The Rodgers return? – don't fool us twice

The feelings left by his exit will not be easily overcome but there were faults on more than one side

Whenever I hear the words, Brendan Rodgers, I get a horribly distressing feeling of confusion like a boy being held down by a big brother who's shouting, “Why are you hitting yourself?” as he pounds the poor lad's fists into his own face.

I was dead against his appointment before it happened; concluded that I must have been an idiot not to have seen how great he was and then despised myself for not listening to my own infallible first
instincts after that infamous exit.

Now, there's talk of his return and you know it would be something like Combo getting out of jail in Shane Meadows' This is England – sure, it's possible he'll be a reformed character but, even if it doesn't end badly, a lot of people will be upset along the way.

Rodgers, for all his faults (and there are many), did bring us unprecedented domestic dominance. European results were disappointing but he played Pep Guardiola's oil-rich Manchester City twice without losing.

He spoke about football with the authority of an expert in his field, calmly analytical and avoiding the tired clichés that tend to pepper pre and post-match interviews.

But then, when it came to talking about himself, there were shades of Walter Mitty and a lot of “Did he actually say that?” moments.

As for the way he left - it looked cowardly, self-serving and disrespectful to the fans and players. The feelings of shock, disappointment, betrayal and even humiliation have not been easily overcome.

That said, it's also worth noting that he had the support of Scott Brown and, apparently Callum McGregor, who revealed that he immediately texted Rodgers on signing a long-term deal, presumably because there was interest in taking Callum to Leicester.

There's no doubting that Rodgers is a coach of the highest calibre, who won the FA Cup and the Community Shield in his time with Leicester. His last season at Leicester should be taken in the context of being under Financial Fair Play restrictions, albeit he had benefited from financial imprudence in previous seasons.

Among the negatives from his time at Celtic, were the matter of his incendiary fall-out with Moussa Dembele and Mikael Lustig's pointed comments about fans not walking out in February. And then there's the story about Danny McGrain, which needs to be addressed in a way that preserves Danny's dignity and place of honour within Celtic.

But, if many will find it hard to forgive Rodgers, let's not kid ourselves – Peter Lawwell was only too happy to let him go.

By running off into the night, Rodgers allowed Lawwell & co. to spin the nonsense that the club couldn't stop any of the staff leaving without even giving a normal notice period.

The fans were so angry that most forgot the term, “gardening leave,” and the fact that a coach under contract can't just take up another job the next day without the permission of the club he's contracted to.

I'm sure the reported £11million compensation salved the wound somewhat.

I must also be remembered that, while some of Rodgers's signings were bad, he was clearly having other players signed behind his back – like Lewis Morgan and Marian Shved – as well as the unexpected arrival of Peter's protege, Shaun Maloney, to the technical staff.

Reading between the lines, it's not hard to conclude that an undignified deal suited both Rodgers and Lawwell, some of whose interference could have amounted to constructive dismissal.

If Rodgers is to come back, let him come and the fans should support him. Hopefully, he'll have settled down enough to spare us the saccharine waffle and get on with preparing a team that can sweep all before it in Scotland while making us a club to be feared in Europe.

And if he bumps into some club legends “in their normal clothes”, let's hope he lets his coaching brain take charge of his mouth.