When Brendan Rodgers someday packs up his bags and leaves his office at Lennoxtown for the final time, he'll rightfully take his place among the Mount Rushmore of Celtic managers. Jock Stein, architect of the club's finest hour in 1967, and the great Willie Maley are the only two bosses who have more trophies in charge than the man from Carnlough. I
t is no surprise, then, that captain Callum McGregor wants Rodgers to stick around and commit his long-term future to the recently crowned Scottish Premiership champions. "If we can keep him for as long as we can, then we have an elite-level manager, no doubt," he said.
"Obviously, that's between him and the club. And what I would say on that is we want to keep him for as long as we can. He was hugely successful in his first spell. He's come back, he's done the same again. The hunger is there. I see the way he speaks, the way he carries himself, he's an elite manager at the highest level, and Celtic are lucky to have him as well.
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"Since he's come in, he's elevated the club to a new level. You just look at the domestic success that's happened since then, and it's been relentless, really. If we are successful in the cup final, that'll be six trebles in nine years, which is unheard of. We then get into the conversation about, if you don't win a treble, it's been a disaster.
"So that tells you how far he's pushed the club, how much the players have gone with that as well. And that's where we are now. That's the level of success that we're setting ourselves. And the one thing about the manager is, he doesn't ever want to drop below that.”
After guiding his team to what felt like an almost inevitable title triumph on Saturday against Dundee United at Tannadice, Rodgers reaffirmed his stance that he will take his place in the Celtic dugout next season, stating that he will '200 per cent' remain in his post.
The three-year deal he signed upon returning north of the border, however, expires at the end of the forthcoming 2025/26 campaign, leaving doubts over his long-term future.
It would appear that, despite being skipper, McGregor knows as much as the next person. "He [Rodgers] doesn't give much away. Obviously, we do have a close relationship, just as people as well, but as player manager and captain manager. We're not having those types of conversations. I very much like to be in that category where I'm a player. I don't want to overstep the mark and ever make it a grey area for him.
"We've spent a lot of time together, and obviously, he's been my manager for a long time now. So I see him every day. I see how he operates. I see the way he is around the training ground, and when he speaks, I'm starting to understand why he's doing things. So that just comes over time.
"It comes over understanding as well. And like I said, he's just an elite-level manager. He's a top person as well. He cares so much about the players. He cares so much about his profession as well. So when I see someone like that, I think, that's gold dust. I want to watch everything he's doing, and hopefully some of that is rubbing off as well."
When Rodgers left via the back door mid-season in 2019, not in one's wildest dreams would they have expected that six years later, he'd be back in the hotseat and guiding Celtic to yet more silverware.
While his previous Parkhead exit left a hurtful scar in the minds of supporters, McGregor can't see Rodgers repeating the offence. Regardless, he agrees that it would be ideal for the club to know his stance, sooner rather than later: "Well, I guess so, because then the club will have to plan for that.
"But like I said, he's the type of man that, if that is ever going to happen, I think he would let the club know and want to leave the club in the best possible way. Because that's the type of guy he is as well.
"Even the first time around when he left, he knew he was leaving a really strong squad with really good staff. And you only need to see what happened after that. When he left, the success continued as well. So it's always a good indication of when someone leaves and the whole thing falls apart, then there's probably been a problem there somewhere as well.
"You look at Liverpool, for instance. The manager leaves; he was a legend. The next guy comes in, and he inherits such a strong squad, and the culture is there. And they go and win the Premier League the following season. So I also think that's part of the work as well, that you leave a strong foundation in place."
Rodgers' winning mentality is unparalleled, considering that he is the most successful living manager in Celtic's history.
"His relentless nature, though, means he isn't afraid to give his players a proverbial kick up the backside, as McGregor recalled once happened in his first stint in charge. "I remember we had beaten Motherwell [in the 2016/17 League Cup final], and we played them on the [following] Wednesday night, and we drew the game, and we knew about it at that point.
"We'd just won the trophy. But it was like, 'no, no, no, we're not coming off it. I'll give you time to celebrate at the end of the season, you need to win this game as well'. So straight away, the players were like, 'Right, we need to be on it'. It's that relentless nature, especially at Celtic, because the job is to win. You need to continue to win all the time. And he drives home that message for the players. And then that breeds the culture for us as players to continue that as well."
No one typifies Rodgers' dressing room messages on the park more than McGregor. Given his consistency throughout the current season, it is no surprise to see him nominated for PFA Scotland's Player of the Year award, alongside teammates Nicolas Kuhn and Daizen Maeda, and Dundee's Simon Murray. "It's always a proud moment to be in these types of conversations.
"I think this is a good one. I think the players understand how hard football is and it's always changing. There's more and more demand on the players. And I think the guys that you're playing against, they'll know the game better than anyone else that's watching it. So it's always a nice one to have that recognition. And yes, when the team are doing well, then of course the individuals within that will look better as well."
