Former Celtic striker and current Sky Sports pundit Charlie Nicholas has tipped Aston Villa to pull off a major coup by tempting Brendan Rodgers to become their manager in the future.
The Villans’ current boss Steve Bruce is coming under increasing pressure from some members of the fan base at Villa Park due to their disappointing start to the season, which continued with a 3-3 draw against Preston North End on Tuesday evening.
Speaking of the Celtic boss, who has won six trophies in his last two seasons, including two Scottish Premiership titles, Nicholas, a regular on Sky Sports’ Soccer Saturday, said the Northern Irishman could well be tempted to move to Villa for his next project.
Speaking to the Scottish Daily Star, as quoted by the Chronicle (09:13), he said: “Clubs with big potential like Leicester City or Newcastle United could become available, or something even bigger.
“These clubs would be interested in Brendan, and another for me is Aston Villa.
“You may ask why he would leave Celtic for the Championship. But Villa are a big club, and Brendan could see it as a major project to go on and create another legacy.”
Opinion
Villa prising Rodgers away from the Celtic job would be a coup in itself, but Nicholas is absolutely right in saying there would likely be a number of top flight clubs who would be keen on taking on his services, making it doubly impressive – and doubly difficult to pull off. The Hoops man does not seem entirely satisfied with how the Bhoys have treated him recently and with Villa under new ownership, he could well be tempted by the promise of spending money and a battle to return to the Premier League. However, the Championship looks tougher than ever this season and while things might not be going as planned at Celtic, Bruce’s side look to be in a much worse state. If they were on the brink of the playoffs, then maybe a move for Rodgers would not be out of the realms of reality, but for now, it is probably just a pipe dream for Aston Villa.