Brendan Rodgers’ cousin says Celtic is 'home' for boss as he slams Green Brigade and offers view from Ireland

Kieran McMullan was one of 13,000 Celtic fans who welcomed Brendan Rodgers with open arms to Parkhead on the day he was unveiled as Celtic manager first time around.

Seven years ago, it was personal and time and circumstance hasn’t changed that one bit. In fact, Kieran – Rodgers’ older cousin from the same small village of Carnlough in County Antrim – believes his relative will be even more determined to be a success at Celtic at the second time of asking.

When you consider Rodgers won seven out of seven trophies available to him, and an Invincible Treble, that sounds like a tall order but 58-year-old Kieran reckons his cousin will be out to cause a commotion in the Champions League as well as in Scotland. And he is adamant the man who caused uproar when he left mid-season for Leicester in 2019 will very quickly win over the fans who reacted with such fury to his decision to return to the English Premier League.

Rodgers will meet the media on Friday and while the press conference will be a lot less Hollywood than first time around, McMullan reckons the script was written in the stars. “I thought he might come back at some stage, but it caught us a little bit by surprise he’s back so soon,” he told Record Sport.

“But I’m just delighted he’s home. That’s exactly the emotion. Celtic feels like home to him and to us. The family is delighted and I know the entire village is delighted. The community is so proud of everything Brendan has achieved in the game and was thrilled when he became manager of Celtic the first time. It’s brilliant for everyone that he’s back again.

“Celtic could not have got a better man for the job. He knows the club, he loves the club, but more than that if Celtic were looking for the best manager