BRENDAN Rodgers has hit back at the Celtic supporters who have rounded on him following his sudden departure for Leicester City on Tuesday.
Rodgers has been severely criticised by many fans for leaving the Parkhead club, who are bidding to win a historic treble treble, before the end of the season.
Members of the ultra group The Green Brigade unfurled banners that described him as “a fraud” at their Ladbrokes Premiership game against Hearts on Wednesday night.
And the Glasgow club described a video that showed fans singing vile chants about the Northern Irishman in a pub in Edinburgh before the match as “pathetic and disgusting”.
Speaking publicly for the first time since making the move to the East Midlands, Rodgers admitted he was aware of the backlash.
However, he defended both his actions and his record during his 33 months in Scotland and described the abuse as “sad”.
"Someone showed me the banner when I was at the Leicester Under-18 game,” he said. “Of course, it takes you aback a wee bit. But the supporters are hurting and I understand that.
“It's a shame, of course, because from the moment I walked into Celtic I gave my life to the club. I put everything into the training and preparation of the team. A lot of the people wouldn't know that.
"I haven't seen the video, but I had heard there was something. I don't want that to be my final feeling of being at Celtic, especially when it's your own.
"I don't want that to be the final measure of my work there. I gave much more than that.
“So from the banner and the song? To be fair, like I said, I haven’t seen the stuff. That’s sad really. I can only put it down to hurt.
“I tend to focus more on the good side. Like I said, supporters will hurt and I get that. I understand that. That’s why I’ll never come out and kill them.”
Asked what he would say to the supporters who have pilloried him, Rodgers said: “What the f*** are you doing? Bloody hell, I’m one of you. Okay, I made a career decision. It doesn’t make me any less of a Celt.
“I’m someone who turned up at half seven every morning of his life, was in there until all hours of the night, took over 60 games a season, preparing a team, changing a culture and a standard at a club, filling the support again.
“I tend to focus more on the good side. Like I said, supporters will hurt and I get that. I understand that. That’s why I’ll never come out and kill them.”
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