Brendan Rodgers has described the moment Celtic's Scottish Cup semi-final defeat to Rangers filtered through a christening he'd attended.
The former Parkhead boss admits all eyes were on Hampden during a mass in Belfast in 2016.
Defeat to their Ibrox rivals that day proved the catalyst for Rodgers ' arrival at Celtic and he admits the reaction to that result stuck with him as he went on to take the job just a few weeks later.
The Irishman, now Leicester City manager, admits he kept talks a secret for fear of whipping friends and family into a frenzy.
"I was out of work at the time, travelling around, and I'll never forget it," Rodgers told the Eamonn and the Gaffers podcast.
"One Sunday, I was up in Belfast at a christening. It was the day Celtic were playing Rangers in the semi-final of the Scottish Cup.
"So I was in mass, and I'll never forget this, every time I looked round all the people in chapel were on their phone looking at the scores.
"I remember coming out and actually seeing everyone deflated Celtic had lost. So, it was at that moment I'd seen the reaction from everyone and what it felt like for Celtic to lose.
"Forward it on and I was given the chance to go into Celtic. I didn't tell many people at all that I was even in talks, but I knew how excited they would be - it would just go through the roof.
"Once I finally signed I spoke to my brother and that first day when I turned up at Celtic Park I was the proudest man in the world.
"You grow up back home in the community where it's full of Celtic people and Celtic supporters.
"To be out there on that day, it was just absolutely amazing."
