When Ange Postecoglou left the club in order to join Tottenham Hotspur in the summer, merely days after winning the domestic treble, Celtic were put in a difficult position. They were losing a world-class manager, who had guided them to five trophies in two years, exceeding all expectations.
Thus, they needed a suitable replacement. And they went out and got the best one available, bringing back Brendan Rodgers for a second stint in the Parkhead hot seat.
It was a move that might have surprised many. Rodgers left Celtic in the middle of the season in 2019 in order to join Leicester City, creating a ton of controversy in the process. Nobody would have expected him to be back so soon afterwards.
To the credit of the fans, they maintained a good atmosphere following the return of Rodgers and the past was left there. It was time to look towards the future and this time around, it appears that the Northern Irishman is eyeing a long-term one at Celtic.
Rodgers drops hint about long-term Celtic future
This upcoming game will be Rodgers’ 700th one as a manager. A big achievement to say the very least. And it looks like he wants to reach the 1000th mark at Celtic.
As reported by the Glasgow Times, he said:
"“I am looking forward to this next decade now. My target was always to get to 1,000 games as a manager.“It is a sign of resilience and persistence to keep going and you have to do well. Hopefully I can achieve that here at Celtic and keep looking to win games.”"
Of course, that would mean around five more years at Celtic. Quite the lofty goal to be very honest and it remains to be seen if Rodgers is able to reach that figure or not. It will be difficult but not impossible at all.
Staying for the long-term at Celtic means constantly winning. Rodgers has shown in the past that he is capable of that. He is still relatively young for a manager as well at 50 years of age. Thus, there is no reason he could not reach that figure.