I Told You I Had A Feeling He Might… Box Office Brendan Is Coming Back To Talk Celtic

There are announcements that land and you think, “That’ll be decent.”

Then there are announcements where the timing immediately gets your mind working overtime.

A Celtic State of Mind have announced – An Audience with Brendan Rodgers – at Glasgow Royal Concert Hall next summer, with Rodgers sitting down in front of a Celtic audience on June 14, 2027.

Firstly, congratulations to Paul John Dykes and Tony Haggerty for pulling this off.

I have worked with both many times in 2021. They will be buzzing with this and so will most who hear the news.

And Brendan Rodgers doing an evening with ACSOM would be interesting at any time.

Announcing it now, though?

That’s a different story altogether.

Why Now?

We’re more than eight months away from Rodgers walking onto that stage.

Eight months!

Think about how much has happened at Celtic in the last eight months, never mind what might happen in the next eight.

Rodgers is no longer Celtic manager. Since his departure we’ve had more managerial upheaval, Martin O’Neill returning, another Champions League qualifying failure and now serious questions being asked after three consecutive defeats.

Then you’ve got all the noise surrounding Willie Haughey, Dermot Desmond and the takeover rumours, with Rodgers’ name bizarrely finding its way into that conversation as well.

Let’s be absolutely clear on that one: those are rumours. There is nothing concrete to suggest Brendan Rodgers is part of some impending Celtic takeover.

But that’s exactly why the timing of this announcement is fascinating.

It doesn’t prove the takeover rumour.

What it does guarantee is that Brendan Rodgers is going to remain part of the Celtic conversation for the next eight months.

What Are They Thinking Inside Celtic Park?

This is where I’d love to be a fly on the wall.

I’ve got absolutely no inside information on Celtic’s reaction to this announcement, so this is purely my opinion.

But I’ll say it anyway.

They’ll be shitting themselves.

Not because Rodgers has announced he’s coming back to Celtic. He hasn’t.

Not because he’s promised to spill the beans. He hasn’t done that either.

But Celtic now know that a former manager who spent two hugely significant spells at the club is going to sit down in front of a Celtic audience with Paul John Dykes, one of their more disliked voices in the Celtic sphere.

And Brendan Rodgers knows an awful lot about what went on behind those doors.

He knows which players he wanted, what happened with transfer windows, and of course the fall outs.

Will he talk about all of that?

I’ve absolutely no idea.

But if I’m sitting inside the corridors of Celtic Park today, I’m probably hoping June comes and goes without Brendan deciding it’s finally time to get a few things off his chest.

And the format makes it even more interesting.

This isn’t Brendan being grabbed for 90 seconds after a game.

It isn’t a press conference where every answer is followed immediately by another question about Saturday’s team.

It’s a long-form sit-down in front of Celtic supporters.

Box Office Brendan with a microphone and plenty of time to talk.

Tell me you’re not intrigued by that.

I Had A Feeling We Might Hear From Him…

Now I can admit something.

There’s a reason I’ve spent the last few days talking about Brendan Rodgers and why I wrote that now would be a good time for Rodgers to speak.

There was a reason it was discussed on The Bhoycie Bus more than once.

I knew this announcement was coming.

I wasn’t sitting there suddenly thinking, “You know who we haven’t heard from for a while? Brendan Rodgers.”

I’d been given the heads-up.

But it wasn’t my announcement to make.

I’ve don’t have a relationship with Paul John Dykes really, so it was not him giving me any info nor any of his team. Same with Tony.

It was a chance phone call telling me he had met Brendan in Spain.

That doesn’t mean I know what Rodgers is going to say next summer. I don’t.

Besides, imagine I’d come bouncing onto YouTube announcing Brendan Rodgers was doing a massive ACSOM event and something changed before it was officially confirmed.

I’d have looked like a right tit.

So instead, I danced around it.

Quite badly at times!

What Will Celtic Even Look Like By June?

Forget what Brendan Rodgers might say for a second.

What the hell will Celtic look like when he says it?

Martin O’Neill’s future could already have been decided by then. Michael Nicholson’s position as CEO could look very different, while the relationship between the support and the board may have improved — or deteriorated even further.

Then there are the takeover rumours currently swirling around the club. Eight months is plenty of time for those either to develop into something substantial or disappear completely.

And, of course, we’ll know whether Celtic have won the league.

That’s an extraordinary amount of potential change before Brendan Rodgers even sits down.

An interesting 8 months ahead…