It’s not always been glory and glamour for the man who stands on the brink of becoming the first Celtic boss to win three trebles.
In Brendan Rodgers’ own words his journey has been “different to most”. Planes, trains and automobiles might be the norm for your top level football manager.
But throw in a weekly trip on the Isle of Wight ferry and daily shifts on a fork lift truck and you get the gist of just how unique the Northern Irishman’s route has been from boyhood fan to the brink of history as Celtic manager.
Rodgers has been named Scottish Football Writers’ Association Manager of the Year on the same weekend he lifted a fourth Premiership title with the Hoops.
A Scottish Cup Final win against Aberdeen next week would see him become the first Parkhead boss to win three Trebles.
It’s certainly all a long way from where his coaching odyssey began at Reading while still playing non-league for Newport in the Isle of Wight and driving a cherry picker for John Lewis.
Right now that forklift license could come in handy for the pile of silverware the 52-year-old is accumulating. Looking back to how it started, he said: “My journey’s different to most managers but I have loved every second of it.
“I’ve a lot of reason to thank the size five football because it has taken me round the world that ball of air!
“Back then I was working in the morning, then I would train a couple of evenings in the week with Newport.
“You couldn’t travel over for training so they trained in Basingstoke then on the Saturday we would all go down and get on the ferry.
“They were the only games on the island, in the Southern League. I’m still in contact with the assistant manager there Dave Whitfield and some of the guys that played.
“Some of them could have been brilliant players but the application wasn’t quite there.”
There was certainly no lack of drive for Rodgers though as he built up his coaching badges, paid for through long shifts behind the wheel of a ‘hi-lo’.
He said: “Yes I was fully qualified on the old forklift! I worked in the John Lewis partnership in Bracknell.
“I would do six in the morning til six at night. Then I would go coaching at night and do the courses. You know what? That made me what I became.
“Being in there with some amazing people. John Lewis were brilliant to work for. Staff that worked there for 25 years would get six months’ paid free holiday.
“I worked with guys that were approaching that stage and in the back of my mind I was thinking ‘I don’t want to be that guy’. I loved football and that made me realise even more how much I loved it.
“It paid for me to get my qualifications and then eventually I was offered a full-time job at Reading.”
From that moment on Rodgers’ coaching career has barely touched the brakes.
From Reading academy director he was lured to Chelsea under Jose Mourinho. Two years working with some of the best players on the planet sowed the seed he wanted to be a manager on his own right.
That started at Watford, back to Reading, then Swansea where he won his first major trophy with the 2011 Championship play-off victory, his big move to Liverpool, then on to a first stint at Celtic where he accumulated seven trophies before heading back south to Leicester where more silverware arrived in the form of the FA Cup.
But it’s back in a second stint at Celtic Park where the 52-year-old insists he’s found home.
Even these past two years have been quite a journey. The lingering resentment from Hoops fans angry at his sudden departure a year earlier made it a bold move to return to Glasgow.
But a banner unfurled on the day the title was clinched at Tannadice showing Rodgers smoking a cigar shows supporters are back onside – six years after another message in the away end at Tynecastle dubbed him a fraud.
He said: “It certainly warms the heart more than the banner at Tynecastle when I left!
“Listen, for every coach or manager, when you feel wanted or appreciated, of course it gives you motivation and commitment to do even more for the club.
“I know what the supporters want and that gives me that drive to make them proud and be the best I can be.
“It maybe seemed smooth this year but obviously there is a hell of a lot of work that goes on. Last year coming in it was interesting how it began. I had a lot of observation to, seeing the players and their habits.
“Then there comes a point when you have to put your slant on it.”
Rodgers now stands five games short of 800 as a boss. And has no intentions of stopping anytime soon.
He said: “My initial target was 1000 games. Naturally as you get closer you want to continue the journey.
“I’m still relatively young as a manager so as long as the passion is there and I can work the way I want to with professionalism and commitment I will carry on.
“But I also know life is short. There are things I’d like to be able to do more of like spending time with family. That is why I was going to have to break before coming back to Celtic.
“When I left Leicester it was in my mind to have that period out but I knew six weeks later – my wife even said to me – I was not ready to have a year out.
“It’s hard to explain the pressures of the job and especially at a huge club as this one. Liverpool and Celtic, they are high pressure jobs.
“Now I am in, I am loving being here.”
