Martin O’Neill is one of the most beloved managers in recent Celtic history. He did a brilliant job at the club during his stint at Parkhead and almost even led them to European glory, only coming up short against Jose Mourinho’s legendary FC Porto side, who would go on to win the Champions League the following season. Another former manager, who was well on his way to becoming a club legend was Brendan Rodgers, but he is not remembered nearly as fondly.

Now, Celtic did enjoy tremendous success during Rodgers’ time at the club as well, especially domestically. It was under his management that they became the serial Treble winners, who would go on to dominate Scottish football for the next four years.

But the manner of his exit did leave a bad taste in the mouths of a lot of fans. Rodgers left Celtic in the middle of the season to join Leicester City.

After a few very successful seasons at King Power Stadium, his future at Leicester City is up in the air as well, as they have struggled this season. O’Neill has come to the defence of the former Celtic manager though. As reported by Football Scotland, he said on talkSPORT:

“I think it’s totally unfair, absolutely.

“I’m not an apologist for Brendan at all.

“He can concern himself about things but absolutely not, I think it’s crazy.

“They won the FA Cup last year. The problem with this is Leicester City are now being judged from 2016, for having right out of the blue won the Premier League, and from that viewpoint there’s a judgement call.

“They’ve been very close. I know they just failed at the last hurdle twice to get in the Champions League in two years, which would be considered really good years had Leicester not won the league in 2016.”

O’Neill defends former Celtic manager amid growing pressure

There is no denying the fact that Rodgers has done a tremendous job during his time at Leicester City. They finished fifth in back-to-back seasons and were very unlucky not to qualify for the Champions League. His stint has also brought silverware as well, with the Foxes winning the FA Cup and the Community Shield.

Not too long ago, he was being linked with clubs like Barcelona and Manchester United. Thus, it is hard to imagine Rodgers being shown the Leicester City exit door just a few months later.

The fact of the matter is, Rodgers is a great manager, who has done better than anybody would have expected since arriving from Celtic. Leicester City would most probably be making a mistake if they decided to part ways.

This article was originally posted here