Brendan Rodgers: 'Genius' Fergie is MY Special One

Brendan Rodgers was a starry-eyed 14-year-old-kid, fresh off the plane from Belfast, when he first clapped eyes on Alex Ferguson.

And that began an 18-month spell which would shape his whole footballing dream – and his destiny.

Rodgers will be facing his idol on equal terms from across the dug-outs next season if he guides Swansea City past Reading in tomorrow’s Championship play-off final at Wembley.

But even though the 38-year-old Irishman is already carving his own reputation as an outstanding young coach, he would still view it as master v pupil. “The man’s a genius, “ he said.

“I went to Manchester United for trials. Sir Alex had only been there about a year then, but he was there to greet us on the first day and every day I trained there I would see him watching. That showed his devotion to youth, even at that age.

“That’s something that has stayed with me ever since. He was always looking at the next generation and he has never been afraid to push them into the first team.

“He won’t remember me from those days. I wasn’t good enough to be a Man United player, but I’ll never forget him – or the impact he made on my young mind.”

That’s why Rodgers, in his first season at Swansea, has already blooded a handful of eager youngsters. It’s the memory too of his four years as a player at Reading – the club he joined at 16 – where he never got the chance to pull on a first team shirt before an arthritic knee forced him to call time on his career at the age of 20.

“I’d captained the youth side, been in the senior squad – all I wanted was the chance, but it never came. That’s why I want to give young players the chance I never got”, he said.

The abrupt and cruel end to his fledgling playing days also launched his coaching career. “I was out of work, we’d just had our first child. I had to find a job so I worked for the John Lewis group at their headquarters in Bracknell, in the packaging department.

“Kevin Dillon, who was then a coach at Reading, told me I could make a good coach, so I used to work from six in the morning until two o’clock in the afternoon, then do all my coaching studies in the afternoon.

“That was my time in the real world when I learned about life and that made me really hungry.

“I had always admired the continental way of football as well, so I went to Spain, to Holland, to learn.”

It helped him to return to Reading and spend seven years building up their youth academy before the chance came to join Chelsea and work with another great influence in his life, Jose Mourhino.

“He was the best day-to-day organiser in football. Everything, on and off the pitch, was planned to the most meticulous detail and he had a fantastic relationship with his players. They loved him.

“His man-management skills were superb. I learned more in three-and-a-half years with him than many people would accumulate in a lifetime,” he insisted.

“But after working with the youth squad and then the reserves, I turned down the chance to join the senior coaching staff. I didn’t want to be just collecting the balls after training. I wanted to have some control, my own input.”

That took Rodgers to his first management role, at Watford, where he left under a cloud after only six months when Reading came calling for him again.

“It’s the one thing I regret. I can understand the animosity some of their fans felt for me, but Watford were deep in debt and they accepted the £500,000 compensation for me,” he said.

After just six months back with his first club, he felt the pain of rejection when he was sacked. “I was a bit naive in believing I had three years to turn the club round,” he said.

“They had sold all their top players. They said they wanted me to bring my own ideas on playing and to bring in the youngsters to make it work.

“It’s footballing fate that I’ll be up against my old club at Wembley. Written in the Gods. But I don’t feel any bitterness towards Reading. A lot of me will always be there.

“I’m just happy in my life now. This is my first full season as a manager but I feel at peace at Swansea. Roberto Martinez got them playing the style of football I’ve always wanted my teams to play.

“I see myself as on a journey. I still look over at the guy in the other dug out most games and he’s already made his reputation as a player. Me? I’m still trying to build mine...”