When the time finally comes, Brendan Rodgers will hoist the green and white scarf above his head and then address his public.
The Irishman will say all the right things – because he always does. He’ll tell Celtic supporters it’s a dream to come back to such a wonderful club, one that’s among the biggest in the world. He’ll tell them it was too much of a pull to turn down, how there were some regrets about the timing of his departure last time and how he has unfinished business in this neck of the woods.
Rodgers is likely to lay it on thick about his love of all things Celtic, but, unlike last time, Hoops fans might take it more with a pinch of salt. The mood among the support seems to be acceptance of being spurned before and the chance that it could happen again, while being more than pleased their club has gone out to bring in the biggest possible hitter they could get to follow Ange Postecoglou.
Celtic fans were distraught when the Aussie jumped ship – but they have arguably landed an upgrade. Hoops punters will take wins and silverware and perhaps ignore the lovey dovey stuff as they have been burned before and suspect their man just says what folk want to hear. But what if Rodgers is actually telling the truth when it comes to professing his undying devotion to Celtic?
The very fact he’s preparing to walk back through the front doors of Celtic Park suggests he just might be. Because the big question right now is this - why else would Rodgers take this on again, if it wasn’t his heart ruling his head? The guy has absolutely no need for this gig right now. He could quite easily have stuck the feet up for a few months and wait for the phone to ring. And it would.
There are probably about 14 clubs in the English Premier League who would gladly have him in charge. Many of them will be looking for gaffers at some stage in the next 12 months. Last year more than a dozen managers ended up in the car park with the plant pot under their arms and it’s unlikely to be any different this time around. Rodgers would have been high up on the wish list for just about all of them outside the Manchester clubs and his old side Liverpool.
He’s not short of a bob or two but could have waited for another mammoth contract down south as well, so he’s not returning for the lolly. It would certainly be less hassle for him to have politely declined when the call came from Dermot Desmond.
Yes, Rodgers has spoken before about hoping to one day get another crack at it, but he wouldn’t have imagined it would be this soon. Instead he’s going to walk back in when he knows there’s still some underlying animosity and a small section of spurned lovers he’ll need to sweet talk once again.
It’s the being a Celtic fan stuff that sticks in their craws from the first spell but don’t forget, he does come from a Hoops daft family. Anyone with a brother will know they are not shy about having a pop and given the pride that burst out of them when he was in charge before, you can imagine some of his clan being less than chuffed with the way he left.
There will be cartwheels being performed with his second coming. It’s true, this is a ruthlessly ambitious manager who has carefully plotted his career. But this looks like a slightly sentimental detour and while it won’t be a selfless act, there’s definitely a sense this might be his happy place.
It ticks a lot of boxes for him. Rodgers can be the king of the castle up here as opposed to just another EPL gaffer. It’s funny, he left to go back to the promised land of the Premier League but in terms of exposure, he went back to the minor leagues. When he was flying high in the top five there was plenty of airtime and column inches, but when Leicester slipped back into the pack, the UK wide audience barely got a snippet from him once a week.
Scottish football might be the poor relations, but on platforms like Sky Sports, Celtic and Rangers get a much bigger chunk of the schedule than the likes of the Foxes.
All that stuff is under the surface though, and while some fans might roll their eyes if Rodgers slaps on the platitudes with a trowel, they should look closely at the manager’s peepers when he says it. Because it might just be the truth.
