Brendan Rodgers' five Celtic hurdles he must overcome

They say you should never go back, that it is better to leave things in the past and not get drunk on nostalgia.

Celtic will be hoping this does not ring true if Brendan Rodgers is appointed for the second time.

The 50-year-old looks set to join the club again after promising talks with majority shareholder Dermot Desmond, CEO Michael Nicholson and CFO Chris McKay.

While Rodgers will find it difficult to please some sections of the fanbase given the nature of his departure first time around, his imminent appointment appears to be a positive one given his impressive CV.

As the Northern Irishman looks almost certain to take over the reins once again, it is worth looking at five immediate challenges he could face.

Winning over the fans

This will probably be Rodgers' toughest task should he return as manager. Many supporters still harbour resentment towards him after the way he left in 2019.

He joined Leicester City in February of that year, just 24 hours before Celtic travelled to Tynecastle to face Hearts in the league and just four days shy of a Scottish Cup quarter-final against Hibernian.

While the Hoops were eight points clear at the time and well-placed to retain the cup, supporters felt that Rodgers had left the club in the lurch by moving during the season.

The fact he took the majority of the backroom staff with him did not help his cause, John Kennedy being the only member of staff to remain in situ.

While it is true that football fans are fickle and that if he's successful from the get-go, then those in the stands will likely forget about the way he left the club, supporters will be expecting him to address his departure from the first press conference.

He previously made reference to why he left the club in an interview last year with Kammy and Ben's Proper Football Podcast.

"I think we had qualified for the Champions League two seasons running. We’d won the Double Treble, we’d brought great investment into the club," he said.

"But I felt to make the next steps in Europe, we needed investment. It was a little bit of… I don’t think the club had that investment to put in, to compete at that level.

"It was also the challenge. It was such a difficult thing to leave because of the friends, the club and everything."

Keeping key players

Having a successful season always means your players will become sought-after assets and this summer will be no different.

If Rodgers does take the job, then he will have a fight on his hands to keep many of the stars of the 2022-23 treble-winning campaign.

The recently departed Ange Postecoglou is has been linked with taking Reo Hatate and Kyogo Furuhashi to Tottenham Hotspur.

The pull of working with the manager who brought them to Celtic and also the chance to play in the Premier League could prove difficult to resist. 

And Spurs might not be the only transfer show in town given the seasons both Japanese stars have enjoyed.

Rodgers must try to convince both men to stick around as they are vital cogs in the way the team operates.

He may also face a battle to keep stars such as Matt O'Riley, Jota, Cameron Carter-Vickers and Alistair Johnston, who are all likely to attract interest given their strong showings.

While recruitment will be important, making sure the majority of the current squad stays intact is just as vital.

European improvement

An area Celtic have severely underperformed in, arguably since Martin O'Neill's era, is Europe.

Gordon Strachan did well to reach the last 16 of the Champions League twice, as did Neil Lennon in 2012, but the fact a club of Celtic's size has not won a knockout tie in European competition since 2004's victory against Barcelona is a horrendous stat.

Rodgers, like many before him, will be tasked with changing that and it looks like he is aware of the challenge, given he has reportedly been given assurances he will receive the finances to compete.

Postecoglou regularly spoke about making steady improvements on the European stage to transfer Celtic from a team that are happy to be in the Champions League to one that can compete in it.

Fans will be hoping Rodgers is able to follow through on these plans.

Deciding backroom staff

This is the challenge that should be resolved the quickest. A report in the Scottish Sun claims Rodgers will bring back Glen Driscoll, who he worked with during his first spell at the club, as head of performance and also analyst Jack Lyons.

Who his assistant boss and first-team coach will be are less clear given the current state of things at Celtic and elsewhere.

John Kennedy and Gavin Strachan would be obvious choices, given they are still at the club, but both are wanted by Postecoglou at Spurs.

Chris Davies, who assisted Rodgers in his first spell at Parkhead, is another who would usually be an option but he is reportedly one of the main contenders for the vacant managerial role at Swansea City.

Names such as Scott Brown and Shaun Maloney have also been thrown around in terms of making up Rodgers' staff, but given both are in jobs, that could prove tricky.

Continuing domestic dominance

The main task for Rodgers on his return will be ensuring Celtic retain the title.

Having won two Scottish Premierships previously and contributed heavily to a third, as well as lifting back-to-back trebles, he is an experienced winner in Scotland.

Fans will be expecting him to pick up from where he left off while also continuing the good work that Postecoglou has done across the last two seasons.

Winning the league guarantees Champions League football and it's a must for getting the fans onside.

This piece is an extract from the latest Celtic Digest newsletter, which is emailed out every weekday evening with a round-up of the day's top stories and exclusive analysis from The Celtic Way team.

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