The arrival of a new manager always brings fresh hope that new faces will soon follow him through the door. When Brendan Rodgers joined Celtic, it was reported that the Irishman was guaranteed a significant transfer budget to allow him to continue to not only dominate Scottish football but to also make his mark in Europe.
But sometimes that is not always the answer. Sometimes there are players who are already at the club who will find a new lease of life whenever a new gaffer comes in. We saw two such examples of that over the last two seasons in Greg Taylor and Anthony Ralston.
And I believe it can happen again under Brendan Rodgers with three players that I think will learn to flourish under the new manager.
The first one, and it sounds crazy to say it, is Callum McGregor. Yes, the Celtic captain has been in sensational form for Celtic over the last two seasons. Many would say he has been flawless. And they would be right.
But looking at how Rodgers helped turn former Celtic captain, Scott Brown, into an Invincibles captain and kick his career on, it’s frightening what Rodgers could do with McGregor. Brown was already heavily decorated at Celtic.
He had six titles, three Scottish Cups and two League Cups to his name. But it was under Rodgers’ guidance that the most successful part of Brown’s career happened. A Double Treble ensued with the third already lined up before Rodgers departed for Leicester.
A change in lifestyle probably helped add a couple of more years to Brown’s Celtic career and the now-Fleetwood manager is rightfully lauded by some as Celtic’s best captain since Billy McNeill after guiding Celtic to another nine in a row and a Quadruple Treble.
Liel Abada is the next player I believe we could see benefit under Rodgers’ watch. The little winger had been in and out of Celtic’s team last season but still managed to deliver a decent goal (13) and assist (9) return. The little Israeli reminds me of how Patrick Roberts flourished under Rodgers.
Admittedly, Abada doesn’t have the natural dribbling ability of Roberts, but he is similar in terms of how direct he is and how likes to try and take players on. If Rodgers could perfect that part of his game, Abada could be a serious player for us next season.
And finally, Matt O’Riley is the third player I believe could improve under the Celtic manager. At a similar age to Callum McGregor when McGregor first arrived, Rodgers could set the young Danish u21 on the same development path as the current Celtic captain.
McGregor was deployed in several different positions in Rodgers’ first stint as the manager but really flourished in that central midfield role. O’Riley himself performed well in that position last season whilst covering for the injured Celtic captain and, hopefully, Rodgers recognised that and will work with him to develop him into a more rounded midfielder for the club.
There are others that will benefit from the new Celtic manager’s arrival but if Rodgers can kick these three players on next season, Celtic will be a real force to be reckoned with.
In other news, Brendan Rodgers speaks in first press conference of Japan Tour; the test ahead for Celtic
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