Martin O’Neill calls out Brendan Rodgers over Celtic exit

Martin O’Neill has called out Brendan Rodgers over his Celtic exit to join Leicester City in 2019.

Rodgers left Celtic for the Premier League club after a successful stint in Glasgow, which drew major criticism.

Rodgers justified his decision, saying, “I felt maybe I’d taken Celtic as far as I could.”

However, O’Neill challenged this during an Amazon Prime interview, insisting, “You just wanted to leave.”

The fellow former Celtic and Leicester boss said: “No – you just wanted to leave young man!

“You just wanted to leave – that’s the point.”

Rodgers, who was left momentarily speechless by the interruption, laughed and replied, “Did I?”

Amazon presenter Alex Alijoe settled the awkward exhange, joking: “Continue that conversation off camera.

Rodgers then explained his departure further, saying, “I felt that I had taken the club from a football perspective as far as I could and probably with my football mind moved on to Leicester and loved time at Leicester.

“But I always felt that and I should have, I really should have known better.

“I think that it was only really when I left that I realised what me leaving meant—not in an arrogant way, but in a way that it hurt people, and I should have known that, being a Celtic supporter.”

Rodgers acknowledged the impact of his departure on the club’s fans, stating, “I was conscious I had hurt people when I left and I wanted to make sure that when I came back that I recognised and realised it is more than that as a Celtic manager because it is people’s lives.

“The love and passion for Celtic is incredible and what I did when I left didn’t sit well with me.

“I didn’t want that to be my legacy.”