Why Ex-Celtic Boss Isn’t Ready To Torch What’s Left Of His Moral Reputation.

Brendan Rodgers is good at what he does. Not just the football management part, but the shameless self-promotion part. Some might say, in fact, that’s where his real genius lies. I find it hilarious at times because it’s so ingrained in his personality now that it’s automatic.

He is so lacking in self-awareness about it that it strikes the funny bone at times.

When Leicester won the FA Cup it was a momentous moment for their club and a triumph for him on a personal level.

But he let that part of it overcome everything else.

When he spoke to the media he boasted on his cup final record; “I’ve won them all,” he said, as though amazed that any mere mortal could have accomplished such a feat.

Note that he never said Celtic or Leicester or the players; he “won them all.”

Him personally. The rest of the world were mere passengers along the way.

When he leaked it to the press that he wouldn’t take the Newcastle job he went out of his way to make sure the world knew he’d take the job at Man City instead. It was a laugh out loud revelation; the prospect of working for a repressive oil state didn’t hold appeal.

But he would happily work for a different repressive oil state.

The real difference is in what one of those jobs would have meant for his self-image. Newcastle is a step down as far as he’s concerned, and no billionaire owner is going to change that. Until it changes.

That’s the crucial thing.

He’s doing what he does; he’s waiting to see which way the wind is blowing, because it might be a cold one that sweeps over St James’.

These guys might come in and be wholly intolerant of anything but instant success.

There might be a backlash from the civil rights organisations, something which makes life decidedly unpleasant for whoever sits in that seat. Some of his fellow managers might publicly sneer at the idea of working for such bloodthirsty bastards.

Rodgers is already seen as an untrustworthy charlatan in certain circles.

He promotes himself but he also defends what’s left of his reputation.

That’s why he makes sure to distance himself from every job that comes up, to let his employers and the fans know he’s loyal.

It helps that none of those jobs has sufficiently gripped his attention, and even more that he was never actually offered one of them, as, let’s not forget, he’s not been offered the Newcastle job either.

Rodgers would take the City job. Isn’t that great? Good of him to advertise his interest in it.

That will give their board food for thought, won’t it?

That will make them consider the future.

Except the job is currently inhabited by the best manager in the world. Does that mean Rodgers seems himself as the second best?

Because in his mind I’d have thought that was a step down.