Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers believes that Callum McGregor, the Celtic captain, has the capabilities to be a manager in the future if he chooses to pursue a career in it.
This weekend could have seen another former Celtic captain come up against his old side, but Scott Brown opted to stay at Ayr United instead of making the move to St. Johnstone, Celtic's opposition, later today.
Rodgers faced questions from the media on Friday, and the topic of Scott Brown was brought up. When asked about former Celtic players becoming managers, like Brown, Rodgers admitted that his current skipper had the skills to step into management but emphasized that the roles of player and manager are very different.
"I look at the likes of Callum McGregor. I think Callum can be a manager if he wants to be in the future. It's the big 'what if.' Playing, coaching, and management are three totally different things. When you're coaching, you're giving opinions and working with the players," Rodgers said via Celtic Way.
"When you're managing, you're making decisions. It's a whole different set-up. I look at the guys I have. I've got some fantastic players here who, in their own right, may want to go down that route.
Callum McGregor vies with Liam Grimshaw of Motherwell (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)"But it's not always the ones who clearly stand out that become the manager. I'm sure there are plenty of players who would tell you they thought someone was going to be a manager, and they've gone on to do ever so well.
"I would look at Callum as a starting point and think that when the time comes, if he wants to go down that route, he certainly shows a lot of the qualities you would need to manage and coach."
On the injury front, Cameron Carter-Vickers will miss the St. Johnstone match, and there is doubt over his availability for Celtic's trip to Borussia Dortmund this Tuesday.
Rodgers admitted that the Celtic defender is "touch and go" for the Champions League tie against the Germans.
"Cameron will miss out tomorrow—there's your headline! He'll miss tomorrow's game. He's just got a pain in his big toe joint, so we have to assess it game by game. He's been playing with it for a little while, but we've got to try and manage it now because he was in pain during the Bratislava game. Hopefully, it'll settle down quite quickly, and we'll see where he's at for Tuesday," added Rodgers.
"It's difficult to say. We're just focusing on this game, and then we'll reassess on Sunday and Monday."
Celtic play at 5:45 PM later today.
