Rodgers sets out Al Qadsiah remit: 'We want to win - and in an attacking style'

A coach with serious pedigree in his own right, Brendan Rodgers can’t wait to test himself against some of the Roshn Saudi League’s finest, too.

The former Liverpool, Celtic and Leicester City manager, who has enjoyed major success throughout his career, was appointed Al Qadsiah manager earlier this week and took little time in setting out his ambitions for his new role.

And featuring chief among those objectives? Going head-to-head with the plethora of astute tacticians the RSL has to offer.

“Clearly what the [Roshn Saudi League] has is top players and top coaches,” Rodgers told Al Qadsiah’s official social media channels in his first interview since replacing Michel. “So, I feel that, when you study and you look at the quality of the games, a lot of the games are of high quality.

“I'm really excited about working in the league against the top teams and some of these fantastic coaches that are already in this great league.”

Rodgers added of the RSL's rapid development: “There's no doubt that season-on-season it is improving. There is clearly a top-five leagues in European football and world football, and the [RSL] is a league that year-on-year is improving and getting better - and obviously is attracting some fantastic players.

“So, it's a really competitive league. It's a real great challenge and it's a challenge I'm looking forward to.”

Rodgers, who signed a contract through until 2028, comes into an Al Qadsiah side who sit fifth in the 2025-26 RSL after nine rounds, with his first game to come at home to Damac on December 27.

For sure, Al Qadsiah will want to improve on their current position - and even last year, when they finished fourth upon their return to the top flight. What’s more, they reached the final of the King’s Cup, only to be defeated by RSL champions Al Ittihad.

“Over the course of my period in time here, we would love to win a trophy,” Rodgers said. “That is something that we would really like to be able to do and be really competitive.

“So that starts in our first game. We want to finish the season as high as we possibly can, but also playing our football. The attacking football is obviously very important for us. But we want to win and we want to win in a really attacking style. 

“I would like to pay tribute to Michel and the good work that he'd done as the coach before me, and my job is to continue with that work.

"I hope that [the fans] can be excited by the football that we want to play, support the team, encourage the team and, hopefully by the end of the season, we can build something really special and look to move into the future.”

On adapting quickly to life in Saudi Arabia, Rodgers said: “I'm excited by the culture. I've managed and coached 812 games in British football, so I have a lot of experience in the [English] Premier League and working with Celtic as well, which is a huge institution.

“So, I'm really excited by the challenge of coming out of that comfort zone and coming in and working with more diverse players and, like I said, a different way of life.

“But my early impressions here is that [Al Khobar is] a fantastic city. And I'm really looking forward to living here and experiencing the culture and everything outside of the football as well.”