BRENDAN RODGERS insists he will not be silenced from speaking his mind.
The Celtic boss defended his right to talk after a weekend bust-up with Hearts interim head coach Jon Daly.
Rodgers, as usual, gave his forthright views on the sacking of Ian Cathro, only eight months after he had taken charge at Tynecastle, as he prepared for yesterday’s 4-1 romp against the Edinburgh outfit.
The Irishman stressed he was only showing empathy for Cathro by commenting on the “confused” position he claimed the former Head Coach found himself in as a result of the structure operating under Director of Football Craig Levein.
After learning that Daly had described his remarks as “disgusting” and “disgraceful” before the game, Rodgers said: “I hope Jon gets the job. I said what I had to say yesterday — my feelings on a fellow-manager losing his job.
“But it’s okay, there’s no drama. Like I said when I first came up here, I will always be open,
“I will say what I think and then move on. In respect to Jon, I thought he set his team up very well, him and his staff.
“We had to work to get the result. But however they feel, it’s no drama for me. I haven’t spoken to them.”
When quizzed if he might have overstepped the mark by commenting on the suitability of Kyle Lafferty and Christophe Berra for playing in Cathro’s style of football, Rodgers replied: “I don’t think I mentioned any individual players. I was talking about the manager.
“There’s no issue with it. It’s however they want to take it. My focus was on the game, my empathy was for Cathro.
“It’s a good club, Hearts, I’m sure they’ll get a solution for the new manager and look to push on.”
Before those remarks, Rodgers offered a a slightly more biting response in a trackside radio interview to a question about there being any unwritten rule that managers do not discuss other managers or clubs.
On Daly, Rodgers said: “‘Yeah, well, he hasn’t become a manager yet, so wait until he becomes a manager and then he’ll know the rules of the game.”
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