Tonight, I’m doing my best not to let my blood boil over yet another article linking Brendan Rodgers with a move to England. Although to call it an article is a stretch.
It’s written by Ben Banks—one of those purveyors of clickbait who seems to drift between the Daily Record, Football Scotland, and various other outlets owned by the same media conglomerate. He’s one of those guys whose day job seems to involve scouring the internet for scraps of content to copy and paste.
His latest “masterpiece”—and yes, that’s laced with sarcasm—appears on the pitiful Glasgow World website, connecting our manager with the job at West Ham United.
If you’re reading this and thinking, “Wait a second… doesn’t West Ham still have a manager?” or “Why on earth would someone chasing Champions League ambitions step down to a relegation-scrapping Premier League side?”—well, you’re not alone.
The story is absurd for precisely those reasons.
It’s utter nonsense, spun from nothing but a quip by Darren Bent on TalkSport. Darren Bent, a man who probably hasn’t the faintest idea what’s going on in Scottish football, clearly has no grasp of Rodgers’ commitment to Celtic. Like so many in the English media, Bent views the football world through an Anglocentric, EPL-tinted lens, where the Premier League is the pinnacle of all existence and the only league worth being in.
But this is exactly the kind of garbage that bottom-feeders like Banks leap on.
Some clueless remark, lobbed into the media ether, which can be spun into a sensationalist headline—even if the central notion is preposterous.
Whenever a managerial job opens up in England, there’s a certain section of our support that lets a flicker of worry creep in—the idea that Rodgers might be lured south of the border. This persists despite Rodgers having given us a cast-iron assurance that he’d be here as long as he’s under contract. And on that note, sorting out his contract situation should be high on our to-do list.
In a way, I don’t mind that our manager is so well regarded, and I don’t mind him being mentioned for prominent jobs. Praise for him is welcome, of course. But linking him to a job where someone else is currently fighting to make improvements? That’s crass, tasteless, and disrespectful. It’s the sort of thing Rodgers himself would be first to condemn.
As a manager, he knows what it’s like to have idle chatter creating mischief behind his back. He’s undoubtedly dealt with that at clubs like Leicester, and probably at Liverpool too. Brendan’s always shown respect for his fellow managers. He’d never, for example, publicly undermine a struggling boss by waltzing up to the stadium on the day of a big game to sip drinks and pose for photos with fans—unlike a certain ex-Ibrox manager who got the gig that way before Rodgers sent him packing.
Our manager respects his peers too much for such nonsense and would find stories like this reprehensible. The people behind these rumours, though—do they care? Not a chance. Do they have any standards? Don’t be daft. Principles? You’re having a laugh.
And yes, it infuriates me, but I’m comforted knowing it would infuriate him too.
Earlier on today, I appeared on the Graham Spiers podcast to discuss last night’s game. Check it out below.
Celtic 3-1 RB Leipzig: Celtic scale the heights | Patreon
I hate this clickbait nonsense too, but to be honest I say “keep it coming!” Because as long as our manager and best players are constantly getting linked with jobs down south we know we’re winning. When was the last time you heard a Therangers manager or player being linked with a big move??
You need to check out a piece in Ibrox Noise talking bout how their club needs to repair relationships with the media because it would add £m’s to transfer fees for their players if the press spoke more favourably about them!! Its as embarrassing as it gets. Yeh, because a modern football club will pay millions more if the DR says the players worth it!! Forget all the stats and scouts watching them, it’s all about what the media say!! Unbelievable Jeff!!
Enjoyed the Speirs’ podcast. A really good discussion. Well done!!
I’ve just lost a good friend to cancer at the weekend there…
A 61 year old lovely lady that never caused a bit of trouble all her said 61 years to anyone –
And yet a FUCKIN UTTER SCUMMY BASTARD like that fuckin Liar and Pathological Troublemaker has breath in his Scummy fuckin stinking body to act with impunity the fuckin way that he does…
Aye – They’re not wrong when they say it’s a cruel and unjust world out there right enough !
You’ve hit the nail on the head ! The disdain and contempt that these guys ‘working’ in England, have for the Scottish game, is nothing new.
Football revolves around the EPL ( in their tiny minds,) and nothing else matters!
Why would an elite manager, plying his trade in the backwaters of Scottish football, not consider moving back to England at any given opportunity? Never mind that the supposed vacancy, is already occupied!!!
The answer is, he’s happy, successful and has a lot more to achieve at one of the ‘biggest clubs in the world !’
The arrogance surrounding the English game and all those that report on, and occupy its domain, should never cease to amaze us!
Hopefully we can persuaded BR to extend his contract, and soon !!!