The 52-year-old has spoken for the first time since joining Qadisah alongside former Rangers chief James Bisgrove
16:38, 17 Dec 2025Updated 16:39, 17 Dec 2025
Brendan Rodgers labelled Celtic a “huge institution” then vowed to land silverware with Al Qadsiah.
The 52-year-old has spoken publicly for the first time since joining the ambitious side headed up by former Rangers chief James Bisgrove. Rodgers reeled off his record in management and has promised fans swashbuckling football in their pursuit of trophies.
Rodgers – who thanked outgoing boss Michel – praised his former club in spite of Dermot Desmond’s scathing statement in the immediate aftermath of his shock exit in October.
Introducing himself to Saudi Arabia, Rodgers said: “Well, I’m excited by the culture. I’ve managed and coached 812 games in British football. So I have a lot of experience in the Premier League and working with Celtic as well, which is a huge institution.
“I’m really excited by the challenge of coming out of that comfort zone and coming in and working with more diverse players and like I said, a different way of life. But my early impressions here is that it’s a fantastic city and I’m really looking forward to living here and experiencing the culture and everything outside of football as well.
“Well, I think, first of all, I would like to pay tribute to Michel and the good work that he’d done as a coach before me. And my job is to continue with that work.
“I hope that they can be excited by the football that we want to play, support the team, encourage the team. And hopefully by the end of the season, we can build something really special and look to move into the future.”
Rodgers has pledged to deliver an attacking style and he wants land a trophy with the club moving into a 50,000 stadium ahead of the World Cup in 2034
He added: “When I first arrived, it gave me a real family feeling. From the first time we arrived, all the staff and all the people have looked after us so well. It gave me a really positive feeling. I think clearly what the Saudi Pro League has is top players and top coaches.
“So I feel that when you study and you look at the quality of the games, a lot of the games are of high quality. So I’m really excited about working in the league against the top teams and some of these fantastic coaches that are already in this great league.
“Well I think over the course of my time here, we would love to win a trophy. That is something that we would really like to be able to do and be really competitive. So that starts in our first game. We want to finish the season as high as we possibly can.
Brendan Rodgers (Image: ANDY BUCHANAN/AFP via Getty Images)
“But also playing our football and attacking football is obviously very important for us. But we want to win and we want to win in a real attacking style. I think the difference is obviously coming into a new league. But I think whenever you are one of the top teams.”
Rodgers added: “I think a lot of the challenges are the same. If you have to break down against teams that are sitting low on the pitch. You know, because Qadsiah now has a really good reputation in the league, deemed as one of the best teams. So I think a lot of the challenges will be the same.
“Of course, the weather is a challenge or it’s a different environment. But we can cope with that. There is no doubt that season on season it is improving. There is clearly a top five league in European football and world football.
“And the Saudi Pro League is a league that year on year is improving and getting better and obviously is attracting some fantastic players. So I think it’s a really competitive league. It’s a really great challenge and it’s a challenge I’m looking forward to.”