FOR some of the more idealistic Celtic supporters out there, the immediate reaction this morning – as it might be after any form of rejection – will be one of betrayal.

Brendan Rodgers, after all, was a boyhood supporter of the club from Carnlough, County Antrim. He wasn’t going anywhere until he had personally delivered ten-in-a-row. Or at least been cherrypicked by Real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea, Arsenal or Manchester United. Surely, he wouldn’t trade the 60,000 seats and history of Parkhead for the 32,000 of the King Power Stadium in Leicester and a club currently dwelling in the mid-to-lower reaches of the FA Premier League?

Well, in fact, yes he would. And the idea isn’t as outlandish as some might think. Firstly, if there was a league table of world football’s richest owners, the Srivaddhanaprabha family would be right up there. According to the recent Deloitte report, Leicester City were ranked the 22nd richest club in the world, on the strength of annual revenue of £154m. As strong as Celtic’s recent financial results have been, they are only just clinging on to the top 50.

When Leicester City took their first top flight title in 2015-16, the world regarded it as a never-to-be-repeated miracle. The club’s owners, on the other hand, got the taste for success. If anything, that ambition may only have ratcheted up a notch since Aiyawatt took the reins as the club’s chairman in the wake of the tragic helicopter crash which did for his father Vichai in October.

Leicester City currently sit 12th in the top -flight table, with just 32 points to their name, ahead of tonight’s meeting with Brighton, an encounter which Rodgers is expected to take in from the stands. He could be in place by the time of Sunday’s Premier League match with Watford, with the remaining matches of the season enough time for the Northern Irishman to consolidate things and work out his summer recruitment plans. Leicester are not mucking about here.

Say what you like about the strength of their respective squads – there are certain Celtic players who could excel in the Premier League – but Rodgers has genuine quality to work with in the form of Kasper Schmeichel, Harry Maguire, Jamie Vardy not to mention young talent like Ben Chilwell, James Maddison and Wilfred Ndidi. The one thing that sums it up best is perhaps that the best central defender in the Scottish League – Filip Benkovic - is currently on-loan at Celtic because he couldn’t even be guaranteed place in the Foxes’ squad.

“What the general public up in Scotland have got to do is a little bit of homework on Leicester City,” said Ally Mauchlen, the combative former Kilmarnock, Hearts and Motherwell player who made 239 appearances for the East Midlands side and now works as a corporate host for the club. “They need to look at the owners, and what the finance base is. That isn’t a small, tinpot, Leicestershire club. They are in the top 10-15 richest owners in the sport. So there is money available.

“People are saying ‘why didn’t they leave it until the end of the season’,” he added. “But for me the timing is impeccable. Because Brendan could look at the club and assess it before he is handed the chequebook. He has now got 10-12 games to assess the squad, see what he thinks the weaknesses and frailties are then target his signings. I think he’ll be sitting in the stands tonight, having a look, assessing what is in front of him, looking at some of the young lads coming through. I’m excited about it - I think Brendan was a little bit unlucky at Liverpool. I think we have a top eight squad, top six is a bit too high at this moment. But he has potential, he has got youth and from what I’ve seen he is all about giving youth a chance.”

So there is ambition, some would say too much ambition. Guiding the club to that remarkable title win wasn’t enough to keep Claudio Ranieri in a job, while Mauchlen winces when he recalls the reaction which greeted his successor Craig Shakespeare falling to Atletico Madrid in the Champions League quarter finals. Is Rodgers making a rod for his own back?

“Our owners are not the kind to dwell on that one triumph, they want more,” says Mauchlen. “When Atletico Madrid put us out the Champions League over two legs [2-1 on aggregate], the chairman and the board of directors weren’t happy with that. To hear them talk like that just beggars belief. We are talking about Atletico Madrid here!

“So you have to pinch yourself sometimes. But the directors and the family who steer our ship want more success, because they have tasted it. That is why they are happy to invest and pay the release clause for Brendan.”

With Frenchman Claude Puel dividing the fans almost since the day of his arrival, there has been a low background hum about Rodgers coming in there for months. Indeed, perhaps only the tragic circumstances around the club granted the Frenchman a stay of execution.

“I am good pals with Gary MacAllister and when I spoke him before the Rangers cup ties against Kilmarnock and he said the rumours were rife up here that it was pretty much a done deal with Brendan,” he said. “There was a chain of events which kept Mr Puel in a job and unfortunately some of them were tragic events. After the helicopter crash, whether they said it publicly or not, they were playing for the chairman. They got the result at Chelsea, the result at Man City, the result at Everton – and that obviously just gave him a stay of execution, really.

“But then they reverted back to type a little bit. You could see from him sitting in the stands that things weren’t right between him and his playing staff.”

The other part of this equation, of course, is further evidence that domestic successes in Scotland cuts very little mustard down the road. The Northern Irishman may have won every competition he entered, even compiling an unbeaten season in his first campaign in charge, but managing even an Old Firm club is no guarantee of walking into one of England’s real giants. Gordon Strachan’s reward for three league titles and six trophies in all at Parkhead was Middlesbrough; Neil Lennon only got Bolton on the strength of two league titles and five trophies in all.

“When I left Scotland in 1985 I was a massive advocate of Scottish football, I wouldn’t hear a bad word said about it,” said Mauchlen. “I just think now that managers can go to Celtic Park and win the league five, six, seven times and qualify for Europe. Even if they don’t get out the group stages, what is their expectations after doing that? They need another challenge.

“This is a refreshing challenge and I think it is one he will relish,” he adds. “What is the target? think a top four finish, get to Wembley for some silverware, but that is not going to happen next year. He needs to come into the club and stabilise it first. We have 32 points but I don’t think 40 points will be needed to stay up this year.

“He has definitely got something to work with. He needs another striker because [Jamie] Vardy is suffering a bit on his own. We used to sucker teams in and hit them in on the counter, but Puel has been trying to play them at their own game. I believe it is a good appointment when you look at what is out there. Benitez obviously was out there as well but I am enthusiastic about it and let’s see what happens.”