Scott Bain has claimed that Brendan Rodgers was a better Celtic manager than Ange Postecoglou.
Lucky enough to play for both, Bain has reflected on his time in Glasgow which lasted more than seven years.
His Parkhead career was long enough to span both of Rodgers’ spells, sandwiching Postecoglou’s two seasons as well as Neil Lennon.
Though broadly similar, the pair have their differences, as Bain has pointed out.
👀 Where do you stand on the Ange vs Brendan debate? Scott Bain has had his say…
Scott Bain on Brendan Rodgers at Celtic: ‘He helped me understand the game’
Bain said on Open Goal: “I hold Brendan above the rest.
“I know you guys love Ange and his style of football, but I just think Brendan in terms of tactical.
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“I think Brendan would change, go away in Europe and change. Ange would go away in Europe and play the same way, and we’d get battered off Real Madrid.
“Anyone in Scotland and our sort of level would get battered at that level — but I’ll tell you a story about Brendan when I first arrived.
“I made my debut against Rangers and found out I was playing on the morning of the game.
“We went into the room to do a team talk before leaving the hotel, had the lineup on the wall and said, ‘What do we do if we concede early?’
“And we said, ‘We just keep playing’. He then said, ‘All right, what do we do if we score?’ and ‘What do we do if we get a man sent off?’
“Literally every single thing he said happened in that game. I just thought this guy is an absolute genius!
“We went down to 10 men. We knew we’d go to a 4-3-2; we score again and win 3-2. From then on, I just thought he was a genius, and he helped me in terms of understanding the game a lot more.
“Ange is obviously brilliant as well, I’m not taking anything away from him.”
Rejoice 🥳
Where does Brendan Rodgers rank among Celtic managers?
Before the modern era, the likes of Willie Maley, Jimmy McGrory and Jock Stein established legacies that many thought could never be touched by anyone today.
Martin O’Neill was already a Celtic legend before this season, but after his miraculous impact over the last nine months, some fans may now put him in the bracket.
But where does Rodgers rank among modern managers? Neil Lennon’s playing spell and European success as a manager could rank him above the Northern Irishman.
He was far more successful than Gordon Strachan in terms of trophies, but Strachan’s back-to-back Champions League knockout appearances and three-in-a-row against a financially dubious Rangers team cannot be overlooked.
If Postecoglou were ever to return, even he could have a go at outdoing Rodgers’ reputation, but reports suggest that this is unlikely at the moment.
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