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Daily Mail
15-07-2025
- Sport
- Daily Mail
Doubts over Brendan Rodgers' future are a problem for Celtic as they enter corridor of uncertainty
Even before last season's finishing line was in sight, speculation about who'd be in charge of Celtic a year from now had already started. Brendan Rodgers ' admission back in May that he was longing for the summer recess on the back of another gruelling campaign did nothing to quell the notion that he's eyeing a more prolonged rest from frontline management when his contract at Parkhead expires in 2026. It's a plan the Northern Irishman had in mind when he was sacked by Leicester City in 2023 only for the chance to return to Celtic Park to rear its head two months later. Having caused merry hell by fleeing by the dark of night for the Midlands in 2019, he promised to fulfil the full term of his three-year contract second time around. His place in Celtic folklore now secured after winning a further four trophies, he's fully entitled to leave by the front door a year from now if he so chooses. He'll have clocked up five-and-a-half seasons across two spells by that point. Martin O'Neill did five years and Gordon Strachan bowed out at four. You could hardly blame Rodgers if, at that point, he also feels he's done his stint in Glasgow's goldfish bowl. A fluent Spanish speaker, he might well feel the time is right to broaden his horizons after some time out. If you were a betting man, you'd certainly be sticking your money on a harmonious parting of the ways at that juncture. Speaking at the side's pre-season training camp in Portugal the other night, Rodgers confirmed he'd held discussions over his future with key figures including Dermot Desmond. While he's never categorically ruled out staying beyond next summer, nor has he yet expressed a desire to do so — publicly at least. 'We touched base on it,' he said. 'But it primarily was just a chat around things. Like I've said, it's still a long, long way out.' Be that as it may, but Rodgers —and his paymasters — know how this works. No matter how they try to underplay it, any manager entering the final year of his contract represents uncertainty. And that's the one thing football clubs do all they can to avoid. It starts to dominate the agenda. It makes long-term planning difficult. It can also unsettle certain players. You can well understand why many clubs down the years have gone down the road of ripping off the bandage and confirming what they're whispering in the shadows. But while this strategy does at least offer clarity and an end to the constant questioning, it's also high risk. Manuel Pellegrini believed his decision, in February 2016, to confirm he was soon to be making way for Pep Guardiola at Manchester City was the reason they fell from second place to fourth in the Premier League. 'The most difficult thing in a group is when you break something,' the Chilean ruefully reflected. 'Something was broken in that moment.' Almost eight years on, Jurgen Klopp's shock announcement that he was leaving Liverpool didn't exactly have the galvanising effect he wanted in the remainder of that campaign. Although the Reds did win the League Cup, they finished third in the league behind City and Arsenal after shipping 17 points and exited the FA Cup and the Europa League to Manchester United and Atalanta respectively. Much closer to home, Rangers will forever regret the decision to announce that Walter Smith was set to leave the club at the end of 1997-98 at their October AGM. Rather than give the squad a sense of purpose as it sought to win a record 10th successive title, the move had the opposite effect. With Dick Advocaat poised to move in, the form of several players including star man Brian Laudrup nosedived. Remarkably, only once that season did Rangers win four straight league games. The upshot was that Celtic pipped them to the title. A generation on, Celtic will be aware of the inherent danger of starting the season with any sort of cloud hanging overhead. The fact is that if there's no change in the present situation, Rodgers will continue to be asked the same question week-in, week-out. If his mind is set on moving on, there will come a point when it feels right to make it known. The trouble is that neither scenario is exactly ideal. It's all a very good advert for one-year rolling contracts. While such arrangements don't make speculation entirely disappear, it does tend to stay in the background with no big countdown to the contract's end date. If Rodgers was willing to look at this arrangement, it would appear to be the best way forward for all concerned. No matter how taxing he's found managing Celtic, he's always been at pains to stress how much he and his family enjoy living in Glasgow. One more year before a stage-managed exit in 2027 would hardly be a sufferance. But while much can change in the blink of an eye in football, there's little so far this summer to indicate that that's how it will pan out. A year back, having called on his board to be 'braver' in the transfer market, Rodgers got Adam Idah and Arne Engels for a combined £20m. Paulo Bernardo came in for £3.4m with £6m spent on Auston Trusty. It's a different story thus far. Although Kieran Tierney is back at the club, the business done to date has been lower key. Benjamin Nygren will start games next season, but you'd be surprised if Ross Doohan, Callum Osmand or Hayato Inamura did so. Rodgers still doesn't have a direct replacement for Kyogo Furuhashi who departed for Rennes in January. It's not as if the club are strapped for cash. It just coined in a reported £16.5m from Como for Nicolas Kuhn and it's no longer paying the wages of Greg Taylor, Maik Nawrocki or Gustaf Lagerbielke. Might there be a reluctance on Celtic's part to let their manager spend big on players who he may only work with for a season? Similarly, you could be forgiven for wondering if the agents of some targets are wary of committing their clients to a club whose manager may soon be on the move. In the here and now, Rodgers and his side next take on Sporting Lisbon in the Algarve tomorrow with a home game with Newcastle on Saturday coming before the Como Cup. The hope will be they aren't still in a corridor of uncertainty when the real business starts.
