Brendan Rodgers: 'John Kennedy will stabilise Celtic'

| 24 February 2021

John Kennedy was first-team coach during Brendan Rodgers' spell at the Parkhead club.

Former Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers believes John Kennedy has all the attributes to "stabilise" the Parkhead club following Neil Lennon's departure.

The Scottish champions confirmed that current assistant manager Kennedy will take interim charge of the team following the resignation of Lennon, who took over from Rodgers for a second spell as the club's manager in February 2019.

Kennedy was a first-team coach under Rodgers and the Leicester boss was fulsome in his praise of the ex-Celtic defender.

He said: "First in terms of Neil, I am obviously saddened when any manager loses his job or moves on, in particular someone I can call a friend, so it's a tough day for him.

"But when it all settles down, Neil is an incredible legend of the club, he has given so much service to the club, won so many titles and like I say, his legacy there will be intact forever.

"In terms of John, when myself and my staff went in there, John was someone I didn't know but I heard good things about him.

"He knows the temperature of Celtic which is important. He has been through all the levels as a scout, a coach, progressed through to the first team and in my time there he was an absolutely brilliant first-team coach for me.

"He has great knowledge of the game, very loyal, very supportive, very hard working.

"He knows the demands of the club and obviously with Neil moving on he is a great pair of hands to go in there and just stabilise the players, the club and I am pretty sure he will do a fantastic job in the period he is in there."