Brendan Rodgers' cup exploits helped vindicate Celtic move - and brought call from Sir Alex Ferguson

As returns to Scottish Cup fold, Celtic boss recalls his FA Cup triumph with Leicester City

Brendan Rodgers’ cup exploits helped vindicate Celtic move – and brought call from Sir Alex Ferguson

Poisonous prophecies were spat in the direction of Brendan Rodgers by a spurned Celtic support following his flit to Leciester City in February 2019.

It might seem random, but these are called to mind by his re-entering the Scottish Cup fray – courtesy of Sunday afternoon’s hosting of Buckie Thistle – for the first time since that very month. The searing moments of the Northern Irishman’s trophy-strewn first Celtic spell can be considered the open-top bus parades thanks to success in the country’s oldest football competition that delivered back-to-back trebles over his two full seasons. Silver service he would never dine in at Leicester according to the faction of the fanbase then flogging him. This proved to be an erroneous prediction, as the move made for moments that could be regaled at any dinner party – a certain Alex Ferguson featuring in the best of them.

Rodgers doesn’t engage with the suggestion that his 2021 FA Cup win over Chelsea with Leicester could serve as a riposte to his detractors back in 2019, or isn’t rated as it ought to be. He simply enthuses over claiming what had become Holy Grail for the club subsequent to their miraculous Premier League title success of 2016.

“It was satisfying to do it because it’s very difficult to win trophies at clubs like that,” Rodgers said. “But we did that then a few months later won the Charity Shield. That was a really competitive game and we beat Man City. So all of a sudden, from never winning it, the team had a couple of trophies in the cabinet and there was a good feeling. That was the aim at Leicester, to go and challenge. Even though we weren’t at the level of some other teams, it didn’t stop us trying and eventually winning something.

“It was incredible. As soon as I arrived at Leicester that was the trophy they all wanted, the supporters. Maybe even more than the Premier League. Because the older generation knew Leicester had previously lost in four finals. They’d never won the FA Cup before. They’d been the bride’s maids for so long. It was also the dream of the owner [Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha] from when he took over [after his father Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha had died in a helicopter crash in 2018]. The supporters had wanted it for so long. So to be able to deliver that for the first time in the club’s history was really special.

“It was a tough run of games to get there. We had Brentford, Stoke, Brighton, Man United in the quarter-final, Southampton who were doing well under Ralph Hasenhuttl, then obviously Chelsea in the final who two weeks later won the Champions League. So it was an incredible moment and one I’ll never forget. It was such a special time for the club.

“It was the first final with the fans back – the fans’ final they called it – and obviously the underdog came through to win. I remember getting a phone call from Fergie a couple of days later which was great, because he and I were the only managers to win the FA Cup and Scottish Cup. He said he thought he’d be the only one … that was such a lovely touch and nice thing to do. It made it even more special. I was so happy for the players. That moment, to win it and be together on that day, was a brilliant feeling.”