The Celtic dressing room memo that must be followed through

Indeed, it was not just English Premier League winner Kasper Schmeichel who made his debut for Brendan Rodgers’ side last Sunday, but an off-field expense, too. Posted out to the masses on X and Facebook, the club unveiled their new-look dressing room, complete with new lockers, seats and a massive crest for the players to walk around – Rio Ferdinand-style.

Perhaps the most eye-catching new additions to this important area of the stadium were the LED-lit slogans at the top of the pictured lockers, which read ‘WORLD CLASS BASICS’ and ‘PRIDE IN THE BADGE’, respectively. Of course, there is nothing untoward concerning the latter, though if you know anything about podcasts – specifically podcast personalities – then you may have heard this turn of phrase being used before.

A quick Google search of this term will take you to LinkedIn – the beacon of occupation-oriented quotes and life advice – specifically to the page of Jake Humphrey of BT Sports and CBBC fame. In recent years, Humphrey has forged out a podcasting career for himself, hosting the ‘High Performance Podcast’, which has been wildly popular online – especially since the pandemic.

Delving deeper into the definition of the phrase, Humphrey explains these ‘basics’ as small parts of your day that help you in the long run with reaching your set goals. It is trademark LinkedIn to a tee, with this 2023 post by the presenter facing ridicule from the masses on X – then known as Twitter – not the first time this has happened to the former Bamzooki and BBC Formula 1 host.

What has any of this got to do with Celtic, you may ask yourself? Step forward Brendan Rodgers, who himself may have inadvertently confirmed the origins of this slogan’s insertion on the walls of Celtic Park. Following his side’s 4-0 win over Kilmarnock that afternoon, the manager uttered words that would not sound out of place on one of Humphrey’s ‘High Performance’ sit-downs. When asked about ‘continued development’ by Luke Shanley post-match, Rodgers said: “Continual development is something which should always be in your life anyway.”

“These are young guys. I am 51 and from a personal and professional level, I will always look to grow and develop. I try to share that with the players. I think when you have got a lot of young players then the nature is to go on and improve. Even with the senior players, there are guys who you can improve. I see that within the group. They are very good in that aspect.

“They are very keen, and they want to learn. There is such a long way to go.”

Read more:

• Scales' 'remarkable' Flag Day display: Promising signs or a complete anomaly?

• Paulo Bernardo reveals FOUR factors that sold him on a permanent Celtic return

Another quick search will inform you that Celtic’s incumbent head coach has not appeared on the podcast (as of yet), though you would not put it past the Northern Irishman in the future. Whatever your view of either party is, you cannot deny that Rodgers is a high-performance operator, especially when plying his trade in the Scottish Premiership. There is a reason why many supporters call the man ‘Box Office Brendan’, after all.

The question is, can the rest of the club hold a candle to Rodgers’ ‘world class’ management? As things stand, recruitment cannot necessarily be regarded as such, with just three players through the door in this transfer window thus far. Conversely, you could argue that they have achieved that status concerning the goalkeeping position in Kasper Schmeichel – a player who has worked under the manager before at Leicester City.

Off the field, the club are in a ‘world class’ position financially, with this being echoed by the board of directors in their trading update to the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday. In terms of stability, they can mix it with the big boys of world football in the stability sector, though they will have to compete on the park with them this autumn in the Champions League, too.

You see, the prospect of an ‘easy draw’ has been essentially evaporated on Europe’s top stage, thanks to the changes to the make-up of the competition from groups to a league-based format. To put it simply, the elite will be making their way to Celtic Park, regardless of how their names come out of the pots. Therefore, the club must spend money this August in order to compete with them, or face humiliation on the European stage once again. The play-offs must be the aim for this first adventure into the revamped competition.

Rodgers wants to take his team to the next level, that much is clear. He wants to bloody the nose of the elite, much like he did on a regular basis when he was the Leicester manager in the English Premier League. He even did that in his first spell – Manchester City and RB Leipzig immediately spring to mind. In order to do that, the club has to move with the times, in all aspects of their operations. The transfer model of buy, develop then sell for profit has been exactly that – profitable – but could the needle be moved ever so slightly? Could those in charge adjust the wage structure at the club akin to those in more affluent leagues? After all, it is a tough sell to play in Scotland, so why not incentivise those who take the hit in a financial capacity?

The manager has two years left on his deal, which is due to run out in two summers’ time. The majority will hope for an extension to his stay in the form of new terms, though this has not been discussed as far as we are aware. We’ve seen this story before – albeit, with a rolling contract back in 2019 – and we didn’t like the ending very much.

Rodgers is elite – another way of saying that in some quarters is ‘world class’. It is time that the board of Celtic arm him with the ‘basics’ this month for his four-pronged assault on domestic and European duties this campaign.