Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers may be able to land the Southampton or Arsenal job, according to Paul Walsh.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers
Former Liverpool and Tottenham striker Paul Walsh has suggested that for all the good work Brendan Rodgers has done at Celtic, he would struggle to get another top job in the Premier League other than if something potentially emerges at Southampton or Arsenal, the Daily Record reports.
Rodgers has largely repaired the damage that was done to his reputation during the latter stages of his tenure with the Reds since he moved to the Hoops, guiding them to the Champions League group-stages and taking them to the brink of the Scottish Premiership title in his first season.
His reputation has also been enhanced by the progress that he has overseen in some of the players at Parkhead. James Forrest, Scott Sinclair and Stuart Armstrong in particular, have had their careers reignited by the Northern Irishman, while Moussa Dembele is one of the hottest strikers in Europe currently.
There is perhaps an expectation that Rodgers may grow tired once he has taken the Bhoys as far as he can and may seek a return to England, but Walsh has warned him that his previous allegiances to Liverpool rule him out of taking several of the highest-profile roles in the division.
Rodgers, during his time with Liverpool
“Brendan’s problem is that once you’ve been at Liverpool Manchester United don’t want you, Everton won’t have you and neither will Manchester City,” he said, as reported by the Record.
“You won’t get a top-six team again so where do you go?
“He might be waiting for a top European job or if, say, Southampton are bought over by the wealthy Chinese consortium being talked about just now then they may fancy him to kick on their success story.
“Eddie Howe has been mentioned as a potential replacement for Arsene Wenger at Arsenal but I suppose you could argue Brendan would possibly fit in there but I just don’t know if he would be on their radar.”
While there may only be so much that Rodgers can do domestically at Parkhead, he would surely enhance his reputation by making Celtic more of a force on the continental stage, while the work they do in the transfer market may also be worth noting.
If they manage to hold onto their best players – which has been notoriously difficult over the last decade it seems – and are able to lure some players to the club who are enjoying the best years of their career, then outsiders will surely start to respect how impressive a job Rodgers has actually done.
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