Brendan Rodgers has taken Celtic to another level in the last two seasons, and his excellent work has attracted teams from England. Not too long ago Rodgers was considered as one of the frontrunners for Aston Villa job. However, there was no way that the Northern Irish tactician was leaving the Hoops to join a side who are struggling in the Championship.
Now, again the 45-year-old has been linked with a move down the south, this time a more lucrative job with Newcastle United as they are struggling under Rafael Benitez this season. Even Leicester City are said to be interested in the former Swansea City manager. However, Celtic have slapped a £9m price on their boss according to the report in the Sun and English clubs would think twice before coming after Rodgers with such a steep ‘compensation price’.
It is believed that the vacancy is not set to arrive soon but when it comes, Celtic are going to be tough negotiators and why wouldn’t they be? Afterall Rodgers has swept away all the domestic titles in his stint at the club, including a season where they went unbeaten.
It has always been expected that Rodgers would go to England and he was at Celtic to build his CV further after he was dismissed from Liverpool’s job after a poor few months. However, he remains the manager who brought the Reds closest to their first Premier League title in the last 28 years.
Many believe that the Liverpool job came too soon for him and he would love to have another crack at English football, but one doesn’t see him leaving in the middle of the season. His contracts run until 2021, so the price demanded by Celtic is right.
This season Rodgers has a proper challenge on his hand as Celtic’s rivals seemed to close the gap on them. The 45-year-old also claimed that he is loving the challenge and the love which he has received at Park Head. He was quoted as saying,”For me, I’m happy here at Celtic (When linked with Villa job). My job is a challenge of course because of the expectation but it’s something I love. The supporters have been incredible for me since I arrived. I’m the Celtic manager. I love it here and I still have lots of challenges that excite me here.”
The former Liverpool manager has brought a sense of identity to the side and on their day they can blow away teams in the first 15-20 minutes. Various rumours are doing the round that there is a dressing room divide and Rodgers’ relationship with CEO isn’t the best. On top of that, a poor summer transfer window has turned Rodgers’ head towards England.
However, the fact of the matter is that they are still the favourites to sweep away all the honours in Scotland and even after an indifferent start to the season, they currently sit second on the table and look very capable of going on a good run.
