Thursday 2 June 2016 16:26, UK
New Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has revealed he flew Scott Brown to London for a face-to-face meeting as he sought to sell his Parkhead vision to the club captain.
The former Liverpool manager was appointed to the Hoops role last month but has yet to meet the majority of his squad.
However, he has spoken with many of them on the phone and even welcomed midfielder Brown to his home in the UK capital to discuss his plan of attack ahead of the new campaign.
With just six weeks to get his side in shape before they will be thrust into action in the second qualifying round of the Champions League on July 12, Rodgers admitted he was keen to get to work as quickly possible.
Speaking to CelticTV, he said: "I had dinner with Scott down at my house in London, which was great. We were able to meet up and have a real good chat.
"He's been here a long time so he's been here through good times and tough times.
"It was good to get his opinion on how things are and how it looks for him at the club.
"It was also good for me to introduce myself to him as the club captain and talk through my ideas and how I'd like to work.
"I've spoken to a number of the players on the phone also, so it's been good.
"I'm really looking forward to June 20th, the first day back in and getting to meet all the players and talk through how we want to go forward.
"That's when the hard work begins. It will be a long season, a hard season, but I think it will be really exciting. I can't wait to get started."
Rodgers has already moved into his office at the Hoops' Lennoxtown training base and he has been impressed with what he has found.
"It's beautiful," said the 43-year-old Northern Irishman. "It's a great place to come and work. The ground staff are doing a fantastic job here preparing the pitches.
"Of course if you are going to play good football you need a good training field every day.
"The facility inside has everything you need to develop and work to a really good level."
More than 13,000 jubilant Celtic fans packed into the main stand at Paradise to welcome Rodgers at his unveiling.
Now he wants to see those numbers grow when the season kicks off.
Rodgers - who has appointed Chris Davies as his assistant - said: "I'm really excited about that. It's going to be a day I'm really looking forward to in terms of walking out there as the official manager in a game context.
"It can be a really exciting season for us but for that we need the supporters. I really do want to see the stadium full.
"This is an iconic club that is graced around the world and is respected by so many supporters, so for us to sell that brand of Celtic Football Club around the world we want to make sure it's packed.
"It doesn't matter if we're playing Rangers or a different team. The players really respond to it and you can have over 60,000 in there.
"The atmosphere they create, I felt it with 13,000. The noise level was incredible so to send that message out, not just to Scotland but around the world, having a full Celtic Park with over 60,000 with that noise, that's something I'm really looking forward to seeing."
