Celtic v Falkirk: John McGlynn on 'genius' Brendan Rodgers, St Johnstone job link and Bairns' top-flight aim

Craig Levein’s departure from the Premiership side saw ex-Raith Rovers boss McGlynn, 62, named as an early front-runner by some bookmakers but he is intent on returning to the top-flight with Falkirk.

The boss has led the Bairns to a 43-game unbeaten league run, having won their opening five Scottish Championship matches of the campaign so far.

And he will lead the team out at Celtic Park on Sunday in the Premier Sports Cup quarter-final against the Hoops – with a spot at Hampden on the line.

“It’s a compliment for all the good work that’s been getting done,” McGlynn said. “It’s not only here at Falkirk, I think myself and (assistant) Paul Smith did a really good job at Raith Rovers to get them out of League One and then finish third in our first season in the Championship, in a league that contained Hearts and Dundee, and then fifth in our last season.

“And we’ve come in here and within two and a bit seasons, we are where we are now, which everyone can see. It’s nice to be linked with it but I’m very comfortable and very happy where I am.”

“The best way (to manage in the Premiership) would be to do it with Falkirk. If we can, I think that would be more rewarding. That would be an awesome achievement.

“Falkirk historically would be one of the top 12 teams in Scotland, I would suggest, in terms of attendances, history, all that type of thing, but they found themselves in League One for five years. It’s looking like we’re on our way up now, but the aim is to try and get to the Premiership with Falkirk if we can.”

Falkirk face an almighty task this afternoon when they face Rodgers’ champions, who come into the match off the back of a 5-1 Uefa Champions League win over Slovan Bratislava.

And McGlynn admits that coming up with a gameplan to topple the Glasgow giants is a tough ask – although he rates his sides’ chances better than the bookies do.

“Looking at the betting this morning, it would suggest there’s no point in us turning up – we’re 30/1 in a two-horse race,” smiled McGlynn. “I’ve not come across that very often.

“We’ll need to be defensively good, we’ll need an enormous amount of luck, every player will need to be at their best, and then we might have a chance.

"Our guys have been playing very well, they’ve got confidence and momentum, we’ve beaten two Premiership teams (Dundee United and Hearts) and from that aspect I’m sure Celtic won’t treat us too lightly.

"It’s been extremely difficult as to where do you find the flaws. I’m not trying to be smart here but having been in the same situation with Celtic, having worked at Celtic and watching Barcelona, it is the same kind of thing, where do you find the flaws.”

"We’re not going into it thinking we’re going to get hammered. We know that we have got to stay in the game, there are different ways to do that. “We may get forced back because sometimes you have the greatest plan in the world and I’ve been going there for a number of years with different teams in different capacities and you have the greatest game plan in the world and it all goes out the window in two minutes when they score.

"So you need to get over these periods in the game to try to keep yourself in the game to a point where the stadium is quiet, a little bit of nerves have kicked in and you produce some magical goal and you hang on for death, scrape a win and try to get out the place without getting killed!”

McGlynn is also looking forward to coming up against Northern Irishman Rodgers, having worked under his during his first spell in charge at Celtic.

He added: “Over the two periods, he has been amazing. I’ve said it before – he is a genius at what he does. The education that I got at Celtic took me to another level and Raith Rovers and now Falkirk have gotten the benefit of that.

"Tactically, he is a genius. The way he manages and what he has done at Lennoxtown is brilliant. I can’t speak highly enough of him.”