BRENDAN RODGERS CELTIC MANAGER TALKS: WHAT, IF ANYTHING, DOES THIS MEAN FOR HIS FUTURE?
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- Jul 14
- 3 min read
Various sources reported over the past 24 hours the comments of Brendan Rodgers this weekend.
He confirmed he has “had dinner and a nice chat” with Celtic’s majority shareholder Dermot Desmond.
So, the question on every Celtic fan's lips is: “What does this mean for Rodgers’ Celtic future and what happens next.”
Don't Expect a Brendan Rodgers Celtic Decision Anytime Soon
For the avoidance of doubt, what I am about to say here is my opinion, and mine alone. It is an opinion based on what I have observed of Brendan Rodgers, Celtic’s Board and football managerial manoeuvering in general over the past several years.
I do not profess to be “in the know” nor will I try to claim any special insight into any of this. I’m just calling it as I see it, as an opinionated Celtic fan from the outside looking in.
I honestly don't think Rodgers has decided either way at this point, if he’s renewing or if he’s off at the end of next season as his current contract stipulates.
In my opinion, his answer to the very pointed question about contract talks was a delaying tactic, stalling for time, if you will.
He clearly still feels there’s further he can take this Celtic team, particularly in Europe. However, the biggest cloud over all this is our current transfer activity. In short, it doesn't seem like we are bringing in players that the manager has identified as essential targets.
Rather Celtic seem to be trying to hoover up whatever promising talent they can. Even if players like Hayato Inamura and Callum Osmand don’t become established Celtic players over the next couple of years, Celtic will, almost certainly, turn a profit on the nominal fees we paid to acquire these players.
Good for Celtic, but probably not so great for the manager or his long term future at the club. However, our first real tests in pre-season come this week. First, Sporting Lisbon in Portugal, then Newcastle at home. I expect to see something much closer to Celtic’s full first team on show by the time The Geordies come calling on Saturday afternoon.
However, don’t expect any players we bring in this week (Shin Yamada for example) to play much of a part in these games. Rodgers has said he wants players to have at least a week of solid training before he plays them. The earliest Yamada could probably complete his move to Celtic is this coming Wednesday or Thursday.
Fans will certainly hope he’s not the only deal we get over the line this week either.
Which brings me back to my point about Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic future. It seems Celtic have shifted to a more modern, European approach to scouting.
Players are being identified and then offered to the manager, as opposed to the “old school” approach of the manager going to the board and saying “I want this specific player, can we make a deal?”
However, I’m sure Brendan Rodgers also has specific players in mind, and will expect to get most of them on board if he's going to stay around beyond next summer. Clearly Kieran Tierney was one of these, and I suspect Benjamin Nygren was too.
Particularly if you go with the assumption that Rodgers knew for a while that Nicholas Kuhn was for the off, then going after a player like Nygren and also the likes of Michel-Ange Balikwisha makes sense.
I think we might have to wait a couple more months at least before we get a clearer idea about the manager’s future.
Whether a decision has already been reached or not, and I’ll say again, I don’t think it has, Rodgers won’t say anything either way while pre-season is still ongoing.
His primary focus now will be to build the team he wants, both in terms of working with the players he has and bringing more new faces in, to get us past that Champions League Play-Off round in August.
There will be plenty of speculation and supposed “in the know” statements from the usual suspects in the days and weeks ahead. I would advise you treat them all with extreme skepticism, until an official announcement is made.
