'They lost their lives too early and I would be nothing without them'

Published on: 28 October 2017

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Who is Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers' greatest inspiration?

There are two key motivating factors behind the success of Brendan Rodgers, the man who led Celtic to an "invincible" treble - his mother and his father.

The former Liverpool manager's relationship with his parents is the unmistakeable thread that weaves its way through the new book that documents his road to becoming boss at his boyhood heroes.

"They lost their lives too early and I would be nothing without them," said the 44-year-old.

The determination and drive that's shaped his career comes from their memory but not necessarily from their genes.

Both of his parents died in their 50s after a life spent working hard and raising a family in the village of Carnlough in County Antrim.

"My father was a really nice man but the one thing he would probably say if he was alive is that he probably waited for too many things," says Rodgers.

"Even if he did a job, he didn't like asking for the money. He was always waiting for the good nature of people to bring him things and I always remember thinking as a youngster that I was never going to be like that.

Brendan Rodgers led Celtic to the treble last season in his first year in charge - his team did not lose a domestic match

"I always thought that if I was going to be successful, I was going to have to go and get it myself.

"I learned growing up and saw too many struggles they had when they relied on other people, and from then I was determined that whatever happened in my life, I was going to create it."

He created a life in coaching for himself after injury cut short his dreams of becoming a successful player.

His autobiography - "Brendan Rodgers: The Road to Paradise" - touches on his success at Swansea and his time in charge of Liverpool.

Sacked after four seasons in charge at Anfield, Rodgers discusses his need for a physical and mental break from the game.

"I had an incident when I left Liverpool. Within a couple of weeks I went to Dubai and I lay in fear one night that I was having a heart attack," he recalls.

"I suppose my mum's situation maybe came over me because she died suddenly of a heart attack.

February 2015: Brendan Rodgers talks to his Liverpool players during a Europa League match away to Besiktas

"I was rushed into the hospital. I was looked after great and it was basically a reaction to the body, the tightening of everywhere in and around my chest.

"It was starting to condition itself in terms of not having that pressure, so that was something that really made me sit up."

He says he has learned to deal with pressures and with the attention.

At 39, he was thrust into the world of fly-on-the-wall TV in his first year as manager of Liverpool.

A film crew was tasked with catching a behind-the-scenes, warts-and-all look at the life at a football club.

Much has been made of a particular scene from Rodgers' home that showed a large painting of the man himself.

Brendan Rodgers has established a strong affinity with the huge Celtic support

The perception of vanity it may have created clearly irked the Irishman.

"It was something that I never really wanted to do and probably in hindsight, it should never have been put onto a manager - especially a young manager," he says of the programme.

"There's a perception that can be built around something like that but of course the reality and the story behind it is somewhat different."

The painting was actually produced and presented to him by a group of disabled children in Swansea.

He jokes: "I'm a rough Irishman, you try to be as presentable as you can!

"But it was more the disappointment and the notion behind that. I was proud of it to be up there because of them doing it.

"It wasn't me putting it up there because it's me, but if people did come into the house and they see it, there's a story behind it."

Source: bbc.com

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