BREN ‘TOO HASTY TO FLY FROM HORNETS’

BRENDAN RODGERS has spoken of his regret at walking out on Watford after admitting he was “a man-in-a-hurry”.

Leicester’s boss was given the chance of the manager’s role at Vicarage

Road after serving his time working in the reserves at Chelsea. And after a sticky settling-in period, Rodgers (left) settled the ship and steered the club away from relegation in the Championship.

Even though he won over the hearts and minds of the Watford faithful, it wasn’t enough to stop him from jumping ship and joining Reading after Steve Coppell resigned.

That switch ended in tears and Rodgers was honest enough to admit that if he’d had his time again he would have gone down a different path. He said: “I’ll always be grateful to Watford for giving me the opportunity to manage at such a high level as a young manager – I was 35. I went into the changing-room in November when the players were struggling for confidence.

“I learnt so much. The staff around me were great, as were the players. The supporters were fantastic. By the end of the season we were playing some really good football and we stayed up comfortably.

“But then I made the wrong decision to leave. I was in a hurry at that stage of my career.

“There were some struggles behind-the-scenes but I made a decision at the time. And it was the wrong one. I understand that not everyone will be accepting when you leave a club, like I did at Celtic. You have to have that single-mindedness – as a coach – to make the next step.

Successes

“For me, that next step was Reading. And it didn’t work out. I shouldn’t have left. I learnt a lot through my successes – and failures – at Watford. I’ll always be grateful to them.”

The Europa League victory over Legia Warsaw left Leicester top of their group and came at a good time on the back of a winless run of four matches in the Premier League.

After a shaky start to the season, James Maddison found the net on Thursday and showed flashes of returning to his best.

Rodgers added: “James is a reflective young man. He knows himself and the team haven’t been at the top level enough.

“Against Warsaw, you saw his consistency throughout the game and his concentration levels. When he’s doing that, he really is a top-class player.”