Current Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers won two successive Scottish Premiership titles as manager of Celtic.
Celtic hero Johan Mjallby believes the club’s lack of success on the European front was the ‘only disappointment’ of Brendan Rodgers’ otherwise trophy-laden reign, in quotes reported by Football Scotland.
Rodgers spent over two-and-a-half years in his dream job before walking away to take over at Leicester City in February, leading the Hoops to an unprecedented ‘double treble’.
But while Celtic were typically dominant in Scotland, they struggled badly on the continent. The Glasgow giants suffered chastening 7-0 and 7-1 defeats to Barcelona and PSG respectively in the Champions League before being knocked out in the qualification stage by AEK Athens last August.
Furthermore, Rodgers failed to lead Celtic beyond the round of 32 stage of the Europa League, suffering defeats to Zenit St Petersburg and Valencia in successive seasons.
And Mjallby believes that this is a blot on Rodgers’ otherwise pristine copybook while backing interim coach Neil Lennon to be given the job on a full-time basis.
“Neil is probably the safer bet, yes, but it depends on how the outlook is from the board. They are obviously aiming to keep winning league trophies, because that’s their bread and butter,” said Mjallby, the former Sweden defender who won three league titles at Parkhead.
“But they also have Europe to think about and will be looking to crack that nut as that was probably the only disappointment of Brendan’s reign.”
Lennon will not get the chance to lead Celtic out in Europe this season with Celtic suffering a defeat to Valencia in February.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
