John Hartson turns sour on Celtic sceptics of Brendan Rodgers as leading Leicester exit critic becomes cheerleader

Former Celtic striker John Hartson has told any remaining Parkhead doubters to forget Brendan Rodgers' exit for Leicester City following his return to the club.

It comes after the Welshman had been among the most infuriated critics of the Irishman when he left Glasgow's east end for the English Premier League back in 2019. Sections of the Celtic fans base were left reeling by Rodgers mid-season departure for the Foxes with the Scottish side on course for another Treble during the bosses tenure - with a heated Hartson scathing in his verdict.

Following his move to the King Power Stadium Hartson admitted he had felt personally let down by the outgoing gaffer. He said: “Brendan let a lot of people down. And I feel that I am one of them. He sucked me in. He sucked a lot of people in. He made a fool of me. Here I am telling every man and his dog that Brendan is loving his life in Glasgow, that he is loving Celtic and he wants to stay for ten.

"I know Brendan. I got to know him years ago at Swansea, so it’s not just a new relationship for me. But he had the wool over my eyes. So I am looking forward to bumping into him at Leicester.”

However, now that Rodgers has taken over the job from Ange Postecoglou the former Celtic frontman has performed a hasty U-turn on his furious comments. Writing for The Daily Mail, Hartson said: "I think we were all guilty of giving Brendan Rodgers a bit of stick and saying some harsh words when he left Celtic for Leicester City in 2019. I said at the time that it felt like he had pulled the wool over my eyes and that he had let the Celtic family down.

"That was because everyone connected with the club were all so disappointed at losing such a brilliant manager. Some fans will be disgruntled