Forgotten Celtic flop can’t wrap his head around Brendan Rodgers’ treatment of him

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You’d have to be a certain type of person to manage at the highest level in football.

Brendan Rodgers at Celtic is a top coach and operator, but he can be cutthroat when he feels the need to protect his squad and continue to win trophies at Parkhead.

Players have been signed under Rodgers during his two stints in Glasgow while others have been farmed out or sold. Some have been exiled, which is simply the reality of professional football at the top.

One player who, five years after leaving the club, is still baffled at the treatment he claims he received from Rodgers is Kundai Benyu.

The former starlet was 18 back in 2017 when Rodgers and Celtic won the race to sign him from Ipswich Town which was considered a coup for the Scottish Premiership giants.

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Kundai Benyu accused Rodgers of bombing him out at Celtic

What followed for Benyu was a nightmare as he trained with the first-team and played some pre-season matches. But after that, he claims he was bombed from the team completely without explanation.

“When Brendan called me I was happy because he is a big manager,” Benyu told News Zimbabwe. “He had managed Coutinho, Sterling and others.

“As an 18-year-old I couldn’t resist that. At first I was involved and playing games but all of a sudden I was banished from the first-team. I was made to train with the reserves and kicked out the changing room.

“It was a horrible experience.”

Benyu left Celts for Oldham Athletic on loan before he linked up with the King of Kings, Henrik Larsson, at Helsingborg.

Benyu claims Rodgers gave ‘no reason’ for his exile

But after years in the wilderness with Wealdstone, Vestri and IBV of Iceland and now CAPS United in his native Zimbabwe, the 27-year-old still looks back on his time at Parkhead with confusion.

“For all these years I’ve been asking the question, ‘Why did he do that to me?’ he added.

“I wasn’t given a reason and I remember several times going to his office asking why I was being treated like I was not liked in the building.

“I was always ignored, so I accepted it and moved on.”

This is moving on?