“I don’t want to talk about it,” Rod Stewart famously once sang — but the world famous rocker could scarcely help himself after hearing the news Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers was set to quit the Scottish club.
A huge Celtic fan, who is often pictured watching the team play at Celtic Park, Stewart said the news had “ruined my holiday” after hearing Rodgers was ready to leave the Scottish champion and instead move back to the English Premier League with Leicester City.
After arriving at Celtic in 2016, Rodgers won every single domestic trophy he’s competed in, including two league titles, three League Cups and two Scottish Cups.
But on Tuesday, he signed a deal until 2022 with Leicester, leaving Celtic midway through its pursuit of a domestic Treble — a feat it has achieved in each of the previous two seasons.
“It’s ruined my holiday! I actually got a bit choked up I must admit,” Stewart told UK radio station TalkSport.
“Obviously he was going to go sooner or later, but I would have thought he would have seen out the next two-and-a-half months and get the treble Treble if possible.
“I think there might be a lot of ill-feeling at Celtic now with the fans with him leaving us in the lurch.”
Stewart added: “It’s like me giving up halfway through a tour. It’s disappointing people. There’s going to be so many disappointed Celtic fans.”
Celtic reached the group stages of the Champions League in Rodgers’ first two seasons at the club, but fell short this time around.
Instead, it competed in the Europa League where it reached the last 32 stage before losing to Spanish club Valencia last week.
Rodgers replaces Frenchman Claude Puel, who was fired following the 4-1 defeat by Crystal Palace last weekend.
The 46-year-old came close to winning the English Premier League title with Liverpool in 2014 before leaving the club in October the following year.
Rodgers watched his new side defeat Brighton 2-1 at the King Power stadium Tuesday night and will take charge of his first game against Watford on Sunday.
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“It feels great, it’s obviously come very quickly and obviously, of course, over the last few days, but I know I’m joining a fantastic club that has grown so quickly over these last few years,” Rodgers told LCFC TV.
“I’m just delighted to be here. I think there was a number of reasons [why I joined]. I was certainly in no hurry to leave Celtic. Celtic is a club that’s a huge club worldwide, a renowned club, and I loved working with the players there.
“We were on a journey of great success over these last years but when the opportunity came to talk to Leicester and I was able to analyze it, it allowed me to think that I’d probably achieved and taken the club maybe at Celtic as far as I could at this moment.”
