Everything happens for a reason.
And I’ve a lot of time for the old saying that a man always has two reasons for what he does – a good one and the real one. Which brings us directly to Brendan Rodgers’ return to Celtic against the backdrop of undisguised contempt for the idea among the precious and perturbed within the club’s support. Like the one who called me on the radio to maintain that Brendan’s first stint as Celtic manager was “overrated”.
Quite how you find fault with seven trophy wins out of seven, an Invincible season of four draws and no defeats in the league and back-to-back Trebles is a mystery to me, but maybe I’m missing something Even more perplexing was the caller’s assertion that Rangers being in such poor shape when Rodgers arrived in 2016 was a contributory factor regarding his trophy haul.
If I or any other journalist had ever said or written that any Celtic success was questionable on the basis that Rangers were on the road back from administration and liquidation, we would never have heard the end of complaints concerning the anti-Celtic bias of the mainstream media. Do me a favour.
If you want to berate Rodgers for the undue haste with which he left Celtic Park for Leicester City in 2019 then be my guest. But at least carry out the case for the prosecution of the manager with a straight face and a proper regard for the extent of his achievements while he was in Glasgow the first time around.
Like a subsequent caller who presented the case for Rodgers’ defence in a way that put the team first. "If he beats Rangers four times then all will be forgiven in my eyes,” said the man who drove straight to the heart of what’s required from the manager in the coming season. The suggestion is Celtic’s principal shareholder Dermot Desmond has bankrolled a plan to heighten the club’s decidedly low-key standing in European competition.
But there is a domestic truth to be told at the same time. If Rangers should take advantage of any transitional problems in the manager’s office and beat Celtic to the league title then Rodgers’ job could be lost in jig time.
Likewise, if Rodgers gets back in the old routine and overcomes Rangers’ rebuild it will be Michael Beale facing the threat of being unemployed 12 months from now. Europe’s all very well – but domestic supremacy is what really matters to two sets of fans. If there were Rangers fans even keener than the disaffected Celtic supporters to see Rodgers turn down the manager’s job should that not ring a bell somewhere?
Is it not a hint to the Celtic fans that, to use a Glasgow expression, you might be cutting your nose off to spite your face by objecting to Brendan’s Second Coming? The good reason for Rodgers’ return is that he can kickstart the managerial career that suffered guilt by association following Leicester City’s relegation from the Premier League.
The real reason for retracing his steps in Glasgow is that if he is as dominant as he was originally, then his image will be spruced
up for a return to England – or even the continent – one day. Does anyone seriously doubt that is the case here?
Could anyone quibble with that agenda if the plan meant Celtic had been extremely successful while Rodgers’ own reputation
underwent cosmetic surgery? The charge levelled against him by his detractors is betrayal based on the belief managers should put the club first and their own personal considerations a distant second.
This is not how football works, as Celtic’s own history will show. Billy McNeill and Neil Lennon were the two men, prior to Rodgers’ comeback, to have managed Celtic twice.
McNeill, the captain of the Lisbon Lions and the first man to lead a Scottish team to nine-in-a-row, has a statue outside Celtic Park to acknowledge his greatness. But he was treated abysmally by the club the two times they got rid of him from the manager’s office.
It provoked McNeill to write in his biography that: “Celtic is a club that has always demanded loyalty and called on its employees to display allegiance – but they haven’t always given it in return.”
Fergus McCann’s takeover of the club drove out the people in the boardroom who let down McNeill.
But when Lennon, an outstanding player for the club, failed to win 10-in-a-row as manager there was no one to save him as he went from being lionised to demonised by the fans who stood outside the ground and chanted for his dismissal.
All of which is recalled to mind with the simple objective of showing that football clubs are volatile places to work and they are always situated on a two-way street. If Rodgers had failed after replacing Ronny Deila seven years ago he would have been removed without a moment’s hesitation and not one fan would have complained.
Now he represents the managerial appointment that carries less risk than any of the others who were under consideration. The chances of principal shareholder Desmond apologising for the way he has exercised his judgment regarding this matter are somewhere between zero and nonexistent.
Rodgers can explain himself as he sees fit regarding the past but begging forgiveness is unnecessary when those who are asking for contrition might one day demand his removal if his face no longer fits.
Football’s a fractious business and all parties have to live with the fact there is no moral high ground.
Meanwhile, fluent Spanish speaker Rodgers said it was “terminado” when he left Celtic. Now it’s “andiamo” as he returns – that being the Italian word Jock Stein used to shout to the players in his dressing room before they went about their history-making business.
That ought to be enough for the fans to be going on with. Until the new season starts and actions speak louder than words
