Brendan Rodgers started his list of duties at Celtic Park yesterday afternoon speaking to the mainstream media, minus of course BBC Scotland who finally got their comeuppance for their ongoing anti-Celtic agenda, often fuelled by Tom English. Peter Martin also found himself excluded for the wee rant he had a week or so ago and this new media policy is going to make things even more interesting over the next season or two.

The Celtic fan media – including The Celtic Star – were in the media room at Celtic Park waiting for Brendan Rodgers to come in for his first formal face-to-face with Celtic supporters since his departure for Leicester in February 2019. We watched the mainstream media conference on television via Sky Sports and then Celtic TV after the subscription broadcaster cut away half-way through.

Brendan Rodgers. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Brendan then went out pitch side to have the usual photos taken and the fan media guys all watched on from the director’s box in the main stand, before returning to the media room to await the arrival of the manager.

When Brendan walked in he didn’t go to the stage to take his seat but instead headed straight for the supporters shaking every hand in the room before taking questions. You can watch that below but the overriding impression was very positive indeed. Here’s how it went when Brendan Rodgers spoke to the Celtic fan media including of course The Celtic Star.

Next Brendan went downstairs and out the front door to speak to the hundreds of Celtic fans who had gathered to welcome him back to Celtic Park. There he used a line he’d used for an off the record question at the end of the fan media conference – “I’ll see you here in May”, it went down very well with the fan media guys and it certainly worked for the supporters outside the front door.

How many were there? Maybe 500 or 600 hundred, it’s hard to tell but it’s only relevant because driving home afterwards I heard Hugh Keevins insist on Clyde 1 Superscoreboard that there were only a few dozen fans outside. Even when challenged by the host after Celtic fans sent in videos contradicting the Keevins lie, he refused to back down saying even of there were a couple of hundred there that is well short of the 13,000 who turned up to cheer his arrival in May 2016.

“For those I need to convince – I’ll see you here in May” pic.twitter.com/V137zU0gGK

— Matt McGlone (@MattMcGlone9) June 23, 2023

It wouldn’t be the first time Hugh Keevins finds himself banned from Celtic Park but given the club’s new stance he must be treading on thin ice. Yesterday he was blatantly telling lies about Celtic to undermine the manager.

Here’s what Brendan Rodgers had to say to the mainstream media in the first of his two media conferences at Celtic Park yesterday afternoon.

“I spoke with a number of clubs out of respect and I had options but I was pretty set on taking the time out and being away. Michael (Nicholson) initially had spoken to me and I didn’t maybe think it was the right timing. But then I spoke to him again. Dermot (Desmond) called me a couple of times and encouraged me to speak with Michael and Chris (McKay), just to look at the infrastructure and what they’ve been building since I’ve been away, over the four years.

“And that excited me. Then, once I had seen that, I had a lunch with Callum McGregor. I had a good couple of hours with him, finding out about the squad and everything else. And that really got me thinking then about coming back.

“I then spoke with my family because I know it was hard when we left and some of the things that happened. But we didn’t want that to diminish the great feeling we had up here. Then, once we gave it that final thought, it was a no brainer really.

“I had over a course of a week really, to think through everything. I could have easily sat in my comfortable chair and had a couple of years out before going back but I feel that I can have success here. If I can bring back that success then hopefully we’ll win over any doubters, who feel that way about me coming back in.

“I’m sure there are people who have erased everything that I did before because of the nature of how I left. But I didn’t just get up and leave. That’s the thing, I knew what I was doing.

“I have never regretted any decision I’ve made in my life. But I certainly regret the people that I’ve hurt both on a personal level and in a professional level. That was a big reason I came back – the people that I’ve hurt – I wanted to give them back, hopefully, that joy again and really demonstrate that we can succeed together again.

“There’s only so much you can say and probably this time I’ll maybe not express that so much. People close to me knew the team I supported and understand what this means to me.

“To be fair, I could have sat comfortably and gone back into the Premier League. When I left Leicester on the Monday I had a Premier League offer on the Wednesday! I could have gone in in the summer. Or I maybe could have gone in next summer again. But I wanted to come to Celtic for multiple reasons. It just gives me a special feeling here. Whether people think I support the club or not, I’m really not bothered about that. I know and the people close to me know.”

On the excitement among the fans on the rumours of his return to Celtic, Brendan Rodgers said he was unaware of that support as he pondered the job offer. “I closed myself out of all of that because you’ve got to be clear in your decision making.

