Brendan Rodgers was one of the most successful managers in Celtic history and they achieved some great things during his time at the club. It was under the Northern Irishman’s management that they were transformed into the treble winning machine who would go on to win twelve straight domestic titles. And yet, he is not remembered very fondly by the majority of the fans.
The manner of Rodgers’ Celtic exit left a bitter taste in the mouths of a lot of fans. He left in the middle of the 2018/19 campaign to join Leicester City. What was most disappointing about it was the fact that he was a boyhood fan of the Hoops and had made no secret about it either.
Since then, Rodgers has gone on to achieve a lot of success with Leicester City, winning the FA Cup and the Community Shield, and also guiding them to European qualification in back-to-back seasons. From a professional standpoint, you have to admit that he must be satisfied with the decision he made.
While his Celtic exit might have seemed to come out of the blue, it looks like it had been in the plans already. As reported by Belfast Telegraph (via 67 Hail Hail), Rodgers said:
"“The original plan was to stay until the end of the season but then it changes and I made the decision to leave Celtic in what I felt was a really strong position. I felt the club was in a really good position from a football perspective, financial perspective and a winning perspective. So, yeah then it was on to the next step.”"
It looks like plans were already in place for Rodgers to leave Celtic
It appears that Rodgers’ days at Celtic were numbered, one way or the other, and an opportunity to return to the Premier League just cropped up before the end of the season.
It is safe to say that Rodgers’ achievements at Celtic will probably never get the recognition that they deserve, simply because of the manner of his exit.
One also has to wonder whether the club’s quest for 10IAR would have failed in the manner that it did, if the Northern Irishman had decided to stay put at Glasgow for a couple more years.
What is done is done though and it feels like everybody has moved on by now. Rodgers has remained at Leicester City till now although he has been linked with a number of high-profile jobs like Manchester United, Manchester City and Barcelona in recent times. On the other hand, Celtic have a brilliant manager on their hands in the form of Ange Postecoglou.