Garth Crooks critical of Celtic supporters regarding their reaction to Brendan Rodgers’ departure

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Former Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers suffered a defeat on his managerial debut for Leicester City on Sunday afternoon.

Garth Crooks has hit out at Celtic fans for their treatment of Brendan Rodgers after they revealed a banner criticising him for trading ‘immortality’ for ‘mediocrity’ following his move to Leicester City.

The former Tottenham striker doesn’t believe that Celtic fans would have ‘turned down’ the opportunity to ‘double’ or even ‘triple’ their salary if they were in their former manager’s shoes.

Crooks also made a number of baffling claims by stating that Rodgers ‘re-established’ the Bhoys as a ‘dominant force’ in Scotland despite the fact that they had won a number of Premiership titles on the bounce before he arrived.

Added with that, he also claimed that the Northern Irishman going in and ‘restoring’ the Glasgow club and ‘rehabilitating’ himself was all part of ‘the deal’.

Here is Crooks offering his thoughts on Rodgers decision to move back to the Premier League and the reaction it got from the Parkhead supporters.

“This was a serious kick in Brendan’s teeth [in regards to the banner].” Crooks told BBC Sport. “You had to be an automaton not to feel that blow. So what did Celtic fans expect from Rodgers?

“Are they seriously telling me that any one of them would have turned down a job that doubled, possibly tripled, their salary? Hasn’t Rodgers paid his dues by rehabilitating himself and re-established Celtic as the dominant force north of the border – all in less than three years? What more do they want? And besides, wasn’t that always the deal?

“The truth is the game of football is built on emotion and its fans are the most emotional of all. Football managers, meanwhile, have to live in the real world.”

During his time in Scotland, Rodgers won seven domestic trophies and he was on course to win the treble-treble before he decided to leave in such an abrupt manner.

Despite his huge success north of the border, it is fair to say that Rodgers will never be forgiven by the Bhoys supporters for his actions.

Nonetheless, in his managerial debut for Leicester, Rodgers suffered a last-minute defeat against high-flying Watford on Sunday afternoon, with Andre Gray netting the late winner.