It’s fair to say that Brendan Rodgers has moved on from Celtic quickly.
Despite the publicly ugly nature of his departure, Rodgers agreed to join Al-Qadsiah in Saudi Arabia, managing outside the UK for the first time.
Any suggestion that the ex-Celtic boss was only there for a payday have swiftly been made a mockery of by his exceptional record at the club so far: thirteen games, ten wins, three draws, zero defeats.
And there is absolutely no doubt over who his main man is: Mexican striker, Julian Quinones.
The 28-year-old scored a hat-trick in their 4-2 win at Al-Okhood this weekend, and given his recent form, it was barely a surprise.
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The hat-trick saw Quinones raise his league goal tally for the season to 21, overtaking Cristiano Ronaldo in the league’s goal charts. Only Ivan Toney is above him.
Even more remarkable is his record since Rodgers’ arrival: in the Irishman’s 13 league games, Quinones has scored 15 goals.
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Quinones played exclusively in Mexico until 2024, when Al-Qadsiah signed him for £11.5 million from Club America.
The 28-year-old has, therefore, never played in Europe. Capped 18 times by Mexico, he has two goals for the international side.
Rodgers is, on the other hand, taking the Saudi Pro League by storm, taking the Khobar club within five points of the summit at the table.
It was just a few months ago when Dermot Desmond launched a stunning attack on Rodgers upon his Hoops departure, labelling him ‘self-serving’ and ‘divisive’.
In the months since, Celtic have found their feet under Martin O’Neill, hired Wilfried Nancy, sacked the latter and rediscovered their form under the former again.
Given the turbulence of the Celts’ season, they could certainly do with a striker going on a run of form similar to Quinones’.
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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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