NOT for one day during his previous spell at Celtic did Brendan Rodgers feel disharmony around the club, nor a disconnect between the support and those running it. This time around, he didn’t get through day one.
It is hard for the Celtic manager to pinpoint any one cause for the disquiet since the season kicked off. Certainly, he is aware that his reappointment was not universally welcomed. There have been grumblings about the summer transfer business, too. Not least, from him.
There was the ban for the Green Brigade, which will eventually come to an end as they are allowed entry to this afternoon’s fixture against Livingston. Performances on the pitch, and now results in recent weeks, have been far from perfect too.
Whatever the ingredients that have been brought together to cause the ever so slightly poisonous atmosphere that has hovered in the background at Celtic this season, Rodgers knows only too well that unless it is remedied, it all adds up to a recipe for disaster.
And whatever it is that is causing unrest at Celtic, it must be removed for the good of the club. Up to, and including, Rodgers himself.
“It’s a great point, because in my whole time here during the first time I never felt it,” Rodgers said.
“Never for a day did I feel it.
“I probably felt it from the first day since I came back, whether it was me coming back, or whatever it was. But what I know categorically, is that unless you have that harmony…
“If I was ever the cause of that, of course, then that’s something I would look at.
“Whatever it is, it needs to be together. If not, it’s very difficult to have success. We’ve seen it before. We saw it during the covid season when supporters were not in.
“This is such an emotional club, the team really responds to the support. Normally it’s in a really positive way.
“If it’s not quite ticking, then that’s really difficult for a club like Celtic, whether it’s to do with the manager, the board or whatever.
“We all want a successful, winning team on the field – and that will come from the support.
“It’s definitely hard to pinpoint the why, but it’s definitely felt different.”
From the outside looking in, fans of other clubs may wonder just what it is that Celtic fans have go to grouse about. The loss to Hearts last weekend, after all, was their first home defeat for 52 matches, and they have enjoyed over a decade of dominance on the domestic scene.
The recent losses though have for some simply confirmed longer-term fears held by some that Celtic have been on a downward curve for quite some time, and that they are justified in voicing their displeasure at the manager, the team and particularly the board, as they did last Saturday at Celtic Park.
Whoever is the target of their ire though, Rodgers believes that such an atmosphere inside the stadium is counterproductive, and harms their chances of getting the results that everyone connected to the club craves.
“Oh aye, there’s no question, because ultimately it’s about the team on the field receiving as much support as they can on the field to win,” he said.
“If that is sabotaged in any way, especially when you’ve got lots of young players… “One of the big factors in coming to Celtic as a player is to play in front of an incredible support, 60-odd thousand.
“I walked out last week against Hearts and went ‘wow’. Mid December, just after a Champions League game, and we’ve got a packed house.
“For the support to turn up is amazing, but you want to give everything to the team, because that is why we are all here, to see the team win.
“I’m really hoping now that we can draw a line under the situation with the support base, and that we can all come together and unify.
“That is what makes Celtic tick, and be at their best.”
All that being said, Rodgers acknowledges that the biggest onus when it comes to correcting Celtic’s course falls on his own shoulders, and those of his players.
And it is those who react to this period of adversity positively who will, ultimately, prove they belong at such a club.
“This is the time when you have to lead, it’s very easy when you’re going unbeaten for 69 games and winning trophies,” he said.
“I always thought it would be different this time, with the group and everything else. But this is where you have to stand up as a Celtic player and particularly as a Celtic manager.
“So it’s something we will get right. I’m probably judged and measured on the first time I was here when those first couple of years went smoothly as such. But the squad is different, and the personality of the team is different. It’s just a case of developing and fixing things.
“The highs at the biggest clubs are very high and there’s a great feeling. The lows are challenging but that’s where you grow and develop and find out about yourself.
“There’s a personality and a courage you need in order to play in that environment and that’s something you need to have here.
“If you have young players who might not have felt it or witnessed it before then that can be new, but certainly this last couple of weeks has been new to me as well in relation to results, back to back [defeats].
“So, it’s my job to fix that.”
