Brendan Rodgers’ potential Celtic return DOESN’T make sense, claims Simon Jordan
Brendan Rodgers’ potential return to Celtic makes no sense, claims Simon Jordan… pushing for a ‘sideways’ return to Scotland will ‘create more challenges than solutions’ for sacked Leicester boss
Simon Jordan believes a proposed return to Celtic for Brendan Rodgers makes no sense to either side.
The Northern Irishman has retired from football since being sacked by Leicester in April and was planning to take a long break to eventually work abroad.
But the Mail Sport revelation on Monday that a Celtic delegation flew a private jet to meet the 50-year-old at his home in Majorca has dramatically reduced the chances of him returning to the club where he won seven consecutive domestic trophies before he abruptly left for the Vossen in early 2019.
Rodgers guided Leicester to consecutive fifth-place finishes and the 2021 FA Cup, but struggled this season before leaving.
But given Leicester’s subsequent relegation and the acrimonious nature of his sudden departure from Celtic, Mail sports columnist Jordan doesn’t see why either side would want to work together again.
Celtic have held talks with former manager Brendan Rodgers about a stunning return to the club
“Rodgers has done a great job at Celtic and he hasn’t done a great job lately,” he said talkSPORT. “Depends which Brendan Rodgers you get. I’d be surprised if that was a route both sides wanted to take.
Rodgers was partly responsible for Leicester’s relegation. Is that good enough for Celtic? You should be assessed on your last job. I don’t think it fits well.’
The ex-Crystal Palace owner questioned the wisdom of Celtic’s return for a manager who never quite matched the heights of his first season in Glasgow.
“It will be interesting to see what is on offer because after the last 12 months I don’t think he will be a much sought after product for the top clubs.
“At best for Rodgers it will be a sideways move from what Leicester were, not what he’s made of them.
“I just think a return to Celtic would present more challenges than solutions.
Rodgers (left) was sacked by Leicester in April and talkSPORT’s Simon Jordan (right) is not convinced a return to Celtic this summer makes sense for either side
Rodgers sits down with Celtic’s major shareholder Dermot Desmond to discuss a return
“Winning things makes people happy, but economically I would be surprised. It doesn’t seem to fit in terms of salary and where he thinks he should be managing.
He went to Scotland to return to the Premier League. It’s a very strange dynamic to say, “I’m sneaking back to Scotland to give myself another chance to get back into the league I actually want to manage.”‘
Jordan has no doubt that Celtic’s interest in rehiring Rodgers is genuine. Since CEO Michael Nicholson and CFO Chris McKay took the trouble to fly to the Spanish island for talks, an agreement between the club and the former manager cannot be ruled out, he says.
“If these guys have a private jet… no one is so narcissistic as to want someone to get in a private jet and fly out so they can tell them what they could have told them on the phone,” he said.