It's no secret Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers and Scotland gaffer Steve Clarke are close pals.
But reports from the Irishman's time at Swansea say Rodgers might never have got started on the elite stage if it wasn't for a leg up from his long-term ally. Nine years of age separate the men in the Parkhead and Hampden hotseats but Rodgers' early retirement from playing mean they took their coaching badges at the same time - that was where they met and struck up a longstanding mutual respect.
After a knee injury put paid to his ambitions of playing professionally, Rodgers started coaching at Reading in his 20s while Clarke got his start as Ruud Gullit's No.2 at Newcastle United in 1999, having played his last game for Chelsea a year earlier. Clarke took charge of the final game of that campaign following Gullit's resignation but returned to Stamford Bridge as a youth coach the following summer.
Rodgers was by now academy director at Reading. Chelsea were looking for a new academy director in 2004. And it was Clarke put Rodgers' name on Jose Mourinho's desk. The boss invited him to London to become their new head youth coach and the rest from there was history.
A profile piece on Rodgers on the Chelsea website reads: "Rodgers was appointed Chelsea youth team coach in September 2004 having previously been working as the Academy manager at Reading where he had spent nine years as a player and coach.
"He played for Northern Ireland and had to retire early through injury. He was recommended for the Chelsea job by Steve Clarke on his promotion from youth coach to the first-team set-up. The two had studied together for their coaching qualifications."
Between 2004 and 2008, Clarke and Rodgers became close pals and are believed to have kept in contact as their respective careers snaked off tangentially. In 2012, they were seen embracing on the Anfield touchline as Rodgers' Liverpool took on Clarke's West Brom in the Premier League while they did battle several times while Clarke was in the Kilmarnock dugout during Rodgers' first reign at Celtic.
The've faced off ten times in total, four in England and six in Scotland with an even record of four wins apiece - with Clarke's Killie famously taking nine points off them in 2017/18. Speaking at the time, Rodgers was full of praise for Clarke's team and even talked them up as miraculous title contenders a la Leicester.
He said: "Steve and I are what you would call coaching managers. We like to be on the grass, or the astro, with the players and feel them close and help them develop. That’s our natural habitat."
It's obvious the two share ideas even if Rodgers' style is a lot more expansive than the famously pragmatic Clarke. And now Rodgers is back in Scotland, where his old pal is the head honcho of the national team, they won't be strangers to a phone call and a chat.
