Brendan Rodgers is an elite manager, Russell Martin clearly is not | OneFootball

Recently I have noticed there has been a lot of discussion in the comments section of The Celtic Star regarding some of our writers use of the word ‘Elite’ when describing our manager Brendan Rodgers…

Brendan Rodgers during the Premier League match between Celtic and Livingston at Celtic Park on August 23, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

A summer of discontent at Celtic

With things at our club far from rosy this summer it seems that a lot of fans have not only turned against the board but have also started to vent their frustration at our manager, which I personally feel is largely unjustified. The way our club has operated so far this summer has been nothing short of a dereliction of duty by those in charge and the ramifications could end up damaging the club in the long term never mind the present.

Peter Lawwell, Michael Nicholson and Chris McKay applaud during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Livingston at Celtic Park on August 23, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Brendan Rodgers has handled the situation admirably

Through it all Brendan Rodgers has got on with it, making the best of what he has at his disposal, as the bean counters at the club continue to hamper him in his quest to improve the squad. I think our manager has handled himself admirably in the situation.

He is asked about his thoughts on transfers, or lack there of, in every interview he conducts. So far he has handled this well. He states the obvious that he is desperate to bring in new recruits but that he has to just bide his time and wait for those fresh bodies to arrive. He always mentions that he will continue to work with what he has and praises the current squad for the results they have been grinding out, the only real disappointment in that regards so far was obviously Wednesday nights 0-0 draw against Kairat.

Celtic Manager Brendan Rodgers exchanges words with Valeri Gromyko of Kairat Almaty Celtic v Kairat Almaty, UEFA Champions League, Play-Off Round, First Leg, Football, Celtic Park on 20 August 2025. Photo Stuart Wallace, IMAGO/Shutterstock

Rodgers has continually stated is that he wants to make Celtic as strong as possible

Although the mainstream media hacks are desperate for Brendan to take a scatter gun to the board or the transfer team he has so far refrained, much to their annoyance I imagine. All Brendan Rodgers has continually stated is that he wants to make Celtic as strong as possible and keep our club progressing.

Maintaining is not for him and I don’t think any supporter can disagree with him in that regards. He has Celtic’s best intentions at heart, it’s a pity others running the club don’t appear to hold the same sentiments. I’m sure Brendan would love to air his grievances about how our club is being run, it is probably eating him up inside but he’s far too clever a manager to release his true thoughts about the whole situation to a media who would absolutely love to instigate an internal feud at our club.

theRangers manager Russell Martin. St Mirren v theRangers, 24 August 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

Let’s compare our manager to the current incumbent at theRangers

Now let’s compare our manager to the current incumbent at theRangers. I’ll be honest I haven’t paid too much attention to Russell Martin since his arrival in Glasgow. All I really knew about him was that from the start he hasn’t portrayed that true ‘Real Rangers Man’ persona that the gullible Bears lap up. He didn’t wear Brown Brogues at his opening presser. Unforgivable. He’s a Vegan. What utter woke nonsense cried the Bears. He probably hasn’t even sipped from the Loving Cup yet. Traitorous behaviour. Anyway, so apart from that, all I knew was he’s not having the best start to his managerial career in Glasgow results wise. Until I stumbled upon his post game interview today.

With other stuff going on it had totally slipped mind that they were even playing until I got a few messages about their game. By the time I got the match on it was the 90th minute so I watched injury time and to be honest St Mirren looked the more likely to win. I watched after full time to see the highlights from earlier and then after that they interviewed Russell Martin. I honestly couldn’t believe what I was seeing and hearing. It was like car crash TV.

There was no anger at dropping points yet again

There was no anger at dropping points yet again for the third straight match this season. In fact he seemed almost content, grinning at times as he answered the questions. I couldn’t help think how the angry bears sitting in their living rooms must have been reacting.

I had heard when they signed him that he was a great man manager, a great motivator of his players. Well apart from calling them by their nicknames (Gass, Dani, Cyl) there was none of that on show, in fact he seemed to be happy to throw them under the bus. Praised their work rate but pointed out their lack of quality. Basically blamed the fans sweetheart Nico Raskin for being at fault for St Mirren’s goal.

Then came the real shocker. Without any real prompting he just blurts out that Hamza Igamane refused to come on as a sub

Then came the real shocker. Without any real prompting he just blurts out that Hamza Igamane refused to come on as a sub. States that the player said he was injured but then basically calls him a liar by also adding they turned down a bid for said player this week, hinting that he’s thrown his toys out of the pram and downed tools.

theRangers manager Russell Martin. St Mirren v theRangers, 24 August 2025. Photo Vagelis Georgariou

Honestly I was in shock. It felt like amateur hour. A lesson on how not to conduct yourself in front of the media. Personally I think the interviewer should have interrogated him more but let him off lightly. The way he was spilling the beans it felt like if he had of been pushed he would have said anything.

After the interview the first thing I thought was about how he handled that situation compared to how Brendan Rodgers would have handled it.

There is absolutely no way Brendan would be throwing his players under the bus

Firstly there is absolutely no way Brendan would be throwing his players under the bus by questioning their quality. Yes, he talks about adding more quality to the squad but never says he doubts the quality of his current players.

Benjamin Nygren with Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers during the Premier League match between Celtic and Livingston at Celtic Park on August 23, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

There is no way Brendan would have revealed a player refused to come on. No decent manager would. Igamane is now officially done at theRangers. There is no way back. The fans will never forgive and I doubt his teammates will either. It also massively weakens the club’s hand in negotiations with potential buyers. Everyone now knows he will never play for them again so it’s either take our offer or be stuck with an unhappy player in your reserves.

Absolute madness.

Being an elite manager is about more than how your team plays

To those who claim Brendan Rodgers is not an elite manager. He is. Being an elite manager is about more than how your team plays, that’s the coaching side of things. It’s all encompassing. Its about handling things at all level throughout the club. About how you handle the media. About how you deal with the players. It’s about how you handle the red hot pressure of being a manager at one of Glasgow’s big two clubs.

Brendan Rodgers is certainly an elite level manager, he has proved that over his two spells at Celtic. Take a look at our biggest rivals if you want to see what a non-elite manager looks like, and be thankful he’s not the manager at Celtic Park.

Conall McGinty

Celtic in the Eighties by David Potter. Foreword by Danny McGrain. Published on Celtic Star Books on 5 September 2025. Click on image to pre-order.

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