No sooner has our new signing touched down, but he’s laid much of the credit for agreeing to the deal at the door of our manager, Brendan Rodgers. This proves, again, just what an asset Brendan is to us, and why some of the early sniping at him was way off the mark.
Brendan’s time at Liverpool has been the subject of so much nonsense that it makes the head hurt just to think of it. Branded a failure when he took them closer to the Premier League title than anyone had since King Kenny on the night Michael Thomas broke their hearts, the revisionism is unbelievable, especially when one considers that Klopp, who their fans adore, has yet to accomplish anything remotely on that level.
I think Klopp is an exceptional manager, but so is the guy we have. Their loss is our gain. Those who can’t see how much quality he has are either deluding themselves or they don’t know the first thing about football. Just having someone of Brendan’s calibre at the top of our house gives us a credibility which reaches far beyond Scotland. The name of Celtic, on its own, would have given us a chance to attract big names … with this man at the helm our attractiveness is increased enormously.
He gives us gravitas. He is our number one asset.
Players across Europe know who Brendan Rodgers is. When you have an endorsement from a player like Luis Suarez that’s big. That’s enough, on its own, to overshadow the doubts – real or simply wishful thinking – of The Daily Record editorial team and halfwits like Kris Boyd. This is a manager who can walk into a dressing room and instantly command respect; he doesn’t have to throw his weight around the place like a third-rate mobster.
Brendan just adds so much to life at Celtic Park right now.
Last week, before going on holiday, I wrote about how Sevco players have been talking about our boss, in particular in relation to the man at the helm at Ibrox, who is not universally liked. (If we’re being generous.) This isn’t just about his abilities as a boss, it’s about his attitude as a man. It’s about the way he handles his players, about the way he makes them feel about themselves. He sells his vision brilliantly. He sells that of the club with aplomb.
Ntcham says Moussa Dembele has already clued him in as to how fantastic the Celtic supporters are; that, too, would have been a big selling point. But our new boy would also have asked about the manager, as if Brendan’s reputation is not enough. Doubtless he got a rave review.
Because Brendan cares about players. He takes his responsibilities as a leader seriously. He looks out for them and for their wellbeing, and players need that. They need to feel appreciated and respected, and they will give a man who does that respect in return.
Whilst on holiday, I read The Secret Footballer books; they are fascinating, insightful, examinations of what it’s like to be a top player in the game. He gives Brendan a big of a slagging in one section, actually, where he talks about the famous documentary whilst our manager was at Liverpool but it’s also clear that the guy likes our boss and his managerial style.
One story he tells, to highlight what he finds positive in a manager, is about Jose Mourinho taking his players on tour and getting asked to do a little photoshoot for Samsung. Upon arriving, just as the team was getting off the bus at the location he found that they weren’t getting any freebies and he ordered them back on the bus and to return to the hotel … until Samsung’s PR people panicked, apologised, and laid on a lot of stuff for the team.
The Secret Footballer makes it plain that the issue here wasn’t about money or greed; it was about respect. Mourinho believed his players were being disrespected there and he wasn’t about to allow that to happen. If you’ve ever seen Brendan react to a negative question about a Celtic player you’ll know he has exactly that attitude towards man-management.
You only have to consider his response to being asked “Who needs Leigh Griffiths?” at the end of Moussa’s hat-trick match against Sevco last season. It was an innocuous enough question, and I understood what the interviewer meant, but Brendan responded to it with thinly disguised anger nonetheless.
And players get that. And they like it.
They also like winning, and they know Brendan is a winner. They believe in this guy; some Celtic players have talked about how the mood in the dressing room soared the moment he was officially appointed. The lift it gave the fans was unreal, and obvious, but you can ascertain the way the players themselves responded by the way they’ve played. Forrest and Rogic committed themselves to new deals almost at once, when both looked gone.
Celtic had strong fundamentals before Brendan arrived – that and the name. How else could we have got him in the first place? But he is now clearly a key element in what makes our club stand out. He’s a gentleman, and a class act, and a proven leader.
Life will only get better as long as he’s around.