Hartley inspired after watching Celtic boss

Former Celtic midfielder Paul Hartley admits he was blown away by Brendan Rodgers after seeing the Hoops boss up close.

Hartley accepted an invitation to observe Rodgers at Celtic's Lennoxtown training ground earlier this month after losing his job as Dundee boss.

And the 40-year-old did not appreciate just how good a manager he was until he saw for himself.

“I’ve experienced first hand how he works,” Hartley said.

“He is an incredible manager and I think he has brought life back into Scottish football, not just Celtic. The game as a whole has benefited from Brendan being here.

The respect the players have for him, on the training pitches he is outstanding, but just as a person he has time for everyone.

It was an incredible day for me just watching him and seeing how he works. You hear a lot of things about him, all good things, and you watch him and see how he operates, he has done an outstanding job.

He has changed a lot of things in the background in how they are trying to develop and he has made the players better, that's the key thing for me.''

Rodgers led Celtic to an unbeaten season in the Premiership and they are just 90 minutes away from sealing the treble against an Aberdeen side they have beaten five times this season, most recently 3-1 at Pittodrie.

But Hartley feels the underdogs could triumph in the William Hill Scottish Cup final battle between two of his former clubs.

If there's one team that can possibly upset Celtic, it's Aberdeen in terms of their form,'' Hartley said.The last game was an outstanding game of football, one of the best I have seen for a long time.

The first 10 minutes Celtic were on top form but for 70-80 minutes Aberdeen were a match for them. Aberdeen have got real quality in the final third and the game could possibly have been a draw or Aberdeen could have snatched it.

I think Aberdeen have got the players in the final third that can hurt Celtic. I think the key for me, if Aberdeen score first, then we will see how Celtic can handle that pressure.''

Meanwhile, Hartley is keen to get back into management as soon as possible after being sacked by Dundee last month following a seven-game losing run.

Brendan has been in that situation himself, losing your job, and it's how you bounce back form that,'' said Hartley, who led Dundee to promotion and the top six during his three-year tenure.

I just picked his brains for a few hours. He's an incredible man and just to get experiences of losing his job and how he bounced back, and what he did right and what he did wrong. Hopefully my next challenge is not too far away but it's got to be the right one.

I miss it. It's five weeks now, I have been to a lot of games, which is the next best thing to getting that buzz on a Saturday. I have been going to games and getting that feeling back again. I enjoyed a little break but I need to go and work again.''

:: Paul Hartley was speaking on behalf of William Hill, proud sponsor of the Scottish Cup.

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