Whether people want to admit it or not, when the news broke that Brendan Rodgers had left Celtic with immediate effect it sent a massive shockwave through the club and its support!
Why?
Because we had listened to a man for two-and-a-half-years who brought us a lot of success but not just that he sold us on the idea he was Celtic through and through; something I still maintain to this day he never had to do.
Pandering to our support to get us on side is for someone who doesn’t deliver trophy after trophy. The man had 13,000 people turn up to see him being unveiled as Celtic boss before he had even said a word, but when he finally spoke he told us about the Celtic way, growing up a Celtic fan and evoked memories of the late great Tommy Burns; we were already sold but this was the icing on the cake.
Since then we’ve had quotes like ‘I was born into Celtic’, ‘I’m in my dream job’ etc.
This is why the fall was so great when the news filtered through the manager was off to Leicester Football Club. The way Rodgers spoke about Celtic made the supporters feel we had a real gem of a manager and one of our own was leading us through an unprecedented period of domestic success.
In reality – we had a great football manager, a magnificent mind and someone who can work really well with young talent – what we didn’t have was a Celtic man, we had someone masquerading as a Celtic fan, and that’s why we all felt so foolish. We fell for it; I fell for it!
The most significant instance I’ve come across with Rodgers manipulation of the Celtic support which is the Irishman’s story about Celtic legend Danny McGrain which had us all applauding at the time.
If you’re on social media you may already know this story and you might have been one of the 1300 people in attendance when this particular Rodgers fib was debunked, but it’s worth watching it again before hearing the truth behind the lie.
Brendan Rodgers did an evening with Eamon Holmes to promote his new book which was coming out, during the Q&A the Irishman told the Celtic supporters stories of things he’s experienced since he came in. The story which captured the most imagination at the time and was widely shared on many different platforms.
Still can't get over the fact Brendan Rodgers made aw this up ???? pic.twitter.com/4cXlFQlrKL
— XOF ? (@goddamnpal) March 30, 2020
Danny McGrain was in attendance on the night and even was prompted to stand up and take applause after the story.
It would transpire in January that this whole story was nothing more than a fictional tale by the former Celtic manager although even Danny himself passed it off as ‘ach, he’s trying to sell books’. However, the Celtic Legend admitted he was embarrassed by the story as to him it appeared as if he was desperate for a job.
McGrain debunked the story at an ACSOM event (A Celtic State of Mind) when the story came up during a Q&A. The host on the night Mr Paul John Dykes confirmed Danny’s story on an episode of the ACSOM – how it came about and why he didn’t want to stir the pot while Brendan Rodgers was still the Celtic manager and put Danny in an awkward position.
Speaking on the ACSOM podcast, Paul John Dykes said: “As an opener, I asked the question about Brendan Rodgers well-told story about their first experience together on the first training session, that Brendan told at his book launch.
“He told the story to Eamon Holmes and it ended up on a Celtic DVD
“It was a beautiful sound bite and Danny McGrain basically said, it didn’t happen”
“Apparently it cropped up on a Celtic forum and somebody sent me a screenshot of the quote that the user had actually put up. Now I would be paraphrasing, but that screenshot is EXACTLY how I remember the conversation; it’s about as near as verbatim as it possibly could be”
“What Danny said that night was that he was embarrassed. He was sitting at the crowd at the Glasgow Hydro, sitting there with his wife and it made him embarrassed because it made him appear like he was desperate for a job.”
“The reason I’ve not mentioned it because Danny McGrain and Brendan Rodgers are both employed by Celtic at that point and it will look as though I’m trying to throw a spanner in the works.”
“It would look as though I’m criticising the gaffer, and if I done that in January it would appear as though I was up to no good, creating an issue that wasn’t there.”
A warm story, well received and designed to put across his ‘Celtic Minded’ gimmick. When you hear that story, you might think it’s trivial and not worth our attention, but this is just one comment which has been found out not to be true.
How many more stories have been spun and comments embellished to create the perception Brendan made for himself, a perception that would have been his legacy had he stuck around for another three months?
Great manager and he is a Celtic man. If Lawwell had got him McGinn he would still be at Celtic.