Brendan Rodgers has revealed he has taken a back-seat from the day-to-day coaching specifics as Celtic manager.
The Hoops boss has always loved being on the training pitch and the grass with his players.
It has been a big part of his life and career, not just in Glasgow, but with all other clubs he has worked at.
The daily coaching has been his priority at Lennoxtown across his two stints with the club but now the Northern Irishman has explained how he now has a more relaxed role in terms of his mentoring.
With John Kennedy a standout coach at Celtic having worked alongside some of the top managers including Rodgers, Neil Lennon and Ange Postecoglou, Rodgers knows his squad are in good hands.
And he detailed how Kennedy – alongside the likes of Adam Sadler whom he brought in from Leicester City – doing the day-to-day work allows Rodgers to focus on the bigger picture as well as the overall vision for the club in the grand scheme.
Speaking to Charlie Mulgrew after Celtic’s enthralling 3-3 Premier Sports Cup Final clash with Rangers which ended in a stunning 5-4 penalty shootout victory, Rodgers was asked about Kennedy’s input.
And he offered the insight to the pundits as well as fans on what his own priorities have become.
“John’s brilliant for us,” he said. “Obviously my first time here got to know him and his work and at that time I’d have done a lot of the coaching.
Brendan Rodgers has revealed he allows his coaches to work day-to-day on the training pitch
“But now a lot of the guys I’ve worked with before so they understand what it is we want to do so I can leave that to John and liaise close with him some of the principles or tweaks I would like within that.
“All the guys, even the penalties when we get round to them, we do the work and understand who’s taking and in what order.
“The coaching staff on a day to day for me are absolutely brilliant. And that’s difficult for me because I’ve been a coach all my life.
What are Rodgers’ new priorities as Celtic manager?
“I was never a great player like you guys so my work was on the grass and it’s probably only in the last three or four years I’ve taken a wee bit of a step back.”
Lennon then joked Rodgers can sit with his feet up now, to which he chuckled: “Well it’s a different… it’s the management issues then that you deal with and the vision for the club.
“A lot of hard work goes into it.”
One advantage of Rodgers’ new-look role is being able to focus further on the tactical battle on the pitch. And the Celtic manager made a specific change vs Rangers which worked magically today.
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