Sead Hakšabanović talks about Brendan Rodgers and his Celtic Regrets

The Celtic Star

·22 March 2025

Sead Hakšabanović talks about Brendan Rodgers and his Celtic Regrets

Sead Haksabanovic reveals that a falling out with Brendan Rodgers was the key factor behind his departure from Celtic…

Sead Haksabanovic of Celtic is seen during the League Cup match between Kilmarnock and Celtic at BBSP Stadium on August 20, 2023. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

The Montenegrin international was brought to Celtic for £3million by former manager Ange Postecoglou in the summer of 2022. He went on to contribute five goals and four assists, playing a bit part role in the team’s Premiership and Scottish Cup double under the Australian coach.

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However, after Ange Postecoglou’s departure to Tottenham, the ex West Ham United youngster soon fell out of favour under new Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers.

The winger featured only twice during the opening month of the 2023/24 season before being loaned out to Stoke City in the English Championship.

29th July 2023 Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland: Pre Season Football Friendly, Celtic versus Wolverhampton Wanderers Sead Haksabanovic. Photo ActionPlus Peter Fitzpatrick

After returning to his native Sweden to join Malmo last summer, Haksabanovic revealed he had frank discussions with Rodgers about his future at Celtic. He admitted feeling disappointed by the Irishman over his limited game time, which ultimately led him to seek a move elsewhere.

Rodgers told Haksabanovic straight away that he was not part of his plans

In an interview behind a paywall on The Celtic Way, he said: “He told me, even before Kilmarnock [in a League Cup last 16 tie]that I was not a part of his plan going forward.”

“In the first games of the season, I was not even in the squad, but then Oh Hyeon-gyu picked up an injury, so I was on the bench, despite the manager telling me I was not in his plans.”

Celtic v Ross County – Sead Haksabanovic celebrates scoring the winning goal of the game with team-mates during the cinch Premiership match at Celtic Park, Saturday November 12, 2022. Photo Steve Welsh

“I explained to him that I was 24, and that I needed to play, either on loan or on a permanent transfer – I needed to think about myself and getting game time. He said he would help me with that, but I did not feel like I got the help from him that he promised me – while the board were saying one thing, and he was saying another thing.

‘The board did not want to accept any of the bids’

“It was mixed signals for me, so I did not really know what was going on, as the board did not want to accept any of the bids from other teams that were on the table.”

“The moment of realisation was when we played Athletic Club for James Forrest’s testimonial, and the manager switched the whole team, but I didn’t play.”

Celtic v Ross County – Sead Haksabanovic celebrates scoring the winning goal of the game during the cinch Premiership match at Celtic Park, Saturday November 12, 2022. Photo Steve Welsh

“But that’s football, and you need to keep going”

“I knew that I would not get any minutes, so I looked to leave on loan to get some game time, in order to come back a better player. I wanted to be at Celtic and play for Celtic, but when the manager told me that I was not part of his plan, I got sad – but that’s football, and you need to keep going.”

The 25-year-old maintains that he has no regrets about a social media post following the surprising League Cup defeat to Killie, which subtly expressed his frustration with his circumstances.

“If they don’t see your value, maybe you’re not at the right place”

The Instagram post, now deleted from Haksabanovic’s platform, stated: “If they don’t see your value, maybe you’re not at the right place.” The player acknowledges that he made the comments as a way of signaling to the club his desire to move on.

Sead Hakšabanović of Celtic shoots at goal during the UEFA Champions League group F match between Celtic FC and Real Madrid at Celtic Park on September 06, 2022. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Sead added: “This was the last thing that I could do in order for Celtic to let me leave, I think. It was not a frustration towards Brendan or the board, but they were saying no to everything. I even told them that it was better if they let me leave rather than have me stay at the club and not be in the squad for games.

“If I was put out on loan and got the game-time that I needed, then I could have got back and fought for my place, because I told the club that if I had the same chance as playing as the other guys, then I would stay and fight for my place.

“Unfortunately, that was not the case. I went on loan to Stoke City, which started well, and I won Player of the Month, before getting injured, which made me lose any consistency I had built up.”

Best of luck to Sead. Brendan Rodgers like any incoming manager at a club assesses the players already there and makes a judgement call on which ones to retain and which ones to move on. The manager’s job is dependant on getting these things right.

Sead Hakšabanović denied a penalty at Kilmanock by Alan Muir

Kilmarnock v Celtic – Viaplay Cup – Second Round – The BBSP Stadium Rugby Park Celtic’s Sead Haksabanovic is fouled by Kilmarnock’s Lewis Mayo during the League Cup match at The BBSP Stadium Rugby Park, Sunday August 20, 2023. Photo Steve Welsh

Two years down the line the only trophy that Brendan Rodgers hasn’t won was the League Cup last season when Alan Muir on VAR deemed that the tackle shown at the top on Sead Hakšabanović was not a penalty. Celtic were losing 1-0 with just a few minutes to go so no-one could be that surprised that Muir would reach that conclusion.

Conor Spence

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