Why Rodgers won’t be walking away
Britain Football Soccer - Aberdeen v Celtic - Scottish League Cup Final - Hampden Park, Glasgow, Scotland - 27/11/16 Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers and Scott Brown celebrate winning the final with the trophy Action Images via Reuters / Pool Pic Livepic EDITORIAL USE ONLY. No use with unauthorized audio, video, data, fixture lists, club/league logos or "live" services. Online in-match use limited to 45 images, no video emulation. No use in betting, games or single club/league/player publications. Please contact your account representative for further details.
To an English audience it seems incredible- why manage in Scotland?
With a world that revolves around West Brom, Bournemouth, Hull, Stoke and Swansea how could there possibly be any job satisfaction outside of the Premier League?
After being sacked by Liverpool 13 months ago Rodgers was expected to return to the merry-go-round at the first chance, probably at a mid-table club if he was lucky and grateful to be involved in the best league in the world.
Managing Celtic must be a penance, what satisfaction could there be in that job other than biding his time waiting for an offer to return to England?
Rodgers however sees things a little differently, he gets Celtic, he knows the history, what the club is about, the drive, motivation and passion of the support.
Yesterday the Irishman was back in front of an English audience, looking forward to tonight’s match and happy to discuss and explain his high levels of job satisfaction.
“I have spent most of my career in England in the last number of years, in the Premier League but I’m happy and that’s what’s most important,” The Sun reported Rodgers saying.
“That’s what I strive for and I think happy people win. For me, I’ve very fortunate I’m at a club I love to be at.
“I thoroughly enjoy working here but when you’ve worked in the Premier League there is always that speculation ‘When will you come back?’.
“My only focus is on Celtic, and myself and my staff are absolutely loving it. Am I as happy as I’ve been? In every aspect. My life is very content.
“My family and everything outside of that is happy and loving everything about it and of course, every other week we get the chance to play at Celtic Park with near enough a full stadium. So life is good.”
Rodgers added: “I took time out after Liverpool to reflect and I needed to ensure when I came back, it wasn’t for one or two seasons.
“When I spoke to the people at the club, they sold it to me. I was a huge supporter of Celtic, so I was aware anyway.”