Ex-Celtic star reveals he left club cause of Brendan Rodgers

Hoops fans were not pleased with how Brendan Rodgers left the club hanging in the middle of last season just months after claiming that Celtic was his dream job. And now a former Celtic star has revealed that he himself left Parkhead because of the current Leicester City manager.

Scott Allan has been in fine form this season, scoring four times in 14 appearances for Hibernian while operating as their primary playmaker. And if he continues in the same vein, it is only a matter of time before the Hoops fans start questioning why the Scot was not even given a look in the first team during the four seasons that he was on the books.

Allan joined Celtic in August 2015 following a stellar debut campaign with Hibernian. In his first season at Celtic Park, he made 17 appearances in all competitions under Ronny Deila. And while most of his appearances were as a substitute, he proved himself to be a very useful option off the bench, registering five assists in the limited amount of playing time he was given and looked set to take on a bigger role the following season.

All that changed with the arrival of Brendan Rodgers the following season and the midfielder would never make another appearance for the Hoops. Allan has attributed a suggested positional change from the manager as the reason for his departure from the club after a number of loan moves.

According to Allan, the former Celtic manager saw him as a defensive midfielder while he himself wanted to play further up the pitch behind the striker. And ultimately he decided on a loan move away from the club instead of playing in a position that was unnatural to him.

Speaking to PLZ Soccer, the Hibernian man said:

"“From early on in pre-season I had a good impact on Brendan Rodgers. He took me into his office many a time and said ‘I want you to stay here, you’re part of the plans’. I think he said to the press at times that I wasn’t going out on loan.“Then after one pre-season game he wanted to play me in front of the back four. So he kind of seen me in front of the back four as opposed to behind the striker or further forward in the midfield.“I know myself that wasn’t my best position. I’m at my most dangerous in a three in midfield or in behind the striker.“I like to play in a three in midfield, either as a No8 or behind the striker.“For me, when I open up with the ball, if you run, there’s a chance that you’ll get the ball.“Anywhere from those central areas there’s more passes to pick and that’s where I think I probably do my most damage.”"

Allan would stumble around away on loan at various clubs over the next few seasons before seeing his contract at Celtic run up and finally returning to Hibernian on a permanent basis earlier this season. And till now, he has done pretty well for himself!