Brendan Rodgers has spoken out about the time he felt he might be left on the managerial scrapheap.
Just before Christmas 2009 the Irishman was sacked by Reading just six months after quitting Watford to take charge at the Madjeski Stadium.
In his mid-thirties and out of work it might have taken a while to get back into management after quitting the youth set up at Chelsea.
Rodgers had survived having his career cut short by injury to move into coaching but during the first part of 2010 his next step was far from certain.
The Irishman was ready to start again, probably below Championship level or bide his time by becoming an assistant to see how his career developed.
“At that time I had just come out of Reading, I wanted to stay a manager, but it was always strategic for me,” Rodgers told The Sun.
“There was only a certain number of clubs where I could have gone.
“When I’d been rejected from Reading, the next job was critical for me. I had left Watford because I felt I could move quicker at Reading, so I’d had two jobs in a year.
“One went well, the other not so well, so I was at a crossroads. I didn’t know if I’d get another job or not.
“I’d applied for three jobs and never even got an interview. At that stage I thought I might struggle. Statistically the numbers tell you as well, especially first-time managers, don’t get another chance.
“This was me sacked from my second job, so I thought I might need to go and be a No2 somewhere.
“I was still early on in my plan. The strategy was to become a manager at 38, but I was actually one at 35.
“That was the timeline I had set when I was 30. I had set goals for the decade between 30 and 40.
“My idea was to be at a League One club by the time I was 38. That was my plan. Then obviously move to the Premier League.
“It happened quicker, when I was 35. I went into Watford, and all of a sudden it changes.
“The thinking about 38 was probably inspired by someone else who was a manager at that age around that time.
“But I was asked to speak to Man City, because of my coaching at Chelsea. I had worked with big players and communicated with big players at Stamford Bridge.
“If I couldn’t get a manager’s job, that was the next best place to go, especially as the Man City project was very exciting.
“Then the chance came to be a No1 at Swansea, and David Platt joined Mancini at City instead.”
At Swansea success came quickly as he took the Welsh club into the Premier League and then onto Liverpool.
Saturday marks the eighth anniversary of getting the sack from Reading with the Celtic boss happy to tell any listened that he is enjoying the happiest stage in his life.
