Brendan Rodgers believes his decision to walk out on Celtic as they chased their treble Treble worked out for both parties in the end after the Hoops went on to seal history.

Rodgers has been widely criticised by the Celtic support for choosing to leave the club in the middle of an unprecedented campaign to join Leicester City in the Premier League. Fans blasted their manager at the time for leaving them in the lurch but the Northern Irishman stands by his move.

Having won seven trophies at Parkhead by the time the Foxes came calling, Rodgers looked at the Scottish Premiership table where his side were clear of rivals Rangers. They had already won the Betfred Cup and were on course for the Scottish Cup, too.

At Leicester, Rodgers felt he could go in - with around 10 games of the season left - and get acclimated to the club ethos and build a foundation for himself and his staff, as well as with his new players, to allow them to hit the ground running the next season. That meant exiting Glasgow early, a choice Rodgers is still hammered for today.

But he insists the move DID benefit both himself and Celtic in the end after Neil Lennon arrived to help the champions complete the job Rodgers started. "I understand that there will be a narrative around (the early exit)," Rodgers said. "I've always made decisions I thought were right. Although I was a supporter of the club this is also my profession. I felt at that time there was about, what, 10 games to go, we were eight points clear, we'd won the first trophy of the season which was the League Cup, we were in the quarter-finals of the Scottish Cup. 

"My feeling was the team was in a good place. We'd created an environment and established a mindset in the years I was there. It may not have been ideal to leave and I can understand any grievance towards me going away because I know Celtic supporters and there's not another club like it. How can you walk out on it? I can totally accept that."

"I know in my heart that from the first day I walked in there I gave Celtic my life, I gave everything to Celtic," he added, speaking on Robbie Fowler's podcast. "My ambition was to improve them on and off the pitch and when that moment came that I felt I couldn't do that, yeah I could've went on to the end of the season, but there was an opportunity to go to Leicester, see the players here for the last 10 games and prepare for the following season.

"It actually worked out quite well if you look at it for both. Celtic did stay on course to win the treble and they won it by nine or 10 points when I left, and I was able to go into Leicester and pick up a good feel for the players and establish a culture here which would provide us a good base for the next season. But I totally understand it and will never be critical because I get why people would feel why shouldn't I stay. My memory is more towards my time there and the joy I felt when I was there, which was amazing."