THAT immortal line earned a good old airing again this week when news of Brendan Rodgers' Celtic homecoming was confirmed: the prodigal son returns. You’d be hard-pressed to find a parable with more cut-through than the one about the waster son who takes up his inheritance early to go on a boozy spending spree before falling on hard times and returning to the loving embrace of his father benefactor.
“You traded immortality for mediocrity. Never a Celt, always a fraud” read the banner unfurled by Celtic’s Green Brigade at Parkhead in the first home game after Rodgers took flight in the night to the bright lights of the English Premier League. Leaving for Leicester City four and a half years ago in the midst of a quest to secure a third treble on the spin en route to a coveted (and seemingly inevitable) 10-in-a-row of league titles did not go down well with the redoubtable band of supporters who occupy the north curve at Celtic Park. So, it’s little wonder his return this week has not been met with the same fanfare as the first time around when thousands turned up at Celtic Park to cheer his unveiling.
Speaking of prodigal trips, during a recent stag do in Kilkenny, Ireland, you’d be hard-pressed to find a bar that didn’t provide a pub-singer belting out the tune made famous by The Dubliners in the ’60s as a boozy ballad based loosely on Christ’s teachings. You know the one: I'll go home to my parents, confess what I've done/And I'll ask them to pardon their prodigal son/And when they've caressed me, as oft times before/I never will play the wild rover no more… And it's no, nay, never!” Cue the refrain to The Wild Rover belted out by a barful of hearty revellers living out the narrative vicariously through gulps of their pint tumblers of Guinness Ice Cold.
It's an interesting interpretation of the Gospel to revel in playing the role of the prodigal one. What is the story supposed to teach us, anyway? I mean, who wants to be the boring old dad, standing by awaiting his lecherous son’s return with open arms? Yes, we’re probably all more aligned with the other son (remember, there are two in this tale). It’s no wonder he resents his wee brother’s eventual return and refuses to join the party thrown by dad. He hung around in the doldrums while his brother had delusions of his own grandeur. Was he offered rewards and celebration for his loyalty? Of course not, it was taken for granted. Yet, here comes the blue-eyed boy back up the road and dad’s out throwing him a party.
The fanatical supporters who operate under the Green Brigade moniker often adopt this besieged position in relation to their club’s hierarchy, butting heads with Peter Lawwell’s vision for the club a frequent feature in the latter days of the current chairman’s time as chief executive. But the supporters’ group’s decision earlier this week to hit retweet on the “always a fraud” banner when Rodgers was officially confirmed was a petty and needless move. It will do the team no favours to have an initial hurdle to overcome in bringing this noisy element of the support around. The quicker they accept the overwhelming positives of the situation, as the vast majority of their fellow supporters appear to have done already, the better for all.
What was that parable all about in the end? Wasn’t it to teach us the joy of God’s grace in allowing sinners back into the fold? That the greater sin is to turn your back on those seeking to repent? I’m not sure Rodgers clambered into the confessional booth when Desmond & Co came calling, but his connection to the club he led with such distinction is genuine.
Rodgers said in his first Leicester press conference that if he had made the decision with his heart, he would have stayed at Celtic. That may seem a glib hand of comfort to those decrying his decision to go, but it would be unfair to shoot at its sincerity. Remember, that press conference was aimed at his new club’s supporters; what better way to impress upon them that you're the guy to lead them than kicking off your reign by pining after your old job?
He quickly won over those supporters at the King Power Stadium, of course, finishing just outside the Champions League places in successive seasons before lifting the club’s first FA Cup in 2021, as well as a run to the Europa Conference League semi-finals the following year. But Rodgers found himself on his own hard times and was chucked on the scrap heap when the Foxes were battling to fend off relegation last season.
In terms of whether he needs to earn his forgiveness for flying the Celtic nest so abruptly back in February 2019, instant success will secure that warm embrace very quickly. The decision to go out and ensure his return by Desmond tells its story: the Irish billionaire knows he’s onto a winner. Desmond is known to be a shrewd operator who lets others come to him, but on this occasion the moustachioed mogul refused to wait for the man who spurned him a few short years ago to come crawling back. The Celtic supremo met Rodgers halfway during a break in Majorca, and that game of cat and mouse will have led to a greater transfer bounty being promised, as well as the security of a three-year deal which the Northern Irishman has agreed.
Rodgers will have learnt a lot during the ups and downs of his four years back in the Premier League, and while the Europa Conference League represents a dimmer stage than Celtic aspire to perform on, his experience of going deep on the continent with the Foxes will only add another string to his bow. He was all-conquering during that first spell when Rangers were still bambi-like on their feet as they rose from their 2012 collapse. Ominously for Michael Beale's side, however, punching above his weight with Leicester in the Premier League and making inroads in Europe will see an even more rounded manager back in the dugout at Celtic Park.
When he is inevitably welcomed back into the Celtic fold, Rodgers will be sure not to squander his esteem again amongst the club’s fervent support. With his side riding the crest of the wave of five domestic trophies in their last two seasons and another shot at Champions League group football this year, he returns to a club in rude health. This time around, immortality awaits.