Irish Times
03-07-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
‘A player you didn't want to play against': Liverpool's Irish fans in shock at tragic death of Diogo Jota
Former Liverpool and Republic of Ireland international John Aldridge has paid tribute to Liverpoool's Portuguese striker Diogo Jota, who was killed in a car crash in Spain. Aldridge said he was 'absolutely devastated' at the death of Jota who was killed alongside his brother Andre Silva, a fellow professional footballer, when their car left the road in the north-western Spanish province of Zamora. The football world has been stunned by the death of the Portuguese international, who scored 65 goals in 182 games for Liverpool and 14 in 49 for the Portuguese national team. Jota has endeared himself to Liverpool fans since joining the club in 2020. READ MORE 'I can't say the way I feel at the moment I can't get my head around it! It's like a part of my family has passed away,' Aldridge posted on X. 'Absolutely gutted all our thoughts are with the family YNWA,' he added, referring to the anthem of the club's supporters, You'll Never Walk Along. Diogo Jota joined Liverpool from Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2020, going on to make 182 appearances for the club. Photograph: Peter Byrne/PA Wire Former Republic of Ireland manager Martin O'Neill said he was 'incredibly shocked to hear the awful news about Diogo Jota and his brother Andre'. He added: 'Jota was a phenomenal talent in the prime of his career. Condolences to his family at this tragic time." I can't say the way I feel at the moment I can't get my head around it!it's like apart of my family has passed away, Absolutely gutted all our thoughts are with the family YNWA❤️🙏 — John Aldridge (@Realaldo474) Prior to joining Liverpool, Jota spent two seasons at Wolverhampton Wanderers where he scored 44 goals in 131 appearances. His former teammate, Republic of Ireland international Matt Doherty, posted on his Instagram account: 'Can't believe this. What a special player and person. Distraught for all your family and friends.' There are 33 official Liverpool FC supporters clubs in Ireland recognised by the club. Fans expressed their shock at Jota's death on the Facebook pages. The Irish Liverpool supporters posted: 'RIP: Diogo Jota, the 28‑year‑old Liverpool and Portugal forward, has tragically died in a car accident near Zamora, Spain, alongside his brother Andre. 'Our thoughts are with his family, friends, teammates, and the entire football community.' Another supporters club, Liverpool Supporters Galway YNWA, posted: 'Absolutely heartbreaking and shocking news. Our thoughts are with their family and loved ones.' Jonathan Smith, a member of the You'll Never Walk Alone Liverpool Irish supporters club, told RTÉ's Today with Claire Byrne programme that he could not believe the tragic news. 'I'm in total shock. He was a terrier. He was the player you didn't want to play against. He'd get himself injured as he'd put his head and leg in where it shouldn't be,' he said. 'It's absolutely tragic to talk about him in the past tense. Jurgen Klopp knew Jota would give everything. He knew he would hound players. He'll be remembered for his smile. He's a tragic loss.' · ·
Times
29-06-2025
- Sport
- Times
Keith Andrews: Can the new Brentford head coach win over doubters?
The backlash had already started before Keith Andrews' appointment as Brentford's new head coach was even announced and predictably enough it was led by Martin O'Neill, clearly still smarting at being criticised by Andrews all the way back in 2017. O'Neill is a bearer of grudges, by his own admission. As a European Cup winner, he doesn't like being criticised by those who haven't ascended to those lofty heights, if they are Andrews or even Fabio Cannavaro, who captained Italy to the World Cup but never won the world's premier club trophy, as O'Neill once famously reminded him. O'Neill's criticism of Andrews as a 'lower league player' hardly fit to lace his boots was clearly something the Dubliner was keen to turn on its head when he gave his first interview as Brentford's new head coach on Friday, as well as addressing the more widely held view that he doesn't have the necessary coaching experience to step into such a big role.
