Muzzy_Larsson

Parallels with his time at Celtic in that sense in terms of recruitment. Also similar language he's now using as in his latter time at Celtic in trying to shift the responsibility and deflect in that sense.

I think in terms of his time at Celtic your being a bit OTT. For one Rodgers took the job the year Rangers returned to the top flight so Rangers were in the league the whole time he was here. When he left the league was in the bag by the time he left in February, we were 8 points clear iirc and the lead was growing every week at that point. Had Rodgers stayed Rangers wouldn't have won a trophy while he was still in Scotland, I'm pretty much certain of that. The biggest shot in the arm for Rangers and Steven Gerrard's managerial career was the fact we replaced Rodgers with Lennon. Although his team were largely the same players as when he arrived, he transformed them completely, most of the players in his team most Celtic fans wanted out the door the year before he arrived. It cannot be discounted that he turned what were prior to him arriving a mediocre bunch of players who were beaten off a tier 2 Rangers side into treble, treble winners and successive Champions League campaigns. Furthermore, the Edouard we initially signed to the one that left us was again transformed as a player which you have to give Rodgers a lot of credit for. Even at that, for the majority of Rodgers time at the club Edouard was a work in progress anyway and largely came off the bench, Dembele, Sinclair and Forrest were the mainstays of our front three for most of his time here.

I don't think it's about that tbh. I get that because of the lofty league position he has become a victim of his own success to an extent and with that it becomes harder to bring in players who'll improve on that again. However, in 3+ years at the club, with the level of money in the EPL at his disposal I would have expected 2 or 3 of any managers signings in that time become nailed on first team mainstays.

A lot of parallels with the players he signed at Celtic in that sense. Sinclair and Dembele (who was already a done deal prior to his arrival) aside.

It feels to me that this team has reached the end of it's cycle, for whatever reason. Some already have their eyes on their next club and/or are reaching the red zone in terms of running their contract down. Others who with the benefit of hindsight are regressing and probably should have been moved on at their peak value to ensure a transitional period never materialised such as one that feels like it's coming. I'd be surprised if any manager could come in and get this team back to the heights of the last two years without significant surgery in terms of recruitment. All of the above means the spotlight shines ever more brightly on Rodgers as there are serious question marks around whether he is fit for purpose to undertake such a rebuild and perform well in the transfer market, left to his own devices of course.

Not talking about Juranovic specifically but I don't think any club can really take that attitude in terms of signing a player. If he's the right player, represents value then you can't elect not to just because he went for a paltry sum a short while previous and you missed out. Crystal Palace got burned similarly with Virgil Van Dijk. They thought he was overpriced as we wanted £12m for him as he'd only played in Scotland and cost us £2.5m. Little over two years later he goes to Liverpool for £75m and becomes at one time arguably the best centre back in the world. I'm not saying Juranovic is that good but the principle still stands.

Yeah he played most of the first half of the season at left back.

We got close to that for Edouard and Ajer, both of whom had never played outside Scotland, who both only had a year on their deal. Juranovic is now pretty much first choice RB for one of the best nations in world football. He has four years left on his contract so we don't have to sell him unless we get a very good offer. £20m isn't a lot of money for EPL teams really.

Just noticed the first part, a firm no to both

Yeah Motherwell do tons of great work in the community around that sort of stuff and food banks and all that sort of thing. Pretty sure they gave all their season ticket holders full refunds from the covid season also.

He's attacking in the main but he's also defensively sound also, I get he's not tested defensively as much up here as he would be in a better league obviously. He's just one of these guys that's an all round very good footballer, technically excellent, can pass, run past players, great delivery and is good from set pieces too. He's already our first choice penalty taker. I'd honestly be gutted to lose him so soon but I'm not surprised teams are taking notice of him.

Yeah Motherwell too have had a pretty vibrant one for a while now also.

FFS! I hope not! How we got this guy, a croatian international right back for £2.5m in the first place is really beyond me, he's an absolute class act. Would take more than he's saying for us to sell imo, he's got 4 years to go on his deal, I'd be wanting £20m and I think we could get that quite comfortably.

Yeah this is true, atmosphere's across the country the last few years have been great, at most grounds anyway.

Yeah we gave him a 1 year extension in the summer, for what reason I don't know, then punted him out on loan to Dundee. The guy is a waste of space.

Haha! I wouldn't fancy Klopp against Dick Campbell at the moment

On Congerton specifically, I'd love someone to point out a club he's been at, at any point in his career when his record is even as good as below average.

We didn't though in relative terms, we had a budget 100x that every other team in the league bar 1. At the time we were also spending 3 what Rangers were on wages. We had a good track record of buying low and selling high, apart from that two year period where Congerton was allowed to run riot. Any big sales we made during that period were guys like Tierney, Armstrong and Dembele who were already at the club. In the case of Dembele the deal was done for him 4 months before Rodgers was appointed. Even the players we sold this summer, for decent money, who played in Rodgers team were nothing to do with Congerton, namely Edouard, Ajer and Christie. We've had managers with half the wage budget Rodgers had who vastly out performed him in a European sense. Strachan for example, even Lennon who was clueless.

I'm still seeing the same issues with Rodgers as I've seen at pretty much all his other clubs and it pains me to say it as he gave me some of the best memories of my life being a Celtic supporter. 1. In his third season at clubs things deteriorate and the relationship between him and his players seems to wane, for what reason I don't know. 2. Left to his own devices (along with his partner in crime) he's horrific in the transfer market. I wouldn't trust him to undertake a rebuild that requires recruiting several players. 3. He has serious limitations in how his teams perform in Europe. He played the finance card at Celtic in the champions league despite previous managers having less to work with and being more competitive. He's had european groups with both Leicester and Liverpool he should have absolutely skated and has made a right pigs ear of them. 4. He's too one dimensional in his approach and outlook. I think he's hit his ceiling as a manager and the level of club who will be after him unless he rectifies the above. It's telling that when jobs like Arsenal, Man Utd and even Spurs have come around he hasn't been quoted. I don't buy, other clubs having to pay up his contract either as being a factor in him missing out on these jobs as lets be honest, the clubs mentioned spend 3 or 4 times that most windows on players.

Would be amazing to see them come up to the top league!

Looks a right moody, demanding barsteward Galtier.

I think the Martinez of now has developed a great deal since his time at Everton and all things considered he didn't do too badly at Everton anyway, particularly when you look at the results of those who have followed him.

Potter, Cooper, Martinez would be the obvious stand outs for me. Diego or Roberto Martinez btw. When you look at Garcia's record it's really not all that impressive, I think he'd be a bigger gamble than most of those I have mentioned above.

Koeman, god no. Nuno's football would bore you to tears. A firm no to both from me.

Enough of that talk