'Heard he's taking my job!' - Jose Mourinho Celtic manager admission met with witty Rodgers one-liner

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has joked he’s been informed that Jose Mourinho is taking his job at Parkhead after the ‘Special One’ refused to rule out managing in Scotland.

The ex-Tottenham, Manchester United and Chelsea boss revealed he’d never rule out taking charge of one of the Glasgow giants after hailing Rodgers as a “fantastic coach”. The Fenerbahce manager was put on the spot and declared he loves the passion of Scottish football.

Hoops chief Rodgers was handed his big managerial break by the Portuguese icon when he was headhunted to join the Chelsea youth academy two decades ago. The pair became rivals when Rodgers took charge of Liverpool. And the Northern Irishman has confessed Mourinho would be box office for the Scottish game.

Speaking ahead of Celtic’s Scottish Cup quarter-final tie against Hibs this weekend, Rodgers laughed: “Well, I've heard he's taken my job! So, yes, listen, he's a great man. You guys would love him up here, plenty of headlines for you, instead of the boring Irishman that's sat here. But, no, he's good value, Jose, and obviously a top manager.”

Asked if he thought Mourinho would bring some calm to Scottish football, Rodgers grinned: “Listen, I will give you no headline, I think you know the answers!”

Mourinho - who has won European titles with Porto, Inter Milan, Man United and Roma - was quizzed in a press conference ahead of his side’s 3-1 Europa League defeat to Rangers on Thursday if he could envisage himself potentially in the dugout as manager of one of Glasgow’s big two.

He responded: “Why not in the future? People can say that the Scottish league is a league of two teams but it's a league of passion. A league of passion. For me, passion in football is something that for me is everything. For me to play in empty stadiums, competitions where there is not that fire of the passion, for me it doesn't make any sense.

“Celtic and Rangers, they are big clubs with big fan bases with big emotions, big responsibilities, big expectations. Why not? But in this moment I have a job. Celtic have a fantastic coach in Brendan, Rangers have Ferguson now so full respect for them and I'm not searching for a new job.”

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