at the launch of the William Hill SPFL Season 2024/25 fixtures. William Hill are proud sponsor of all four SPFL league competitions.
