John Kennedy speaks about summer exit rumours; why he decided to stay at Celtic

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John Kennedy has addressed the summer speculation linking the Celtic assistant manager with a move away from the club.

At one point during the summer, it looked like he was getting ready to head down south and follow Ange Postecoglou to Spurs. But after holding talks with Brendan Rodgers, Kennedy decided to stay and be part of the club’s plans this season.

Kennedy has now addressed those rumours and revealed that whilst a move was a possibility, he is glad he decided to stay at Celtic and be part of the new Brendan Rodgers era.

Kennedy said [Sky Sports], “The summer was interesting. It was one where, obviously, the manager (Ange Postecoglou) decided to move on to Spurs.

“I’ve been here a few times now where managers have changed. There’s uncertainty. You never know what’s around the corner. The club are in discussions with other people, but at that point, you don’t really know what’s going on.

“So I’d been in close contact with Ange, there was different possibilities but in the end, Brendan was coming back to Celtic, the club wanted me to stay and Brendan wanted me to stay to be part of this going forward.

“Being part of this club is a great privilege. I know what it’s all about here. I’ve got a good understanding of it. I know the players, I know Brendan really well and that was a big pull in terms of sticking around and being part of it.

“I know how Brendan works, the level of his work, so it’s great to still be here.”

Dermot Desmond also did a great job in managing to keep a hold of Gavin Strachan following the exit of Ange Postecoglou to Spurs.

It is undeniable that the former Celtic boss was keen to take him to London along with Gavin Strachan. Losing two key members of the backroom team as well as the manager would have been a major setback and hindered Brendan Rodgers’ plans to keep Celtic the dominant force in Scotland.

However, Kennedy did decide to stick around and the fact that the appointment of Rodgers also helped that decision just shows you the positive influence the new Celtic manager has at the club already.

In other news, Maik Nawrocki pictured in training as club release Lennoxtown images