Brendan Rodgers was given a warm, cordial welcome back to Celtic Park as he took up position in the home dug out for the first time since February 2019.
A fiery 4-1 win over Motherwell took place on the weekend that Leicester City sacked Claude Paul as manager, events at Celtic Park were fast moving.
Just a few months ago the idea that Rodgers would be leading Celtic into the 23/24 season was fanciful at best. Ange Postecoglou was in his pomp, laying down far reaching plans to advance Celtic at every level.
As well as a successful manager the club had stumbled into a recruitment specialist, a strategist, a visionary. No one imagined that big Ange would be lured away from the European project that had looked out of reach despite successes in Australia and Japan, at club and international level and a place inside the City Football Group.
When Leicester sacked Rodgers at the start of April there wasn’t any sign of sympathy from Celtic fans, his appearance at the Scottish Cup semi-final at the end of April created a little curiosity but the landscape changed when Arne Slot of Feyenoord rejected the chance to manage Spurs.
Suddenly serious reports emerged linking Postecoglou with the Spurs vacancy, telling there were no denials from the Celtic boss and no projections about his plans for next season.
Celtic’s Scottish Cup success over Inverness Caley Thistle was overshadowed by speculation that Postecoglou was leaving, a Celtic Park ceremony later in the day was the last that supporters saw of the Australian.
Any fears of a hostile crowd reaction to Brendan Rodgers return to Celtic were quickly dispelled just before kick-off at the James Forrest Testimonial game against Athletic Club Bilbao, when he entered the field to rapturous applause. pic.twitter.com/q49AQWrXZq
— The Fast Lovin’ Sin-Soaked Heathen (@fast_sin) August 2, 2023
Suddenly it was real, Celtic were back in the market for a manager, memories of a 104 day chase in 2021 were fresh, the supposed Eddie Howe deal all loomed again but very quickly the picture turned.
Failed Parma boss Enzo Maresca and the mercurial Bodo Glimt coach Kjetil Knutsen both carried massive elements of risk but there was one other candidate out there who knew Celtic very well.
The initial hostility to Rodgers quickly gave way to realism, when news emerged that he had met with Michael Nicholson and Chris McKay and was interested in the job attitudes changed.
From 80% hostility to 80% support showed up in polls, the wheels were in motion. There is a very very short-list of candidates capable of managing Celtic, the club isn’t for a rookie or project boss as previous experiences demonstrated.
Rodgers it was, the Green Brigade were among the few dissenters but anyone challenged on who would make a better manager failed to come up with a credible option.
Of course Rodgers will be well rewarded whether he is a success or fails but he could easily have sat tight in Mallorca, almost certainly there would have been a decent offer from the EPL or possibly La Liga.
At the age of 50 he has put his legacy on the line- one that delivered seven trophies out of seven alongside qualifying for the Champions League group stages in successive seasons.
The hero worship of 2016 is unlikely to be repeated, Last Christmas probably won’t be heard again for a while among Celtic supporters but the club has an elite manager in place, one that is motivated and driven towards success with an emotional attachment. Not as emotional as many but a genuine connection not related to posters on the wall or his favourite Subbuteo team.
On Saturday the real action gets underway, the sideshows are over with trophies to be won.
