Martin O’Neill thinks any of the extra baggage Brendan Rodgers is bringing back to Celtic with him will quickly be forgotten if he’s winning football matches.
Rodgers is widely reported to be on the verge of a return to Celtic Park following a 2019 mid-season exit that left a bitter taste in many supporters’ mouths. Plenty of fans, in recent days, have shown support for a potential return, but there are certainly some vocal members of the support who haven’t forgotten what transpired.
O’Neill doesn’t think there’s any reason why the former Liverpool manager shouldn’t come back and lead the club into a new era.
The Celtic icon told Greatest Hits Radio when asked if Rodgers is the right man: “Well, why not? When Brendan left the football club some fans weren’t happy, so he has to overcome that. I think he knows that himself. But like anything else, you start winning football matches, that’s forgotten. The sooner you win the games, the better.
“He’s coming into a really winning side, he was successful himself as the manager. At the end of it all, there’ll be the occasional feeling he left under more difficult circumstances, but I think if you win the football matches, you’re forgiven.”
Celtic fans don’t need love affair with Brendan Rodgers
O’Neill is correct of course. The reality is that Celtic fans don’t need to be best friends with Rodgers for the club to be successful and for the support to enjoy that success.
The relationship is unlikely to be the same as his first stint, nor like the one we enjoyed with Ange Postecoglou over the last two years. But maybe that’ll be a refreshing thing for many. We don’t need every Celtic manager to be iconic, we just need them to win and put a team on the park that entertains us.
Rodgers has proven throughout his career he is capable of doing that, especially in Glasgow. If he delivers the success we know he can, no one will be thinking of the past.
In other news, Report: Celtic want to resolve staff situation before Brendan Rodgers confirmation.
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