Celtic legend Chris Sutton has recently been talking about how Brendan Rodgers left Parkhead and why fans should not disrespect him.
Sutton was present as a guest on the latest episode of the Record Celtic podcast and the panel was talking about many things involving the Glasgow side. Amidst all of that, Sutton began talking about Rodgers, the manner in which he left Celtic and why he deserves respect from fans.
Rodgers left Celtic in the February of 2019, but he had spent over two and a half years at Parkhead. He had initially joined the club in the summer of 2016 (via Transfermarkt).
While talking about the manner in which the current Leicester manager departed Parkhead, Sutton said:
“If I was a Leicester fan, I wouldn’t be getting upset about that, anyway. I’d actually be looking at the job Brendan’s done this season at Leicester, thinking, ‘blimey, we’re third in the Premier League at the moment, [a] possibility of Champions League football.’
“They’ve actually had a bit of a wobble since they came back after lockdown and [they should be] thinking, ‘we’re lucky that he came to Leicester.’
Should Celtic fans stop hating Brendan Rodgers?
Yes, he deserves credit
No, he deserves the hate
“There’s no doubt that when Brendan left Celtic, it was under a cloud. We know all that, but we do have to move on with the whole situation. Brendan did a fantastic job at Celtic, it was sad the way it all ended – everybody was furious.
“Celtic fans are still furious about it, but I think the sensible Celtic fan sits down and says: he did a great job for the club, he made a mistake with the timing of when he left. Maybe, they don’t forgive him because that is what die-hard fans do – I understand that. But as I said, we don’t have to keep going back to fights about who’s the biggest club. Celtic are the biggest club, it’s stating the obvious.”
Sutton clearly seems to believe that Rodgers did a fantastic job at Parkhead and fans should move on from criticising him for the way he left.
TIF Thoughts…
Rodgers certainly was very successful as the Celtic manager. He helped the club win as many as seven trophies. During his stint at Glasgow, the Hoops won the title twice. They also won the Scottish Cup on two occasions. He had also led the club to an ‘invincible’ treble in the 2016/17 campaign.
That is a reflection of how he did a lot of good things at Celtic. While he did leave the club before the end of the 2018/19 campaign, his contributions were invaluable. In a way, he’s had a role to play in taking the club close to potentially winning their tenth Premiership title in a row next season. So he deserves respect for that.