'Every chance' Brendan Rodgers will leave Celtic with 'alarm bells ringing', says ex-SPFL striker
Rodgers ‘too ambitious’ to settle for domestic success, according to a former SPFL forward.
Celtic will lose title-winning boss Brendan Rodgers this summer if they continue to not match his ambitions, according to one former SPFL striker.
The 52-year-old head coach will see his current Parkhead contract expire in the summer, and was clear in his frustration at the club’s handling of the recent summer transfer window, admitting the lack of top-quality new signings left him feeling “empty.”
With no Champions League football on offer this season after failing to beat Kairat Almaty in the playoffs, anger has also spilled into the stands. Fans have echoed their manager’s annoyance at a perceived lack of ambition in the transfer market, with only calling off a planned silent protest in the Europa League clash against Braga when the club’s board agreed to meet with them.
While supporters held off their protest, chants of ‘sack the board’ were heard in the aftermath of the 2-0 defeat by the Portuguese side, and ex-Motherwell striker and current Sky Sports pundit Don Goodman admits ‘alarm bells’ are ringing at Celtic Park.
“It's a club whose fans and manager want to be competitive in Champions League football,” said Goodman. “That doesn't mean winning the Champions League, but in this new format, they want to be competitive. They will get lots and lots of glamorous ties against glamorous clubs, and that's what the Celtic fans want, that's what Brendan Rodgers wants.
“I've been hearing about fan protests to the board over the lack of ambition. That is always gonna set alarm bells ringing. I mean, if the fans think that, then even if Brendan Rodgers won't publicly say it, he must be feeling it and thinking it. Brendan Rodgers and the fans are not satisfied with just dominating domestically. Brendan has always been ambitious.
“Unfortunately, the recruitment in the summer wasn't inspiring; it just didn't meet the desire of wanting to compete in the Champions League. So long-term keeping Brendan Rodgers, it may be a challenge for that board, unless something changes pretty quickly.”
The 59-year-old believes the Northern Irish boss may wait until January to see if the Celtic board are prepared to remedy their mistakes from the summer window, but Goodman thinks a failure to do so could see Rodgers leaving Celtic in a similar manner to the way he left to join Leicester City during his first spell at the club - and admits he wouldn’t blame him.
“You remember the way that he left Celtic the first time around,” Goodman told football betting site talkSPORT Bet. “He was criticised for it, but it was a manager who was showing ambition and wanting to manage in the Premier League at what was, at the time, a top club. He won the FA Cup and wanted to do just what he wants to do with Celtic, compete in the Champions League.
“So he's not going to be short of ambition, and the only way that this board will be able to keep him long term is to match that ambition. The only way that they will be able to show it is when the January transfer window comes round. If they don't do that, then there's every chance that he won't be the manager there next season."
Comments
Want to join the conversation? Please or to comment on this article.