John Kennedy opens up on joining Ange Postecoglou at Spurs and why he stayed at Celtic

John Kennedy is excited to be linking up with Brendan Rodgers once again at Celtic.

Ange Postecoglou wanted Kennedy to join him at Tottenham after leaving Celtic in the wake of clinching the treble, but the chance to be reunited with Rodgers soon emerged. Kennedy had previously been asked to move to the Premier League by Rodgers when the Northern Irishman left Celtic for Leicester in February 2019 but fate saw them resume their partnership in Glasgow.

“I had a great working relationship with Ange, we worked really closely together and got on really well,” the 39-year-old said. “We had discussions around that. There were two sides to it, there was stuff at Celtic’s end in terms of staying here, but at the time there was no clear idea who the manager was going to be. I was in a position with decisions to make but when the club moved quickly to appoint Brendan, things started to become a bit clearer and the decision was made for me to stay here and be part of Brendan’s team again which I am delighted to be part of. I have obviously worked here a long time, I know how the place operates, we have had great periods of success here and the fact Brendan was coming back and the relationship we had already, that will bode well going forward. It is certainly something I am excited about.”

Kennedy was speaking ahead of James Forrest’s testimonial match against Athletic Bilbao on Tuesday. The match to honour a player who has so far won 22 trophies for Celtic will also benefit two charities, Kilbryde Hospice and Celtic FC Foundation.

Kennedy said: “For someone who has achieved so much in the game, you would never know it from speaking to him, he never bigs himself up in any way. He has a lot of humility around him. He is such a professional guy, one of the first in every day. He does everything properly to make sure he is ready for games and training and that’s why he has been at this club for such a long time and had great success. He is a hell of a professional and one that all the guys can learn from and look up to. This game will be a great occasion for everybody to come together and recognise what he has given to Celtic.

“When he hangs up his boots, in 10, 20, 30 years’ time, when people look at the lists of the legends for Celtic, they will realise how big a player he was and what he achieved was certainly greatness. Because he is so professional, he is in very good shape and still able to produce great moments, so he will certainly be an important player going forward.”