Chris Sutton has warned that Brendan Rodgers simply can’t return to Celtic as the Scottish Premiership champions look for a replacement for Ange Postecoglou.
The Celtic legend noted how the fans held up a banner ‘you traded immortality for mediocrity. Never a Celt, always a fraud’ after he headed for the Parkhead exit door for Leicester City in 2019.
Brendan Rodgers’ decision to leave during the middle of the season, as the club chased yet another treble, didn’t sit well with fans and Sutton now thinks ‘he won’t go back’ and ‘he won’t be appointed’, as he told 606 on BBC Radio 5 Live Sport.
Well, whether fans want Rodgers back or not, he is in talks over a shock return after leaving Leicester City in April.
The Midlands side had struggled all season long under the Northern Irishman, including their inability to stop the flood of goals leaking in, which in the end, proved to be their downfall because they dropped to the Championship on the final day of the 22/23 Premier League season.
And now, with that Leicester gig ending in a sour manner, could a return to Glasgow be on the cards to replace another treble-winning manager in Ange Postecoglou? Well, Sutton explained why he is against it.
“The issue was when he went to Leicester,” said Sutton. “Remember when he left and the Celtic fans held up a banner, didn’t they?!
“This is why, in my opinion, he won’t go back and he won’t be appointed. So, the banner the Celtic fans held up was ‘You traded immortality for mediocrity. Never a Celt, always a fraud’.
“Imagine if Brendan Rodgers didn’t get off to a good start at Celtic?! He is going to get that thrown in his face, isn’t he?!
“I don’t think it will happen, in terms of the banner the Celtic fans held up. There is still a lot of anger about the way Brendan left, so I don’t think he can go back because of that.”
Does Rodgers have a point to prove to the Celtic fans?
If the 50-year-old does become Celtic manager, then it will be interesting to see the reaction from the fans. It wouldn’t be a surprise if it’s mixed.
But, at the end of the day, he might feel he still has something to prove because of how he left and if he starts to rack up the trophies again, then that call to leave Leicester once upon a time will all be forgotten about.
The only issue here is, if Rodgers starts winning trophies again and a Premier League side comes knocking again? Does he leave again midway through the season?
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