Irish Times
27-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Martin O'Neill led chorus of doubters ahead of Brentford's surprise appointment of Keith Andrews
Keith Andrews is no stranger to criticism . Roy Keane, for example, is no fan of the Dubliner . 'I've heard a lot of bullshitters over the last 10 years and Keith Andrews is up there with the best of them,' as he put it a few years back. His appointment as manager of Brentford in the Premier League has put Andrews in the glare of a spotlight he's never experienced before. On Monday, former Ireland manager Martin O'Neill offered a cold critique of Andrews. Speaking on Talksport, O'Neill said: 'Good luck to him. I hope he does get the job because he'll then realise what management is all about. It's not as easy to be just sitting in a pundit's chair and just criticising someone who, in all honesty, had a much better career than he had. He was dealing with the bottom end of it when I was winning the European Cup.' Never change, Martin. READ MORE As Simon Jordan, the former Crystal Palace owner, pointed out on the same station, O'Neill, like Keane, has an axe to grind with Andrews. He was critical of both men during their time in charge of the Republic of Ireland . Neither man, as we know, is one for letting bygones be bygones. There is also the matter of Andrews not being born when O'Neill won the European Cup, so he wasn't dealing with the bottom end of anything at the time. No matter. But, yes, welcome to the big time, Keith Andrews. For a Premier League club to appoint someone who has never managed before is some measure of the impression the 44-year-old has made since joining Brentford as their set-piece coach last year. By all accounts, he also impressed the club's powers-that-be during his interview for a job Ange Postecoglou and Kieran McKenna were linked to. Former Brentford manager Thomas Frank, who took over at Tottenham recently. Photograph: Rhianna Chadwick/PA Wire He has big shoes to fill. Andrews succeeds Thomas Frank, who was appointed Tottenham Hotspur manager earlier this month. The Dane spent seven years in charge at the club, winning promotion from the Championship in 2021 and guiding the side to a 10th-place finish last season. He's brought three of his Brentford backroom team with him to Spurs, so Andrews will have to start assembling his own on day one. Damien Duff, though, has dismissed speculation linking him to a role. Andrews inherits a squad that includes Ireland internationals Nathan Collins and Caoimhín Kelleher, the latter a recent signing from Liverpool . He is, though, likely to lose last season's top scorer Bryan Mbeumo. Manchester United are expected to up their €70 million bid for the Cameroon international, with Spurs also said to be hovering. Andrews, who won 35 caps for the Republic of Ireland , had a 15-year playing career in England, making over 400 appearances in all competitions. He started out with Wolves, who he joined from his schoolboy side Stella Maris, and finished up at MK Dons. Upon retiring from playing in 2015, he had a spell as MK Dons assistant manager. He went on to work as assistant to Stephen Kenny for both the under-21 and senior Republic of Ireland teams , joining Sheffield United's coaching staff in December 2023 before heading for Brentford. It's a daunting challenge for Andrews. There'll been no end of sceptics, not least among the club's supporters who might have expected a 'bigger' name to succeed Frank. 'You look at the fella's resume and there's nothing in it,' said Jordan, who never passed a microphone without speaking into it. 'This is heavily risky, it seems like a really big punt.' That, inevitably, will be the narrative around his appointment, but it's a thrilling opportunity for the Irishman. 'I'm just obsessed with football. I never switch off for a second – even when I'm watching a game at home on the sofa, I'm analysing it,' he said when he started his coaching career with MK Dons. 'I'm just looking to evolve as I go along and it certainly won't be through a lack of effort if I don't get to where I want to go to.' He's come a long way since then and now has 'Premier League manager' on his CV.
BBC News
02-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
How should Celtic address Rodgers' contract situation?
Brendan Rodgers' contract situation at Celtic has been a subject again in our daily gossip manager Martin O'Neill says he would be "really surprised" if Rodgers does not add to the 12 months remaining on his deal, but what do you think?Although the 2024-25 season ended on a sour note following the Scottish Cup final defeat to Aberdeen, another Premiership triumph and a League Cup win added to Rodgers' stellar record at just a year remaining on the current boss' deal, should the Parkhead hierarchy be urgently addressing the 52-year-old's contract to prevent any discussion becoming a distraction next season?Or perhaps you feel it is still too early to get Rodgers to commit to a new deal? Maybe you think the end of next term presents the right time for the manager to end his second spell at the club?Send us your thoughts
