'A disaster' - Celtic boss slammed by former player as 'worst coach ever'

Brendan Rodgers has come under fire by one of his former players. Mario Balotelli, who was managed by the Celtic boss during their time at Liverpool together, has criticised Rodgers as both a coach and an individual.

Rodgers brought Balotelli to Anfield in 2014 in attempt to replace the recently departed Luis Suarez. The Italian forward struggled to make any sort of impact at all with the Reds, scoring just once in the Premier League before being sent back to AC Milan on loan a year after arriving.

Balotelli's relationship with Rodgers wasn't the best, and the manager called him out for swapping shirts with Real Madrid's Pepe at half-time during their Champions League meeting at Anfield.

The striker, who now plays for Turkish club Adana Demirspor, has slammed Rodgers in an interview with TVPlay.

"Brendan Rodgers is the worst coach I have ever had. He was number one as far as training sessions were concerned, what with keeping possession of the ball and the small-sided games. But as a person he was a disaster."

This isn't the first time Balotelli has made comments on his relationship with Rodgers either. After leaving the club, the Italian said their time together was the ‘biggest disappointment' of his career and their relationship was a 'disaster.' But the now Celtic boss actually agrees with him.

Speaking to talkSPORT back in 2016, Rodgers laughed and replied: "He was probably absolutely spot on to be fair. I just couldn’t really connect with Mario. He was one that came in very late in the window for us. We had lost Luis [Suarez] and it was a gamble taken from a club perspective.

"It was one where, he’s a big talent, and we thought, well, can he come in and develop — he’s got all the tools. In all fairness, I just found it very difficult to connect with Mario. On the field, he tried his best. It certainly wasn’t something that worked out as everyone have would liked."

Indeed, ex-Rangers manager Steven Gerrard had a similar opinion on his old teammate. The former captain shed some light on Balotelli's time at Anfield in his autobiography and described it as 'fighting a losing battle' with the striker.

"I could see [Jose] Mourinho had been right when he said Balotelli is unmanageable. He is very talented with the potential to be world class, but he’ll never get there because of his mentality and the people around him."