Any Celtic supporter who’s not yet forgiven Brendan Rodgers for abruptly leaving the club first time around probably won’t be granting him a pardon any time soon.
When the final whistle sounded at Tannadice on Saturday, the Northern Irishman became the club’s most decorated living manager with 11 honours.
Four of those have come since he returned to Glasgow in controversial circumstances in 2023. Only Aberdeen can now prevent his side from claiming a sixth Treble in nine years at Hampden next month, a spectacular run which he set in motion in his first season first time around.
If Rodgers sinned grievously in the eyes of so many when he departed for Leicester by the dark of night back in early 2019, then he could scarcely have done more to atone since returning. bhoy for the job
Acutely aware of the nuclear fall-out that came from the manner of his defection, next time will assuredly be much different.
Already ‘200 per cent’ committed to the third and final year of his existing contract, his eventual departure — whenever that may be — will be done in such a way that his integrity is beyond reproach and his legacy is unsullied, according to his skipper.
Celtic captain Callum McGregor is convinced Brendan Rodgers was the only man for the job
McGregor says Rodgers will be remembered as one of the best managers in Celtic’s history
‘Ultimately, people will always respect what he’s done,’ said midfielder Callum McGregor. ‘Even the first time… I get it… people weren’t happy. But he still set a new level for Celtic.
‘He then came back and he raised the bar again from where we left.
‘So, I think in the end, when all the emotion dies down, people will think: “Wow, he was one of the best managers ever that managed at Celtic”.
‘When you do that level of work, I would assume in the long run that people will respect him and have huge admiration for him.’
The level of anger which Rodgers’ sudden departure six years back invoked among some supporters was actually testament to what he’d achieved in two-and-a-half seasons.
An invincible Treble was backed up by another clean sweep then a League Cup… Celtic’s domination of the Scottish game appeared certain for as long as he stuck around. So, when he left, it hurt.
Although Neil Lennon and Ange Postecoglou brought further success, there were many fans who still couldn’t countenance Rodgers returning when the vacancy again arose.
Immediately identifying him as the best available man for the job, McGregor needed absolutely no persuading.
‘No, not at all,’ he reflected. ‘Because I knew how good a manager he was and obviously (there was) my relationship with him as well.
‘I knew he was the right person for the job. I think Celtic is such a huge club that you need that level of personality.
‘You need to have something special about you if you’re going to head the club and manage the club in the right way. If someone new comes in, then it’s a bit of the unknown.
‘You know what you’re getting with the gaffer. His success rate the first time around was impeccable. So, you knew that he was going to bring that again when he came back. For me, there was never any doubt that it should have been him. And I’m just glad that’s the way it worked out.’
This certainty stemmed from a first-hand appreciation of the standards which would be demanded.
‘The first time he came in, his professionalism and his relentless nature were the two biggest differences,’ explained McGregor.
‘When you look at Celtic and Rangers, we probably have the two biggest budgets in the league. So, by and large, you have the best players. So, then the demand is how can you win every week? You need to be the fittest team. You need to have the best mentality. And you keep going until somebody blows a whistle at the end of the season and then you lift your head and say: “Right, well, where are we?”
‘That’s what he brought to the club. I remember we had beaten Motherwell (in the 2017 League Cup final) and then we played them again on the Wednesday night and drew the game. And we knew about it at that point. We’d just won the trophy. But it was like: “No, no, no, we’re not coming off it. I’ll give you time to celebrate at the end of the season, you need to win this game as well”.
‘It’s that relentless nature, especially at Celtic, because the job is to win. And he drives home that message for the players. And then that breeds the culture for us as players to continue that as well.’
McGregor leads the celebrations after Celtic’s latest title triumph at Tannadice on Saturday
McGregor isn’t certain if he was one of the people Rodgers was referencing on Saturday when he talked of the few people that ‘understood’ him. But he’s closer now to him than first time around as a result of succeeding Scott Brown as captain.
‘We trust each other more,’ he offered. ‘Even the first time we were in, we had a lot of trust in each other. But I think it’s different when you have that kind of captain-manager relationship.
‘I depend on him and he depends on me a lot as well. So, I think it’s a different feeling when you win something for your manager. I mean, I had it with Ange as well.’
Occasions like the one that awaits at Ibrox on Sunday are another reason. While the final league clash with Rangers is irrelevant in terms of the title, Celtic have the small matter of back-to-back defeats to address.
Try telling a born winner like McGregor that the game doesn’t matter just because there’s no trophy on the line.
‘It does, I think,’ he stated. ‘And that’s because of the narrative. This is what I’m going back to at Celtic where you can be so dominant, you can be the best team, you can win all the trophies and if you lose one game, it’s a disaster.
‘Now the narrative is, it’s been a disaster. So, we have to change that. And that’s the pressure that we want to put on ourselves.’
