New (Green, White And) Gold Dream

Simple Minds frontman, Jim Kerr, has been impressed with Celtic under Brendan Rodgers, and believes the future is bright for the Hoops

- Paul Cuddihy

LIKE every other Celtic supporter, Jim Kerr is enjoying the direction the team are going in since Brendan Rodgers’ arrival in June this year, and already he’s beginning to imagine where the club will be if the level of progress over the past six months is replicated in the next year.

The Simple Minds frontman speaks about the passion and pride of being a Celtic fan, and of that desire, not just to see the team win, but for them to do so in a certain style – the Celtic way. That’s certainly been the case this season under Brendan Rodgers.

Kerr, by his own admission, knows he was spoiled growing up as a Celtic fan. His era was the golden one under Jock Stein, his heroes were the Lisbon Lions and his early memories are of silverware success, both domestically and in Europe, all of it achieved, as Jock Stein famously said, by playing ‘pure, beautiful inventive football.’

The emotional connection to Celtic remains as strong today as it was when he was seven-years-old and watching his team win the European Cup, and that’s something he knows will never leave him.

It’s a busy time for Simple Minds, with the release of their impressive new album, Acoustic, and a series of pre-Christmas gigs coming up before they embark on a tour in 2017.

But Jim Kerr took time out from recording and rehearsals to speak to the Celtic View. And in an exclusive interview, he spoke about the change in the team since Brendan Rodgers’ appointment as manager.