We want Rodgers for the long haul – Celtic stars welcome manager’s commitment

Celtic star Leigh Griffiths says that he is hopeful Brendan Rodgers will remain at Parkhead for the “long haul” as the Northern Irishman has the capacity to bring the best from him.

The Hoops are chasing a second consecutive treble in Scotland, with the former Liverpool boss the catalyst after arriving 18 months ago.

Celtic’s majority shareholder Dermot Desmond has indicated that if Arsenal were to make an approach to their manager over the forthcoming vacancy at the Emirates Stadium, caused by Arsene Wenger stepping down in the summer, the club would be willing to listen.

However, at the weekend, Rodgers said it would take “something extraordinary” to lure him away from the Bhoys, where he still has three years of a four-year deal remaining.

For striker Griffiths, these words were music to his ears.

“Working with a top-class manager, you’re always going to improve,” he told Goal at the club's kit launch. “He’ll look at games and help you going forward. He wants you to become the best you can be. There’s still a lot of things I can improve on in my game. 

“The manager’s committed his long-term future to the club and hopefully he’s here for the long haul and my game can improve tenfold.”

Indeed, the 27-year-old has credited his manager with his rise to international level, which was capped as he scored two free kicks against England in a 2-2 draw at Hampden Park last June.

“Playing as a lone striker at Celtic with the two wing-backs, my link-up play needed to be a lot better,” he said. “That part of the game, playing with my back to goal has definitely improved.

“It’s got me international recognition and I managed to start a few games at the end of the World Cup qualifying campaign and thought I did myself no harm.”

Club captain Scott Brown echoed Griffiths’ sentiments on the manager.

“He’s taken us into 2018 properly,” Brown said. “He’s brought more professionalism more than anything. He’s been at top-quality clubs down in England and he’s seen how it’s worked in the Premier League. He wants to bring that look into the Scottish game and he’s been doing that well so far.”

Celtic can secure their seventh successive Scottish Premiership title on Sunday by defeating Old Firm rivals Rangers at Parkhead.

The full range of New Balance Celtic FC 2018/19 Home kit products are available to pre-order now. They will be available to buy exclusively in the UK from http://celticsuperstore.co.uk/ and from the Celtic store on 15th May. New Balance Celtic FC Home kit products will be available globally from www.newbalance.com (US residents) and www.newbalance.co.uk (UK residents) from 18th May.