Peter Lawwell, Brendan Rodgers and Michael Nicholson (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

“Over the four years I was away I bumped into a lot of Celtic supporters who were positive at the time. You are never going to please everyone. When I was here I had critics, even when we won seven out of seven. I would expect that coming back again. But it doesn’t affect me.”

And make no mistake this was a decision that was professional calculated and not just emotional.

“I have done that all my career. When I left here the first time it was a really sad moment, but I have to differentiate between the personal and the professional. Even if you are a fan of a sport or a team you still have a career. Look at the players who have left here or the managers, people have always done it.

“That doesn’t mean that you love a club any less. And when I left here I felt at that time I had done absolutely everything I possibly could. My next challenge was going to be Leicester and I felt that I was leaving the team here eight points clear in a good place. We were 27 games in and in a good place after what we had built up over three years.

“People talk about mid-season – we were 27 games in. Mid-season gets bandied about – but there were only 11 games to go. We had won the League Cup, we were eight points clear in the league and the team won it by nine points. They won the Scottish Cup – and we had already done that two years previous.

“I felt I was leaving the team and the club in a really stable place despite me moving on. It was my job to create an environment with a winning mentality and that’s what the club did. They went on to win the treble. And won the treble again.”

On the claim that he left Celtic in the lurch, Brendan Rodgers had this retort. “Someone said about leaving them in the lurch. And I said, ‘well, it’s some lurch.’ But that’s the emotion of it. It was a sad time because it happened quickly and I get that.

“I will never get too emotional with words but when it’s this club naturally it hurts some of the supporters. If you look at Ange and what he did here for a couple of years, a fantastic job. He will have loved his time here and won’t find a better environment, a better set of supporters to be working with.

“But as a coach, there’s a challenge and he’s taking on a challenge at Tottenham. When I went to Leicester, the challenge was taking a mid-table team into the top six.

“Celtic still had a good time after I left. When I went to Leicester we had three of the four best finishes in the history of the club, we won the FA Cup, the Community Shield. For both of us, it actually worked out well. But, for some, there’s emotion there and I can only put that down to the affinity and the closeness we have.

“I’m here to try and help those people again and bring the dreams back.

“You make a decision in your life, we all make decisions. I’ve never regretted a decision I’ve made, what I regret is the hurt. I knew people hurt at that time, it was a sad moment. I had family, close friends and it absolutely knocked them.

“What that then does to other supporters, I totally understand that. But that’s the decisions you make as a professional. I’m pretty sure Virgil van Dijk didn’t apologise when he left, or Wanyama, or Henrik or Kieran Tierney. That doesn’t mean we love the club any less, it’s a professional judgement you make.

“I can accept what has come my way with that, but what I didn’t accept was the personal stuff with the family.”

Brendan Rodgers also stated that he was NOT nervous at the thought of coming back into Celtic, knowing that hurt that his decision had caused so many supporters four years ago.

“Not really, I was more excited. I think I’d given it long enough to think. Four years, it doesn’t feel like yesterday since I’ve been away from here. I wouldn’t say I was nervous. I know there are enough supporters who respect the work I did, but I wanted to come back to finish the work I’d started here.”

Brendan Rodgers revealed that he was aware that the Green Brigade had re-posted the image of their Tynecastle ‘Never a Celt, always a fraud’ banner earlier in the week. “I was aware of that. For me, I love the club and the supporters and you will have critics. With the greatest respect, I don’t think winning a club the FA Cup for the first time in their history was mediocre, or taking them into Europe when they’d never been and having three of the best four finishes in the league. I don’t think it’s mediocre but everyone is entitled to their opinion.”

On the collective vision inside the club for progress in European football, the Celtic manager stated: “It’s always been the ambition here. It’s always going to be extremely difficult to compete with teams whose budget is £370m-odd per season, especially at the highest level.

“What we want to show is that we want to be competitive, we want to go into Europe and see if we can make a mark. Sometimes that will depend – you can get draws that are really, really difficult.

“But we want to be competitive and see if we can get ourselves through that, or to be in Europe after Christmas. Once you’re in Europe after Christmas, can you get through these knockout games? That’s the big challenge.”

Celtic banning @BBCScotlandNews from Brendan Rogers’s press conference says everything about the broadcaster which can’t even be trusted to report a football appointment impartiality.

— Bill Cruickshank (@BjCruickshank) June 23, 2023

HUGE SAVINGS IN THE CELTIC STAR’S SUMMER SALE!

The Celtic Star’s book promotion has been so successful, with hundreds of books at great prices being posted to Celtic fans all over the world, that we’ve decided to continue with the sale until the end of July. 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!