‘SACKINGS TOUGH TO TAKE’

BRENDAN RODGERS has sympathy for Carlo Ancelotti after his sacking by Bayern Munich — but feels the departures of two managers closer to home is tougher to take. The Italian paid the price for a 3-0 loss to Paris Saint-Germain on Thursday, to join Anderlecht boss Rene Weiler on the list of managerial casualties in Celtic’s Champions League group. Rodgers, though, found the departures of Ross County manager Jim McIntyre and Falkirk boss Peter Houston harder to come to terms with. ‘Every week, there is another manager losing his job,’ he said. ‘First it was the Anderlecht one and now it’s Carlo. Carlo will probably walk out of Bayern and go to Barcelona or somewhere. ‘But my feelings this week were for Jim and Peter. In terms of Jim, I didn’t really see or understand the role he’d played at the club until I came up here to Celtic. I then analysed what he’d done — winning the League Cup and keeping them up. ‘I have real empathy for Jim losing his job. Look at the work he’s done and the fixtures he’s had. He’s played ourselves, Aberdeen, Rangers and Hibs. ‘So, I have real empathy for Jim and Peter Houston, who has been about for a long time. ‘He’s a very good coach, who did a great job for Dundee United and then Falkirk. ‘As for Carlo? He will be all right, but it’s unfortunate for him. ‘Those are the demands at the big clubs and, on the back of PSG, it’s disappointing for him.’ Rodgers is now poised to go head-to-head with a familiar face in ex-Bayern defender Willy Sagnol after the Frenchman was handed the job on an interim basis, saying: ‘I know him. We met when I was at Liverpool and we played Bordeaux.’