When Brendan Rodgers arrived at Celtic Park on Monday you could easily tell that his appointment was met with euphoria from the Celtic support. Around 13,000 of them were allowed into the stadium to welcome their new boss.

Given all the names linked with the post, from the outset it looks like a smart appointment and as I’ve already said it has been warmly welcomed by the Hoops faithful.

But I’d urge caution and suggest that people take a step back and wait and see what Brendan does this summer before going all out on the champagne. After all, the last time I saw this much excitement regarding a managerial appointment in  Scotland, Paul Le Guen was striding into the front doors of Ibrox!

Like with most new managers Rodgers comes with a risk of not being able to deliver.

So here are the possible pros and cons to the Brendan Rodgers appointment as I see them at the moment.

PROS: 

Brendan likes to adopt an attacking style of football. If he can implement that style properly at Parkhead then he’ll become a hero to the fans. Often, under Ronny Deila, Celtic’s stars played through the motions without exciting the crowd. I’d expect that Rodgers will come in and make sure his side play with an attacking pizzaz that can get supporters on their edge of their seats.

The pressing from the forwards will get the fans cheering as it shows commitment and passion plus great willingness to get the ball back to attack again.

During his spells in charge of Swansea City and Liverpool, Rodgers showed that he was quite willing to give youngsters their chance if he thought they were ready. Celtic fans love nothing more than seeing their starlets getting a chance to impress at Celtic Park.

Has so far shown the ability to say the right things. Yes if you watch the Liverpool FC documentary from a few years back, he did come off all David Brent from the Office, but on Monday he told the fans what they wanted to hear and he also has a decent record with his players too. Both Philippe Coutinho and Luis Suarez have recently come out and said that he was a good manager to work with. His man-management has also been lauded by various ex-players who have served under him.

He’s a manager who is willing to change his mind. When he arrived at Anfield he supposedly wanted to get rid of a host of players but certain players like Jordan Henderson for example managed to play their way off that list. To be fair to Brendan he seemed to give everyone at least one chance to shine. He also changed his tactics when he felt things needed to be  freshened up. During the 2014-15 season he went to three at the back and that saw the side go on a decent unbeaten run. It’s often an overlooked quality but a good manager has to be able to change their ways!

As Liverpool boss he would have sampled the Merseyside derby and come up against various Manchester United bosses in those big games too. So with those experiences under his belt, the Old Firm games shouldn’t daunt him.

CONS: 

Some of the Liverpool transfers were pretty shoddy if we are being honest. Now I know Liverpool had that infamous transfer committee but alas Brendan Rodgers was himself part of that committee. Chances are Celtic will work in a similar way, where he will have an input but not a full say on who comes and goes. 

Then he also had an inability to fit every new player into his system, Mario Balotelli and Lazar Markovic instantly spring to mind. I believe he could have got more from certain players than he actually did. 

His greatest success came with Steven Gerrard and Luis Suarez in the team, players that he inherited. Can he rebuild a squad? At Celtic he’ll need to do some major changes. 

It should be noted that Rodgers hasn’t actually won a major trophy yet as a manager. His record in domestic cup competitions wasn’t particularly great. 

As with most recent Celtic gaffers he’ll probably be judged on European performances and he seemed to struggle on that stage with Liverpool. In his only Champions League campaign Liverpool finished behind Real Madrid and FC Basel in the group stage. In his two attempts in the Europa League the Reds would fall out at the last 32 stage. He cannot afford to underperform in the continent’s prestigious competitions with the Hoops. 

As in the case with most managers that like to play an expansive, attacking style of football Rodgers teams often look vulnerable at the back. It’s the same at Rangers under Mark Warburton. Ironically as I commented on Liverpool’s poor defensive display during the second half of their game against Sevilla in the Europe League final last week, a Celtic fan pointed out that it was a defence that Rodgers had built. He cannot overlook any defensive issues as he chases his easy on the eye attacking style because his team will then come undone in the bigger games. 

At Liverpool he sold possibly their best defender Daniel Agger and never really replaced him. Plus he likes his keepers to play it on the deck, can Craig Gordon do that? 

All in all, I think Celtic have done well and shown plenty of ambition by bringing in Brendan Rodgers but that’s just half the job done. The board can no longer wait until the end of the transfer window or to see if they can qualify for the group stages of the Champions League before bringing in new recruits. They need to spend now and bring in players that will suit the new managers system. If they don’t then Rodgers will start off his Celtic career with an arm tied behind his back and no matter how good a coach he is, he won’t come in as a miracle worker. 

 

Posted on May 25th, 2016 by scott
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