Brendan Rodgers has vowed he will not dwell on past glories after returning for a second spell as Celtic manager.
Following Ange Postecoglou’s departure for Tottenham after a Treble-winning campaign, Rodgers’ comeback was confirmed on a three-year contract.
Rodgers had himself suddenly left the Hoops to head to Leicester in February 2019 after winning seven out of seven domestic trophies.
The former Liverpool boss, though, maintains he still has plenty of hunger for more success on his return to Celtic Park.
“I’m very proud and obviously very happy to be here, I want to say a massive thank you to Dermot (Desmond) and the board for taking me back, and everything feels so natural, I’m really pleased,” Rodgers told Celtic TV.
“The nostalgia is great, but it’s the past and hopefully from that period, what we achieved is set in concrete and will always be there.
“But I’m here again to win and look forward and continue with that mentality and to look to see if we can do something in Europe.
“But there is no doubt that happiness of being here played a huge part both professionally and personally.
“From a football perspective, we achieved and created history while I was here and the aim will be to continue with that mentality going forward.
“But also outside of the field, my family and everyone associated with me had great happiness of their time here, so that made it pretty straightforward in terms of wanting to come back.
“Our life outside of football was incredible, and Scotland and Glasgow was amazing for us. So from a professional perspective and from a personal perspective there was a real happiness for us to come back.”
Rodgers admits he has a tough act to follow after the success achieved under Postecoglou’s tenure.
“It will be the first job that I’ve come into where the team and club is on a high,” said Rodgers, who is set to face the media at Celtic Park on Friday afternoon for the first time since he was appointed as Postecoglou’s successor.
“When I’ve gone into previous roles, it’s been different situations, so I think Ange has done a fantastic job here over the last couple of years, culminating in finishing with the Treble.
“It is a fantastic achievement. What you have is a young hungry squad who, if they keep that mentality, then they can continue to achieve.
“I think Europe is always a big factor for this club. Can we develop the team to do something in Europe?
“Domestic football is always important, it’s the bread and butter, being dominant here in Scotland, but, of course, it’s transferring that into Europe and seeing if we can achieve something in there.”
Earlier on Thursday, Celtic completed the first signing of Rodgers’ second spell in charge with the arrival of Norwegian midfielder Odin Thiago Holm from Eliteserien club Valerenga.
Rodgers is determined his side will continue to play on the front foot.
“What my commitment has always been is to attacking, aggressive football. In my last time here we were able to achieve that, especially playing so many games,” he said.
“My commitment is always to be an attacking team, to be an aggressive team and to be a winning team. That’s always the promise I make.”
St. Jago, Eltham, STATHS and Wolmer’s through to Walker Cup final four
St. Jago High, Eltham High, STATHS and Wolmer’s Boys all advanced to the semi-finals of the Walker Cup knockout tournament after quarter-final wins on Thursday.
St. Jago booked their spot in the last four after a 3-2 win over Calabar High at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex.
St. Jago took an early lead before Calabar equalized in the 45th minute through Kevaun Campbell. St. Jago retook the lead five minutes into the second half through Richardo Lewis before Seon Cato made it 3-1 in the 74th minute.
Calabar got a consolation goal through Sheldon Pusey eight minutes from full time but it wasn’t enough.
In the second game of the double header at the Anthony Spaulding Sports Complex, Wolmer’s Boys got the better of St. George’s College 2-1.
Elsewhere, STATHS got a comfortable 3-0 win over Charlie Smith at Calabar to advance while Eltham beat Jonathan Grant 3-1 at the Spanish Town Prison Oval to make it through.
Venezuela 1-1 Brazil: Super sub Segovia holds Selecao to shock draw
Substitute Telasco Segovia delivered the pivotal goal that saw 10-man Venezuela hold Brazil to a 1-1 draw in CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying.
The shock result leaves Brazil in third place, trailing second-placed Colombia by two points and far short of Argentina in first.
Brazil opened the scoring just before half-time as Raphinha curled a delightful free-kick over the Venezuela wall from 20 yards out to break the deadlock.
On the other side of the break, however, half-time substitute Segovia equalised just 41 seconds after the restart, striking from outside the box, having run onto Jefferson Savarino’s short lay-off.
The visitors were provided with a prime opportunity to restore their lead when Rafael Romo fouled Vinicius Junior in the box. But the Real Madrid forward was unable to capitalise on the resulting penalty, seeing his initial effort saved before firing the rebound wide.
As tensions rose, the game delivered further drama as Alexander Gonzalez received his marching orders in the 89th minute for lashing out at Vinicius after fouling Gabriel Martinelli.
In a farcical ending to the lively affair, sprinklers popped up in the pitch in added time to delay proceedings, but neither side could find a way through.
Data Debrief: Instant impact for super sub Segovia
Segovia's goal, 41 seconds after coming on, is the fastest for a player coming off the bench in the last three editions of the South American World Cup Qualifiers.
Venezuela have now scored two goals in the first 15 minutes of the second half, only Brazil (four) and Colombia (four) have scored more in the 2026 CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifiers.
Kelleher repays Ireland trust in Finland victory
Republic of Ireland winger Mikey Johnston said the team had always trusted Caoimhin Kelleher after he made a crucial penalty save in their 1-0 Nations League win over Finland.
Johnston's corner set up Brighton and Hove Albion striker Evan Ferguson for the decisive goal on the stroke of half-time, after Finland had twice been denied by the woodwork.
The visitors had a golden chance to level in the second half, but Liverpool goalkeeper Kelleher made a stunning save to deny Joel Pohjanpalo from 12 yards following a handball from Ferguson.
The result means Finland are relegated from Group B2, while Ireland must come through a play-off to remain in the competition's second tier.
Speaking after the game, Johnston credited Kelleher's all-important penalty save, saying: "I always trust him to go and save a penalty. He has reacted really well and stepped up in a big moment.
"We were aiming for the win. They had moments but there were a few chances we could have taken as well.
"We're happy that we've come away with the win. Sometimes in the last year we would have been on the other side of a bit of bad luck."
Ireland round off their campaign against England on Sunday, in Lee Carsley's final game in charge of the Three Lions before Thomas Tuchel takes the reins in January.
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