'Wee bit obsessed' - Rodgers defends honour of Celtic star as Levein feud escalates
Brendan Rodgers has come to the defence of Celtic captain Scott Brown as Hearts boss Craig Levein continued his escalating vendetta against the Hoops midfielder. Levein claimed, as reported by
, that Brown got booked against Kilmarnock so that he wouldn't miss the Old Firm derby in March as a result of suspension. This followed on from
made by Levein that players needed protecting from the Hoops skipper. Rodgers has now responded in kind to the Hearts manager, claiming, as quoted by radio station Clyde 1 programme Superscoreboard's
, that he is "a wee bit obsessed" with Brown. He also claimed that the Hoops midfielder should take it as a compliment that Levein keeps talking about him.
Rodgers will be hoping that the dispute doesn't overshadow two huge cup games that the Hoops have in the next seven days. The Bhoys continue their defence of the Scottish Cup with a home tie against Partick Thistle on Saturday, before facing Zenit in the first leg of the Europa League last 32 tie at Celtic Park next Thursday. Brown will no doubt be a massive player for the Bhoys in both of those games and he might well take inspiration from Levein's comments to turn in some big performances in the matches. In other Celtic news,