Brendan Rodgers gave Charlie Mulgrew a glimpse of the future

In Brendan Rodgers, Charlie Mulgrew could see the man who was in charge at Celtic when his career there ended'¦ Instead, he sees in the Irishman a manager to be celebrated for the stunning success he has made at his old haunt.
Charlie Mulgrew in action for Scotland in a friendly against England. Picture: John Devlin/SNS.Charlie Mulgrew in action for Scotland in a friendly against England. Picture: John Devlin/SNS.
Charlie Mulgrew in action for Scotland in a friendly against England. Picture: John Devlin/SNS.

Mulgrew’s contract expired last summer and was not renewed. But the Scotland international spent almost a month training at Lennoxtown before he moved to Blackburn Rovers. That time left him convinced of Rodgers’ considerable talents.

“From my time working with Brendan for a few weeks I can’t speak too highly of him,” said Mulgrew. “He impressed the way he mixes up training and the demands he makes every single day, which is the way it should be. It is hard to explain, top managers have this small bit extra that makes them different. High standards maybe.

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“I can’t thank the manager enough for allowing me to be there in training. It wasn’t an easy situation but everything went well and I appreciate that. I trained every day as hard as I could. It was just one of those things, it didn’t happen. A chance came to go down south and that was it really. I have no regrets about what I have done and I am delighted Celtic are doing great.”

Mulgrew went to the City of Manchester Stadium in December for Celtic’s final Champions League encounter – a creditable 1-1 draw.

“They were probably the better team that night which made it probably one of the better performances I have seen from Celtic; away from home in Europe keeping the ball,” he said. “It would be unbelievable if they could go through the season unbeaten.”