GORDON STRACHAN has been there, done that and has the Paddy Power sweat-shirt to prove it. In fact while Brendan Rodgers has had to wait until into his third year as Celtic manager to experience it, Strachan managed to get there pretty much in his first two games.
And it’s interesting to read that Strachan believes that Brendan Rodgers has been an excellent coach over the past few years for Celtic, he has not really been required to be a manager – until now.
“It’s not been a great start to the season for Celtic,’ Strachan told the bookies site.
“I don’t think there’s ever been a Celtic manager who hasn’t had a period where they’ve come under real scrutiny – and this is Brendan’s difficult period.
“As Celtic manager, the scrutiny is going to come, it’s guaranteed, you just don’t know when. It’s like going to the dentist – you know there’s pain on the way, you just don’t know when.
“So, for Brendan, the painful bit is now. This is what you get paid for at the top, top clubs. Not for picking the players or coaching, but for managing these crisis moments.
“In terms of what Brendan has done over the last few years, he’s made players better and the team more organised. But this is different. This is about management now, not coaching.
“That said, we’re six games in to the season, not six games left. At the minute, there’s no real problem – you’d still say Celtic will win the league, and nobody would say otherwise – but, if they lose another couple of games, then it becomes a problem.”
To read the rest of what Gordon Strachan has to say about Brendan Rodgers and the start that Celtic have made to the season go to their website HERE.
Gordon won 3 titles at Celtic and perhaps stayed one season too long. He dealt with some pretty unique situations – the downsizing after Seville when Celtic steered away from the abyss while Rangers continued on with their reckless spending. They were also utilizing a dodgy tax scheme to give them added advantage – which makes the successes Strachan enjoyed even more impressive on reflection.
Brendan said when he arrived that he was here to be a leader of men and a leader of a people – that sounded much more like a manager than a coach. He set out his standards for the club and everyone there and players who couldn’t satisfy his demands were shipped out the door. Kris Commons, a talisman in the previous few seasons, never kicked a ball for Celtic again.
That was surely a sign that Brendan was acting like a manager and not just a coach? Yet if Strachan has a point it is this, Brendan’s coaching has been so good and the response he has been able to get from the players already at the club and that had played for Ronny Deila’s side, has been so good that he’s hardly had to be a Crisis Manager.
Strachan survived his early crisis at Celtic but it was traumatic to say the least. Brendan’s recent problems have been a minor blip in comparison! We’ve had a few disappointing results – it happens. This was not a crisis…and it ended on a rainy September evening in Perth.
Celtic Park is completely sold out for Saturday’s match against Aberdeen – the 60,000 crowd will be among the highest attendance anywhere in Europe this weekend. A week or so earlier Manchester City played Lyon in the Champions League and there were empty seats everywhere with a flat as a pancake atmosphere.
The next night Celtic played Rosenborg (hardly a box office opponent) in the Europa League and there were 56,000 there. The atmosphere was excellent, especially at the end when Leigh Griffiths scored a late goal to break the deadlock and give Celtic 3 points. And that Juventus bloke reckoned that it was Celtic that was dying slowly – it’s actually you cash cow competition which only a few mega-rich clubs have any chance of winning.
Celtic Park had it’s own empty stands before Brendan arrived. He said on day 1 that he wanted them filled. The Celtic support responded then and have responded ever since. Our fightback – inspired by Brendan – started last night. This now has the makings of a memorable season.
