Ian Holloway cast doubt on the future of Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers as he suggested that he was bound to be thinking about what his next challenge will be.
The former Premier League manager revealed he wasn’t sure what people expected of the key Hoops figure as he had done what he had needed to at the club.
Holloway shared that while he meant no disrespect, as thought Celtic was an amazing club, he thought it was unlikely the Hoops would win the Champions League, meaning he’ll be trying to think of new goals for him.
“Just on a personal note, I don’t know what people expect of Brendan as he has proven he is a winner up there, obviously without the competition which was a terrible thing for Scottish football in my opinion,” said Holloway on talkSPORT (Friday February 15th, 16:38).
“Y’know you need these rivalries, we laugh about the accents, but there was an awful lot of dodgy deals at that time and unfortunately for them they got caught.
“Where I am now for Brendan to actually change that, the competition they play in needs to improve, it’s great for them that Glasgow Rangers are making a come back but how can he possibly bridge that gap?
“The players that make that difference at that level (Europe) at that very top top Champions League level they are the ones that cost millions and millions and millions, Mbappe y’know, would he go to Scottish football? Probably not let’s be honest.
“So Brendan, it always going to be…(Holloway then changes direction to focus on how great PSG’s Mbappe is) what more can you say, so I think Brendan has done what he has needed to do, but has woken up a giant again and it’s amazing a club, so I’m not disrespectful.
“So he’s bound to think what can I do next as you set yourself goals, is he going to win the Champions League with Celtic? Highly unlikely so what’s his next challenge.”
OPINION
Holloway could have meant that Rodgers needs to find his next challenge at Celtic but in the context of what else he was saying, it was like he was implying the manager could be looking to go everywhere. While the currently unattached manager is full of praise for Celtic, which Hoops supporters will no doubt love, they probably won’t like his remarks on Rodgers. While several Celtic fans may be keen for Rodgers to go as they may see him as the problem in regards to why success in European competition evade their club, they won’t like it if the implication of him leaving is that he’s going on to bigger things. Holloway is spot on to say that the likes of Kylian Mbappe won’t be heading to Scottish football anytime soon, he’s a bit dismissive of Celtic being able to get the players needed to improve their side. The top players who would help Celtic get to the next level are expensive and hard to lure, but you still thing they could have done more in the last couple of transfer windows to help make Rodgers’ job easier.