Former Celtic star blames Brendan Rodgers for Parkhead exit

A former Celtic star has blamed a bust-up with then manager Brendan Rodgers over lack of playing time as the reason behind his Parkhead exit.

It is undeniable that Brendan Rodgers enjoyed a wildly successful time as Celtic manager. It was he who turned this team into the treble-winning machine that it is today. And he would have surely gone down as a club legend if he would have left the club under normal circumstances. That was unfortunately not to be the case for the Northern Irishman.

After claiming for his entire tenure that he grew up as a Celtic fan and had the club’s best interests in his heart, Rodgers left them hanging in the middle of the season to take the Leicester City job. His departure certainly left a bad taste in the mouths of the fans and made sure that he will be forever be remembered as a villain instead of a hero.

These days, it is hard to find a Celtic fan who has good word to say about Rodgers. Of course, they admit to his achievements, but his move to leave the club and jeopardize their season to move down South is a betrayal that they can never forgive or forget. But it is not only the fans who do not remember the man fondly.

Cristian Gamboa was a star for Costa Rica in the 2014 World Cup and joined Celtic in 2016 from West Bromwich Albion for an undisclosed fee. After featuring heavily earlier in the season, he saw his minutes decrease. And it was a bust-up with Rodgers during this time that he blames for his miserable tenure at the club, where he featured just 31 times in three seasons.

As reported by the Daily Record, the former Celtic right-back said:

"“Brendan Rodgers signed me and at first I was playing a lot of games, but then I wasn’t playing as much and my minutes on the park decreased until I was hardly even in the squad.“So I went to see Brendan Rodgers. I wanted to talk to him and ask him why I wasn’t involved as much, but he took it very badly indeed. He did not like me challenging him at all.“It got worse because I got an offer from New York City in the MLS and they offered me everything I asked for. I was all set to go with my family, but on the last day, the negotiations collapsed.“From then on I felt like I was always fighting with the club. The manager and president at Celtic both didn’t like it that I didn’t take up the offer from America.“My agent was also fighting with the club too and I felt like I was stuck in the middle of it.”"

Gamboa certainly had the talent, as he has 78 caps for a very talented Costa Rican national side. But it just did not click for him at Celtic. And it probably would have gone the same way if something other than Rodgers was the manager at that time. The Northern Irishman clearly did not make things easier for him though.