Brendan Rodgers’ career has certainly taken an interesting turn this season.
It seemed destined to be his final year at Celtic – and it was – but the way that it ended was certainly not on the script.
He ended up at the centre of an extraordinary public spat with principal shareholder Dermot Desmond, who labelled him ‘divisive’ and ‘self-serving’.
Opinions on Rodgers are varied among the Celtic support. Some sympathise with his frustrations with the board, whilst others can’t look beyond his two sudden departures.
Simon Jordan has firmly picked his side.
Brendan Rodgers speaks for the first time as Al-Qadsiah manager
Ex-Celtic boss picked apart by Simon Jordan
Rodgers is now manager of Al-Qadsiah, where he has embarked on a completely different role in the cash-rich Saudi Pro League.
He described managing Leicester as a ‘holiday’ compared to managing Celtic, so by that logic, his new job is more comparable to a retirement.
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And speaking on talkSPORT, Jordan didn’t have many compliments for the ‘politician’ Rodgers, when reflecting on his career.
He said: “Certainly, he’s gone there for the money. There’s nothing wrong with that, because that’s the nature of the beast. You’re a professional football manager
“Personally, I like Brendan, and whenever I’ve met him, he’s been very sociable and very pleasant.
“Professionally, I disagree with a lot of the way he conducts himself brilliantly – I don’t think he was a roaring success at Reading, the way he conducted himself. In fact, I think he was a disaster.
“He inherited success at Swansea, built upon a team that Roberto Martinez built, and took over after Paulo Sousa failed after five minutes.
“He went to Liverpool – he massively underachieved with Liverpool, with the team that he had there. Suarez, Sturridge and Sterling there, and choked on the league when they should’ve won it.
“He went to Celtic, did what he should’ve done at Celtic, then came back to Leicester who are now relegated under his watch.
“And he’s now left Celtic in disarray. So if that’s the credentials that tell you that Brendan Rodgers is mustard, then he’s mustard.
“I think he’s a decent football manager, who’s got a reputation. He’s a bit of a politician at times. I don’t like the way he conducted himself at Leicester at the end, I don’t like the way he conducted himself at Celtic.
“But he’s probably a decent fit for the Saudi Pro League.”
Six weeks on, how do you feel about Brendan Rodgers’ acrimonious Celtic departure?
Brendan Rodgers’ final months at Celtic
Rodgers is known for his political approach to media handling – but this season, he took it to a whole different level.
His first press conference after the closure of the transfer window was quite something. He described feeling ’empty’, and blasted the ‘cowardly action’ of a club insider who briefed against him.
When asked if he knew the identity of the leak, he said ‘no’… with a subtle wink.
But if there’s one comment which sealed his fate, it was probably the Honda Civic analogy at Dens Park, which was widely derided in the media.
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