Brendan Rodgers raises Celtic ticking contract bomb as he owns up to 'unrealistic' ambitions
Brendan Rodgers insists he's still got the drive and passion to lead Celtic to continued dominance - even as he approaches his sixth campaign in charge.
The serial-winning Hoops boss stunned the green-and-white faithful by returning for a second spell in 2023, four years after abruptly walking out on the club for Leicester City. Rodgers justified his decision by declaring that he felt he had taken the club as far as he could - a claim that Martin O'Neill hilariously called out in an interview with Amazon Prime.
But after winning a Double in his first season back, Treble specialist Rodgers is now on the brink of a third clean sweep at Parkhead - and has guided the Glasgow giants into the Champions League knockouts for the first time in more than a decade. That's helped the Irishman win back most of his critics. However, with less than 18 months to run on his three-year contract, it remains to be seen whether Rodgers will commit his future to the club beyond the end of next season.
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Rodgers has been bankrolled by the Parkhead board, twice smashing the club's transfer record in the summer, as he looks to restore Celtic's pride in Europe. The ex-Liverpool boss was frustrated with the club's business during his first stint in charge but says he now sees eye-to-eye with the hierarchy after being backed to the tune of almost £40m this term.
Asked how he's evolved since his first stint, Rodgers said: "I'm a bit more relaxed, I would say, in the best possible way. I think when I came, the ambition to take Celtic probably for me, when I look back, might have been a little bit unrealistic. I think now I understand the process more, I understand where we are financially as a club and then it's the case of really maximising that.
"Coming back this second time has felt great, I drive up here every morning still with an amazing feeling. At the end of my contract here next year, I'll be here nearly six years which is a long time. But I feel fresh and obviously that's the players that you allow you to feel that, and obviously the great staff that we have.
"Glasgow's amazing, I've been fortunate to have lived all over the UK. Born in Northern Ireland, brilliant upbringing and then I've been in London, the south of England, the Midlands, the north west, lived in Wales and been up here... we absolutely love life up here from a football perspective but outside as well. So very happy, very content but also very driven to try and keep the club moving forward."
While Rodgers' return to the hotseat prompted a mixed reaction from Celtic diehards, supporters will be hoping one of the most successful managers in the club's history can be convinced to extend his stay in Glasgow's east end.
He added: "Overall, coming back has been great. A lot of the same staff here that have been amazing. The support I've had since I've come back has been great in terms of from the board. They've pushed the boat out to help because I wanted to try and make us as competitive in Europe and they've been able to help us do that, and hopefully we can continue to do that.
"I think the natural evolution at a club like Celtic, it's not like, with the greatest respect, that you have a team for four or five years. Players come here, they do well, they get taken and moved on to other clubs. You'll have a core of players, but every two or three years there's always lots of change here.
"But the idea, of course, is to be better whether you're bringing players in or developing the players here. I genuinely felt that we could do that coming back and the club have been great in supporting that. So yeah, I feel we've been able to move on and make that progress."
