Rodgers left Celtic Park to join the Premier League side this week and some Hoops fans weren’t happy.
Brendan Rodgers gave his first pre-match press conference as Leicester City manager on Friday and he explained his reasons for leaving Celtic.
Under the Northern Irishman, the Hoops won a double-treble in his first two seasons, having won the Scottish Premiership without suffering defeat in his opening campaign.
Despite being on course for a historic treble-treble this season, however, Rodgers departed Parkhead to replace Claude Puel at the King Power Stadium earlier this week.
The 46-year-old’s exit prompted widespread criticism from some sections of the Celtic fanbase, including a banner within the away stands at Hearts which read: “You traded immortality for mediocrity. Never a Celt, always a fraud”.
As quoted by Sky Sports News, Rodgers spoke of how he found it a “very difficult” decision as Celtic are the club he’s supported all his life, but he felt it was time to move on to his next challenge and the Leicester job was “too good to turn down”.
When asked about some of the reaction to his departure, he replied: “I have seen some of what has been said… Celtic supporters will hurt. I understand how they feel. They are obviously worried about what would happen with me leaving. But what we have put in place there in three years is going to stabilise the club.
“There is shock and they are probably angry, but I think eventually there will be a reality that will set in and the work that we did there will be appreciated… I certainly haven’t swapped to come into a mediocre club.”
Some Celtic fans took to Twitter to react and respond to Rodgers’ comments:
Rodgers will take charge of his first Leicester game this weekend when they travel to Watford, while Celtic will face Hibernian in the Scottish Cup with Hoops legend and ex-Hibs boss Neil Lennon back at the helm.
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