Many were left surprised when Brendan Rodgers decided to return to Celtic.
The Irishman didn’t exactly leave Celtic on the best of terms after deciding to take the gig at Leicester City in 2019, so that left a bitter taste in fans’ mouths.
But all is forgiven because when Brendan Rodgers returned, he was given a warm welcome and his latest job was the toughest yet.
The 51-year-old utterly dominated during his first time at Celtic, but now, he was replacing a man who did the same in Ange Postecoglou.
It’s fair to say, for the first half of the campaign, there was a lot of noise about the team’s performances, whether they could win the title, recruitment and questions about Rodgers himself.
After Celtic beat St Mirren 3-2 on Saturday and everyone was celebrating on the pitch, he shared that some of the criticism towards him this season was ‘personal’, as he told Sky Sports Football (18/05/24 at 2:50 pm).
The one-time FA Cup winner shared that ‘criticism is fine’ but it ‘oversteps the mark’ when people target you personally.
Those words were heard by Neil Lennon, who has also been in the pressure-cooker hotseat at Celtic, and he made it clear that it’s ‘uncalled for’.
Lennon feels the people who were going at Rodgers were ‘unjustified’ and he is glad that the manager and the team have done their talking on the field of play.
Brendan Rodgers helps Celtic win Scottish Premiership title
“Criticism is fine, it’s all part of the game,” said Rodgers. “It’s when it becomes personal, that’s when it oversteps the mark for me.
On whether he felt it became personal: “Yes,” responded Rodgers. “No doubt. I actually showed, from the 26th of August, the headlines were negative. I actually showed the guys today, before we came here, the story that was created all season and the narrative. All the various people and all the various headlines. Some were professional and some were personal. I have always said we write our own story.”
Lennon stated: “You have to deal with two things, sometimes. You never like the personal stuff and it’s uncalled for. You can see that he is justified in, he’s bit his tongue and the line of the season for me was ‘we will write our own story’. I thought that was very telling from Brendan’s point of view and the team’s point of view. He has done and the team has done, so he is fully justified in coming and saying ‘look at me now. I have delivered’. When people are coming at you, for me, at times, it’s unjustified, because of the expectations and the standards the club has set over the years, when you don’t reach those standards, it’s as if the house has fallen down. That’s exactly what he was trying to say.”
Celtic v Rangers in the Scottish Cup final
One more left and the double will be completed for Celtic. Players like Joe Hart will want to bow out on a high because this will be the final game of his professional career, although some think it’s a mistake.
Celtic have beaten Rangers three times this season, so everything suggests that another trophy should be headed to Parkhead.
READ MORE: Jeremie Frimpong sends four-word message to Celtic fans after title win
This is a huge game for Rangers and Philippe Clement because, after a bright start, it’s starting to fizzle out for him and he is yet to win a big game.
So, from a psychological standpoint, beating Rangers again will filter through next season and put huge pressure on those from Ibrox because it has been a while since they won a meaningful game against Celtic.
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