James Forrest delivers two word verdict on departure of Brendan Rodgers

By John Reid

July 16, 2019

Celtic attacker James Forrest has revealed that the departure of former Hoops boss Brendan Rodgers was as much of a shock to the players as it was to the fans.

Forrest made the admission in an interview with Four Four Two magazine (issue 302, August 2019, page 34). He described Rodgers’ decision to leave Celtic and join Leicester in the middle of the season as ‘completely unexpected’.

“It was completely unexpected” he began.

“Out of the blue”

(Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)

“If you ask the boys in the dressing room, and the fans as well, they’ll all tell you that Brendan going to Leicester was out of the blue.”

Celtic’s players deserve plenty of credit for managing to get through the blow of Rodgers leaving. As Forrest indicates, it came out of the blue for the players.

Players have incredible mental strength

(Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)

However, Celtic managed to overcome this huge blow to clinch the domestic treble. That the players were able to get the job done and thrive shows that they have plenty of mental strength. They have shown that they can deal with any setbacks which come their way.

Neil Lennon also deserves plenty of praise for coming in and taking the job on very short notice. He was also able to get the side over line to a treble. That looked a long way away when Rodgers quit.

Rodgers’ timing of leaving Celtic was a massive surprise to all at Celtic – and judging by Forrest’s comments that includes the players.