'I don't regret it' - Brendan Rodgers addresses Celtic fan anger in message to 'people who don't want me here'

Brendan Rodgers has addressed his acriminous exit from Celtic in 2019 – insisting he regrets the “hurt" it caused but not the decision that he made.

Rodgers’ departure four years and four months ago for Leicester City caused anger among the Celtic fanbase and led to a banner being displayed at one match describing the Northern Irishman as a “fraud” – an image which supporters group, The Green Brigade, reposted on social media following his appointment this week.

Speaking to the media at his first Celtic press conference of his second spell in charge, Rodgers said: “I understand how supporters would feel. Listen, I also know that when I was here the first time, when we were doing really well, I will always have had critics. It was an emotional time.

"The club was going for 10-in-a-row and there was a lot of emotion around. It was something that ... I never get too emotional with words. I'm hoping that in my time here I can now have that impact that I had in my first time. I think the expectations are greater. I think the pressure is greater because of what we did the first time and probably how I left. But that was what I wanted. That's why I'm here. I'm here to win, to take on that expecation and pressure becuase it's a club that wants to be winning.

Brendan Rodgers is unveiled as the new Celtic manager at Celtic Park for the second time. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

"For me, hoepfully the people that I've had lots of supproter from, when I left and now I’m coming back, I really thank them for that. For the people that maybe don't want me here, hopefully I can prove to them with the football that we play and the success that we can have, hopefully I can shift their opinion.

“I hope that I can still have [a great relationship with the fan-base]. It's just natural that when I left it was a sad moment. I certainly don't regret it. But what I do regret is the hurt that it caused people and it's the very reason that I'm sat here today. As a Celtic supporter I understood what it meant and probably even more so when I left. That was my regret - that I hurt people who were Celtic supporters, and it’s a big part of coming back.”