Brendan Rodgers drops strong hint at Celtic issue
Two years after leaving Celtic, Brendan Rodgers has dropped a hint towards the problems he encountered behind the scenes.
After winning seven successive domestic trophies the John McGinn saga was the first sign that there was friction within the club with Aston Villa, then in the Championship, signing the midfielder from Hibs.
There was an uneasy stand off during the 2018/19 season following that failure but the January signings didn’t seem in line with the standards of Rodgers’ earlier signings. Oli Burke, Timo Weah and Jeremy Toljan came in on loan with Vakoun Bayo, Marian Shved, Manny Perez and Andrew Gutman signing up. Before February was over Rodgers was in charge of Leicester.
It is ‘critical’ for Celtic to appoint a Director of Football, according to Brendan Rodgers.
The former Celtic boss explained how the relationship between a new manager and DoF would work around player recruitment.
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) February 24, 2021
Brendan Rodgers confirms Maryan Shved’s imminent arrival at Celtic but appears less than enthusiastic about it: `”We have got about a million wingers, we don’t need another one”https://t.co/WAkJDJ2zmW pic.twitter.com/Jv4LYJmuC4
— Clyde 1 Superscoreboard (@ClydeSSB) January 23, 2019
Lee Congerton followed Rodgers to Leicester City with Nick Hammond joining Celtic on a short term basis then earning the title of Head of Football Operations.
Whatever the title Celtic’s recruitment over the last two years has left a lot to be desired with little contribution from Hatem Abd Elhamed, Patryk Klimala, Boli Bolingoli, Albian Ajeti and Vasilis Barkas backed up by some expensive loans from richer leagues.
At the 2020 Celtic AGM in December Lawwell boasted of spending £35m on players but with an 18 point gap at the top of the table and Lennon resigning the value return on that expenditure is hard to justify.