Brendan Rodgers previewed Celtic’s Flag Day clash against St Mirren on Friday at Lennoxtown.
But the attention was not on the big Scottish Premiership kick-off at Celtic Park. In fact, almost everything was centred in on the manager’s contract situation.
Rodgers confirmed he hasn’t been offered extended terms by the Celtic hierarchy of Dermot Desmond, Peter Lawwell and Michael Nicholson.
He’s got just 10 months to run on his current deal, and explicitly outlined that if his task is just to ‘maintain’ Celtic’s current levels, that does not match his ambitions.
Chris Sutton praised Rodgers for his ‘very strong’ presser comments, and now more pundits and ex-players have given their say, including Barry Ferguson.
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Mark Guidi left bamboozled by Celtic hierarchy
Mark Guidi simply cannot believe Rodgers hasn’t been presented with a contract offer, and called on Desmond and Nicholson to meet the manager’s conditions.
Speaking on The Go Radio Football Show, Guidi reacted: “I’m really taken aback that they haven’t made him an offer. They’ve had discussions but there’s nothing been put in black and white going by what Brendan Rodgers says, and I’ve no reason to doubt that.
“Now I know at this moment in time, you’re up against a deadline to go and get players signed by September 1. Of course, that is a priority and Brendan would see that as a priority.
“But I am absolutely astounded that Celtic have not made an offer to extend the contract of Brendan Rodgers.
“And the other thing is, he says: ‘I’m not here to maintain’. So he’s thrown the gauntlet down to the board: ‘If you want to build, if you want to keep improving, then count me in.’
“But he also said there are certain conditions attached to that, that he will want put in place if they want him to stay. Do the club want to match and meet his conditions?
“Because I’ve said that I know that he’s happy and I know he would love to stay, but they need to meet his conditions.
“And they won’t be outrageous, but they will be conditions that make Celtic grow and get better. So it’s very much with Dermot Desmond and Michael Nicholson to come up with the goods.
“But I am absolutely astounded that he’s not been made an offer yet.”
Ferguson reacts to no new Brendan Rodgers contract offer
Barry Ferguson faced Rodgers in the dugout last season as interim Rangers manager and got the better of him at Celtic Park with a 3-2 win.
Now back in the pundit’s chair, Ferguson admits he’s surprised that Celtic haven’t done more to try and keep Rodgers at the club.
He said: “Yeah, I’m surprised that he’s not been made an offer to stay. It’s interesting, Mark’s just used the words and I marked them down there, he’s not a manager to be there and ‘maintain’ a squad.
“He wants to build and develop a squad. So that tells me he wants to bring players in, make them stronger, develop them, as Celtic have done over the years, and sell them on for vast amounts of money.
“Yeah, it was a very interesting presser that was, and I’m sure the Celtic fans will stand up and take notice of what the manager has just said there.”
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