A significant update has emerged regarding the future of Brendan Rodgers as Celtic manager
Brendan Rodgers under pressure at Celtic
The Irishman is into his second spell as manager at Parkhead, with his first stint a largely successful one, leading to two Scottish Premiership titles and Scottish Cup crowns apiece, as well as three Scottish League Cups.
In that time, Rodgers averaged a superb 2.24 points per game in charge of Celtic, across a total of 169 matches, highlighting their dominance across all competitions, as he rebuilt his reputation after a poor end to life at Liverpool.
This time around, however, the former Reds and Leicester City boss arguably hasn’t been as popular among the Hoops fanbase, and his side are struggling to clinch another league title this season. They trail Rangers by two points going into the business end of the campaign – something many wouldn’t have predicted back in August.
Despite this, one previous report has claimed that Rodgers wasn’t under threat of being sacked, but he does appear to be in more of a precarious position than in the past. Now, a fresh report has dropped that sheds further light on his future.
Celtic make stance clear over Brendan Rodgers
Rodgers as their manager for years to come, with the report stating that he is not seen as the “long-term” option in the dugout. It goes on to add that “there have been too many on-field and off-field issues during Rodgers’ second spell at Parkhead, which could force the board
The Hoops board are “likely to sack the former Leicester City boss if he fails to win the league this season”, showing the importance of going all the way in the Scottish Premiership.
This is a strange update in some ways, in terms of Celtic seemingly not having enough faith in Rodgers to ensure that he is the long-term answer at Parkhead. All this does is suggest that there are real doubts about him moving forward, but not enough to dispose of him right now.
In fairness to the 51-year-old, relieving him of his duties before the end of the season could feel knee-jerk, considering Celtic are still right in the title battle and have only lost three of their 29 league matches this season.
Granted, he is now averaging 2.05 points per game in his second spell as manager, showing a slight dropoff, but the positives still outweigh the negatives.
It is easy to envisage Rodgers being sacked if Rangers win the title ahead of their rivals, though, given the level of fume it could likely, and rightly, cause.