FEW can say they witnessed it, but this night symbolised something seismic for Celtic Football Club.

Deep within the lower Savinja Valley, a region notorious for being hit with minor earthquakes, most within the Petrol Arena would have been unable to detect the profound change taking place in front of their eyes.

With one kick of Leigh Griffiths’ boot at 7.45pm Slovenian time, Brendan Rodgers’ era as Celtic manager officially kicked off.

It has been a long time coming for those supporters who have been excited and re-energised ever since the former Liverpool manager was announced as Ronny Deila’s successor on May 20.

With a great reputation and equally impressive track record, the unveiling of the Northern Irishman understandably breathed fresh life into a club that, despite clinching its fifth title in a row last term, found a proportion of their support growing disenchanted with the progress and plight of their team.

The period of anticipation was even longer for the man himself. Almost nine months on since he left Anfield, Rodgers finally found himself back in a dugout again last night, this time in the city of Celje.

More importantly, though, the badge on his chest represented the club the boyhood Celtic fan has supported all of his natural.

His acquisition heralds a new dawn for the club ahead of season which in good time will bring more significant tests than the one they faced in the sweltering Slovenian heat.

The fact that his squad – which was split into two teams over the course of the 90 minutes – salvaged a 2-2 draw with goals from Nadir Ciftci and Tom Rogic after going two goals down will be nothing more than a footnote in Rodgers’ Celtic story.

Instead, the focus is quite rightly on what the future now holds as a new chapter is written.

The 43-year-old cut a relaxed figure in the visiting dugout here. There was no shouting, no pacing up and down, just contemplation.

What he observed will have given him optimism that there are players already in his number that show a real willingness to adapt to the changes he wishes to implement.

In a match that saw Rodgers switch his entire team at half-time in his first ever match, to make grand assumptions on two very different 45 minutes would be foolish.

Having said that, both, in their own way, offered glimpses of what we can expect from his team.

A strong Celtic team started the match in a 4-1-4-1 formation with Griffiths alone in attack with Nir Bitton dropping deep in the midfield, often acting as a makeshift centre half to allow Kieran Tierney and Darnell Fisher bomb forward.

Stefan Johansen was a buzzing ball of energy as he pressed high and hard, executing the style his manager talked about on Wednesday to the letter.

The creative trio of Scott Allan, James Forrest and Ryan Christie combined excellently at times as they worked tirelessly behind Griffiths in attack. There was also an astute debut for defender Kristoffer Ajer who partnered Erik Sviatchenko in the heart of the Celtic backline.

Celtic held most of the possession throughout the game but failed to test retiring goalkeeper Amel Mujcinovic, who toddled off the park to a standing ovation on 18 minutes after nothing up the same number of years served in a Celje jersey.

Instead, it was the hosts that created the clearer chances. Jure Travner, who had a spell at St Mirren from 2010 to 2011, had a low shot saved by Craig Gordon after the Slovenian was played in, while moments later Tierney did just enough to get in ahead of Marin Glavac to clear a dangerous cross from the full-back.

From the resulting corner, though, Celtic switched off. A clever set-piece from Tadej Vidmajer was pulled back to the edge of the box for captain Danijel Miskic, who peeled off his marker to sweep his snap shot into the net.

It was a more youthful team who stepped out on to the patchy Arena Petrol surface in the second half, with Liam Henderson, Callum McGregor, Patrick Roberts, Rogic, Stuart Armstrong and Ciftci offering the most experience.

With a similar formation, a more forthright Celtic team were stung just four minutes after the restart.

Eoghan O’Connell went into the book for a robust challenge 25 yards out, and from the free-kick Miskic stepped up with a perfect free-kick that flew over the net and into Leo Fasan’s top corner.

Playing on the flanks both Roberts and Armstrong looked in the mood, with the latter continuously tormented full-back Tilen Klemencic, with his reward coming on 56 minutes. Great feet from the former Dundee United man saw him jink to the byeline and pull a perfect dinked cross back for Ciftci, allowing the Turk to head in unmarked from five yards as Matic Kotnik’s despairing hand could only push the ball high into the net.

With 15 minutes left, Celtic got the leveller they deserved. Wonderful feet from Rogic took him driving into the box with Ciftci free in the middle. However, the Australian showed great composure and skill to delicately chip the ball over the outrushing Kotnik and into the net.

The fact his team recovered for a draw will be pleasing for the man now at the helm at Parkhead, but the true satisfaction can be garnered from the detail of his first match in charge.

High-pressing, urgent chasing, sharp passing and clever movement are key to this team’s success, and it was shown in abundance here.

The Rodgers Revolution has officially begun, hold on to your hats.