Why we were all wrong to write off Brendan Rodgers | OneFootball

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Lewis Ambrose·27 June 2017

Why we were all wrong to write off Brendan Rodgers

Article image:Why we were all wrong to write off Brendan Rodgers

One day, we may look back at a fine managerial career and realise it took a trip to Paradise for us all to take Brendan Rodgers seriously.

The same Brendan Rodgers who lost his first ever game as Celtic boss to Lincoln Red Imps FC of Gibraltar.


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Even in this day of internet comment sections and social media trolls, there is little sympathy for Rodgers. It’s largely his own fault that he became a figure of ridicule.

The former Swansea City and Liverpool boss made a name for himself with an exciting brand of football but made a reputation for himself with ridiculous pre-prepared quotes, porcelain-looking teeth and his part in the now infamous documentary, Being Liverpool.

After huge success with Swansea, he took Liverpool to within touching distance of a first title in the Premier League era only for everything to, quite literally, slip away from him.

Article image:Why we were all wrong to write off Brendan Rodgers

Liverpool soon lost Luis Suárez and Rodgers lost his spark. Without the best player in the Premier League, Liverpool were soon devoid of belief when results turned. As Rodgers himself once said:

A campaign in the Champions League ended in the group stage, a second successive battle for the Premier League title was never on the cards and Liverpool did horrible business in the transfer market.

There wasn’t even an excuse for that, as Rodgers had already dug another grave foe himself with a quote just a year earlier.

“If you spend more than £100 million, you expect to be challenging for the league,” he said, looking down on Tottenham. Rodgers’ Liverpool spent £117m the summer Suárez was sold and dropped from second to sixth.

A year later, Raheem Sterling departed and Rodgers – at odds with plenty of those above him at Anfield – lasted just two more months.

Article image:Why we were all wrong to write off Brendan Rodgers

During his final eight or nine months in England, the Northern Irishman regularly had Liverpool lining up with a back three. The tactical change was a masterstroke at first, then the result of another downfall as he failed to react when opponents figured it out.

Perhaps we should take note now as a back three craze sweeps England’s top flight; it wasn’t implemented perfectly, but Rodgers was (once again) on to something after all.

So, in 2016, Brendan’s quest took him north of the border. The loss to Lincoln Red Imps FC would have left him with more questions than answers but they came later.

Celtic made it to the Champions League group stage and largely put up fights against Manchester City, Barcelona, and Borussia Mönchengladbach. Even more impressively, they did so with football played on the front foot.

Domestically there really were reasons to get excited. For a long time Celtic have dominated, as Rangers have in the past, but an unbeaten campaign in Scottish football hadn’t been achieved since 1898/99.

It wasn’t just the league, though. Celtic remained unbeaten in both cup competitions too as they won the treble. Fourty-seven games, 0 defeats and a remarkable 43 wins.

Nobody thinks it’s the hardest job in the world to win the league with Celtic but that record stands up to scrutiny.

Rodgers has since penned a new deal to keep him at Celtic until 2021. If he sees out the deal and wins the title in each of the coming seasons, he will give the fans the 10 league titles in a row they are desperate for.

“This is how it feels to be Celtic, Champions again as you know, Brendan Rodgers is here for ten in a row, Ten in a row.”

Only Brendan Rodgers can correct the mistakes he’s made in the past, so it’s lucky he’s a student of himself. Some time out of the Premier League has surely been good for him but he has gone above and beyond at Celtic – a club where expectations were so high it looked impossible to overachieve.

Behind the smirk and between the cliches, Rodgers actually says a lot of clever things. When his players cross the white line, they tend to do a lot of clever things. That isn’t a coincidence.

Rodgers is happy at Celtic right now, where he can continue to build what he likes – a young team expressing itself with exciting football – without intense scrutiny and panic.

Usually when answering your critics, you serve them with humble pie. Rodgers, if he’s as smart as we hope, should just tuck into it himself. Success at Celtic is one big step on the path to redemption but humility is the next and, probably, the toughest.

If Rodgers can manage that, he can continue to prove we were all wrong to write him off.