Brendan Rodgers 2.0 faces final Celtic frontier after 12 months of cajoling his own board – Keith Jackson

This is what it’s been about ever since day one of Brendan Rodgers 2.0.

The thought of leaving a boot print on the Champions League is what has been making him tick from the start. That’s what Celtic’s manager said on the day his second coming was confirmed at a painfully low key unveiling back in Glasgow’s east end. He suspected he wasn’t really wanted back in the old place before he had put pen to paper. So the lack of fuss or fanfare outside Parkhead merely confirmed what he already knew to be true.

Inside, though, Rodgers spoke at some length about the lure which he had found so utterly impossible to resist. And time and again, he came back to the same point. “There needs to be a sense of realism - we’re not going to win the Champions League. But the aim is to be more successful in Europe.” At the time it did feel as if there was no-where else for Rodgers to turn and no more promises left for him to offer. Ange Postecoglou had seen to that by re-establishing Celtic’s complete dominance of the domestic scene.

European football, then, was the final frontier from the moment Rodgers stepped back in through the front door. And yet, the idea that he might be able to crack it at the second time of asking - having fallen short the first time around before leaving for Leicester City - did make it feel all a little bit like wishful thinking all the same.

Tonight, however, Rodgers will get the chance to prove as good his word having spent much of his first 12 months in the job cajoling his own board into helping him to deliver at this level. Celtic’s approach to the summer transfer window was exactly as Rodgers had demanded of them.

It brought an end to the scattergun recruitment of unproven talent, high on potential but