100% he is a fantastic manager- Hampden hero has no doubts about Rodgers II

On Sunday Kris Ajer returned to a very historic scene in his career.

The defender was back at Hampden for the first time since he sent a penalty past Craig Gordon to complete the Quadruple Treble.

That was in December 2020, four years after Brendan Rodgers had set Celtic off on a historic run that is still going strong.

When the Irishman joined Celtic in May 2016 the club had won three trebles since the Second World War, the day after he was announced as manager two Championship clubs competed in the final of the Scottish Cup.

Rodgers returned to Celtic during the summer, apart from Callum McGregor and James Forrest the entire squad has changed but the winning mentality remains with Ajer confident that more success is around the corner under his former manager.

After helping Norway to a draw against Scotland the Brentford defender told the Daily Record:

Celtic will always be special to me. Brendan was amazing for me, the way he helped me, the way he spoke to me. The one-to-one conversations he had will all of the players was amazing.

When I signed for Celtic at 16-years-old I was a central midfielder player. I think the intention was always to become a centre back eventually, but the manager spotted that very early.

I went out on loan to Kilmarnock and that was important for me to get some game time, but he always kept in touch.

He’s a top, top manager. I am happy to see him back and doing well. Do I expect him to be successful second time round? One hundred percent. I have no doubt he will be successful because he’s a fantastic manager.

With the latest international break now over Rodgers has four months with his squad, working on an eight point lead in the SPFL with the defence of the Scottish Cup starting in January.

Note: The Record claims that Ajer played under Steve Clarke at Kilmarnock but the Scotland boss took over from Lee McCulloch in October 2017, five months after Ajer returned to Celtic.