The Celtic support got their first proper look at the new Brendan Rodgers era on Tuesday afternoon.
It may only have been one still image from training at Lennoxtown, but it was still a welcome sight for a support starved of any on-field content.
Celtic are back with Brendan Rodgers now at the helm. Pre-season is underway.
The image shared by Celtic showed Tomoki Iwata back at the club, as well as the likes of Matt O’Riley, Alexandro Bernabei and Stephen Welsh.
It showed a tight-knit group chatting away with Rodgers right at the centre of things.
The players in attendance may already have had more interaction with their new manager than his predecessor.
Ange Postecoglou was known to keep a distance between himself and his players.
“I don’t think any of the players will ever say they got close to me. I’d never sit down and have a coffee with them,” he said soon after taking on the job. (Scottish Sun)
Rodgers, in contrast, seems to enjoy cultivating a strong relationship with his charges.
He has already spoken about a lunch meeting with Callum McGregor in Mallorca (Celtic YouTube) and did similar with Scott Brown during his first tenure.
Rodgers once revealed that he texted former player Harry Maguire even after the England international moved to Manchester United. (Mirror)
While today’s first glimpse at this new Rodgers Celtic era doesn’t confirm anything, it certainly reminds us that we have a new manager in place and that he will do things differently.
Postecoglou was an immense Celtic manager. His methods have worked virtually everywhere he has gone.
But Rodgers is a top-level manager too. Some of the players may enjoy his more hands-on approach, even if he does still have a real aura.
In other news, Celtic will not be playing any football in South Korea this summer
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