Brendan Rodgers defends chairman's Bhoy at Celtic AGM

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers mounted a strong defence of former head of recruitment Mark Lawwell after a shareholder asked chief executive Michael Nicholson: "At what point did you decide to sack the chairman's son?"

Lawwell left his role in March following two years and his transfer record was questioned at the club’s annual general meeting.

Chairman Peter Lawwell accused the questioner, Joe McHugh, who runs a Celtic blog, of having an "unhealthy obsession with me and my son" before allowing Nicholson to answer.

The chief executive said: "When Mark decided to leave to pursue other opportunities, we were sorry to see him go."

Rodgers quickly intervened to stress that not every signing can be a success.

He added: "Mark’s influence in bringing in Ange Postecoglou was huge. If that was his only contribution here then he did a fantastic job. But he was influential in bringing in players like Alistair Johnston. Every player won’t work out.

"My experience with working with Mark was second to none. He decided to go down a different route.

"He’s a massive Celtic supporter from a family who want the best for Celtic. His intention was for the very, very best for Celtic and that’s why I will defend him."

Celtic’s success on and off the pitch ensured it was largely a positive meeting with question-and-answer session producing a comical prayer before an actual question, before someone who started going to Celtic Park in 1964 queried whether he had put more money into the club than Rod Stewart.

The main serious topics included fan engagement and behaviour, stadium redevelopment and the club’s cash reserves, which had reached a high of £77m at the end of June.

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