By Michael Gannon,Ross Pilcher

Copyright dailyrecord

Brendan Rodgers has blasted the faceless “coward” who briefed the media on the Celtic boss apparently trying to engineer his exit from the club – and revealed it’s happened before. A report emerged claiming that Rodgers wanted out of Parkhead after a disastrous transfer window saw the Hoops fail to strengthen as much as fans and Rodgers was hoping for. A club “insider” was quoted claiming that seniors officials suspected Rodgers was working his ticket out of Glasgow and now he as admitted that briefings against him have come as no surprise. “It was interesting when I was shown that. My honest take? I thought it was a cowardly action from whoever it is. “Was I surprised by it? Not really. I was briefed upon the last time I was here, when I left, and now that I’ve come back. “I don’t think there’s any doubt. If you are sitting where I am with the weight I have on my shoulders, it’s so important to feel supported. Whoever is briefing, they can come here and speak to me at any time. “We all will have frustrations at times in our life, but I would never think of going and bringing that to the fore to hurt someone else. Especially someone who didn’t have to come back but wanted to come back. Rodgers was asked if he knew who it was, he said, “No.” Last weekend’s statement regarding the transfer window left the Hoops faithful fuming as the anonymous 1000 word address seemed to blame everyone else for the club’s failings in the market. That’s led to an angry response from punters, who are boycotting the club’s Europa League ticket packages that were announced this week. Rodgers admits the way the window unfolded has left him feeling “empty,” but insists he’s focused on getting the team back to the levels demanded by fans depsite not getting what he wanted during the window. “The business model of the club is highly successful,” he said. “What we have to marry that in with is the football. Not just investment, timing of investment. “It was clear what we needed, and we needed it early. We had these qualification games. Summer 2025 was a critical window for us to get players in to be ready for these games, and we weren’t ready. “That made me leave last time. This time I won’t do that, one hundred per cent. I said 150 per cent a few weeks ago, so I’ll go back to that! It didn’t make me think of walking way , I just felt empty, if I’m honest.” As for the statement and fan reaction, Riodgers wasn’t willing to take the hit for Parkhead hierarchy but equally wasn’t willing to turn on his superiors either. “The club put out a statement and I’m not here to answer those questions because they are not mine,” he said. “Over the coming weeks, it will become clear how that evolves. “I’m not here to tell supporters how to feel. I know it, I feel it because I grew up with it, I know that the demands are. Supporters want to see the club develop not just domestically, we have to be looking to perform better in Europe. “The quality of your life is the quality of your communication. After this summer that is something the club will most definitely look at. My thoughts currently are purely on getting the team back playing with our identity again. “My job as the manager this is the situation I’m now in. I’ve never been more determined to succeed now the window is shut this season. In fact, it’s my duty. “I’m glad the window is shut, there’s a really good spirit in the team. There’s been a lot of uncertainty and instability; we accept it could have been better for us but now it’s behind us. “My job as manager is to pull everything together and get us moving again. We have to accept and take responsibility that the window wasn’t what we wanted. I believe we have talented players in the squad. It is what it is, you cannot look back on it now.” As for the sale of Adam Idah on deadline day without having a replacement lined up, Rodgers suggested that one was in the works but fell through, and talked up the arrival of Kelechi Inheancho on a free transfer. He added: “Adam was a player who hadn’t asked to leave. Swansea wanted him around same time as other possibilities could have happened for us. We didn’t want to lose him. It looked as though it would be one out, one in, but that didn’t happen for whatever reason. “Kelechi (Iheanacho) is robust and has genuine talent.”