The Brendan Rodgers rumours won’t go away and the fact that it’s been reported he’s scheduled to have face to face talks with Dermot Desmond, it looks like there could be a very good chance of the Irishman returning to Celtic Park.

An overwhelming majority of the support are starting to warm to his possible return, some others are rather more wary, and with good reason. I ask you this, forget Brendan was ever at the club first time round, would you still be thinking twice about his appointment?

He guided Liverpool to within a whisker of the EPL title. A fifth and sixth placed finish with Leicester city as well as an FA cup win. That’s a quality CV and we would have no qualms about approving of someone else of that calibre.

And if you do factor in his record at Celtic before be blotted his copybook, you can include two trebles in a row and leaving the stage set for a third treble and even a fourth. He won seven trophies from seven at Celtic and left us clear at the top of the league. In Europe his record was not so great but nevertheless better than Ange Postecoglou’s.

Admittedly it is hard to look past his ‘sins and misdemeanours’ of the February 2019, but continued success for the club is the number one priority and appointing a man of Brendan’s quality would be a major step in achieving that goal.

The manner in which Rodgers left remains unforgivable to some Celtic supporters but there were also plenty unhappy about the appointment of the relatively unknown Ange Postecoglou in June 2021. And you need to factor in the discontent behind the scenes with the manager (Rodgers) and the CEO (Lawwell) at loggerheads and the latter actually signing a few players in that January window without the manager’s involvement.

The manner in which Rodgers left meant that the fans anger was directed towards him and him alone while Peter Lawwell was able to negotiate a substantial compensation package of around £8.5m from Leicester City and come out of it smelling of roses. He re-appointed Neil Lennon (who had also left previously left Celtic for England) and he was able to take Rodgers’ team across the line to complete the Treble Treble, with those two  players signed by the de facto Director of Football contributing next to nothing.

It would be another year before the wheels truly came off the Lawwell express targeting Ten in a Row and the signings in that transfer window, together with the unrest within the squad, on reflection were an accident waiting to happen at Celtic Park.

The one thing all Celtic supporters agree on is that we need an elite manager not just a cheap, compliant one. If we can get that plus have the added experience of a course and distance treble winner who knows the club and knows the league then we surely we have the right man for the job?

Rodgers has other options, one being Leeds United. Or he could stick to his original plan and spend much of the year working on his tan over in Mallorca. He will be seeking assurances from Dermot Desmond that he will not have the same level of interference like the last time, and unless that is guaranteed then he won’t be coming back.

This is also the first major challenge for Michael Nicholson as the Celtic CEO because he now has the top executive job at the club and not the now Chairman Peter Lawwell, who as CEO played a significant role in bringing in Ange Postecoglou in 2021. But this time around he is the Chairman and Nicholson the CEO. Nicholson established a decent working relationship with Postecoglou, and if he can do the same with Rodgers then this can work.

Elite coaches don’t tend to stay around for too long so for two or three seasons, Celtic’s domination should continue under Brendan Rodgers, the name incidentally that theRangers fans fear most.

If Rodgers says no then we will be back to the City Group for our next managerial appointment and that is surely a much great risk to our continued success than putting our differences with Brendan Rodgers to the side for the sake of our football club.

JustAnOrdinaryBhoy – follow on Twitter @ordinarybhoy

HUGE SAVINGS IN THE CELTIC STAR’S FATHER’S DAY SALE! BECAUSE YOUR CELTIC DA’S WORTH IT!  

The Celtic Star’s Father’s Day Promotion is in full swing with hundreds of books already on their way destined for Celtic Dads and Grandads on Sunday 18 June. We’ve reduced all six books currently available from their usual retail price of £20 and prices are as low as £6 (see below).

All books are high quality hardback, with some signed by the author. And it’s also worth noting that you only pay postage on one book, so it’s free for the second, third and so on. ORDER HERE or click on The Celtic Star image above…this is how it feels to be Celtic!