Andy Cole nails his Celtic colours to the mast as Man United legend 'not surprised' Brendan Rodgers couldn't say no

The question about which Scottish club he holds affection for is barely past mid-sentence when Andy Cole shouts: “Celtic.”

When pressed on his reasoning, it’s clear the former Manchester United and England striker knows his history. A deep knowledge of why he has always loved the Hoops is explained at the foot of this story – but the more pressing issue is the here and now and his belief manager Brendan Rodgers could never have resisted the chance to return to Paradise.

Cole insists Celtic’s gain will prove to be Leicester City’s loss but he also reckons the Irishman faces what could be a forlorn task of making an impact in the Champions League this season. He said: “It wasn’t a surprise for me to see Brendan go back to take charge of Celtic again but I’m not going to lie, I was surprised that Leicester City sacked him. That was a real shock. It just made sense to me that he opted to go back to Glasgow as the lure of returning to a club that holds so much of a connection for him was too great to turn down.

“A massive club that have a full house at home every time they play? Why wouldn’t he want to get back to that? You can talk about the standard of Scottish football and all of that stuff which people go on about but that doesn’t bother me. What we are talking about is the size of Celtic, a massive football club.

“All of that rich history and tradition and every other weekend they play in front of a full house. What Celtic have is a top, top manager with a point to prove and again it puzzles me why Leicester got rid of him last season.

“Brendan may have surprised some people by returning to Celtic but when you are lucky enough to get that opportunity again, why would you turn that down? He was brilliant for the club the