Brendan Rodgers has issued a spirited defence of former recruitment guru Mark Lawwell at the Celtic AGM.

The former head of first-team scouting and recruitment, who is also the son of chairman Peter Lawwell, left in March. But his performance at the club was put under the microscope by a Celtic shareholder.

Brendan Rodgers wasn't having any criticism of his former colleague, putting up a robust defence and pointing out the former City Group employee was key in bringing Ange Postecoglou to Paradise.

And the Northern Irishman pointed out that alone would make his tenure a hit, let alone his involvement in other transfers like the deal to sign full-back Alistair Johnston.

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Rodgers said:  "Mark done a fantastic job here at Celtic. Every player that comes in to here will not succeed. I think if you look at Mark's influence on bringing in Ange Postecoglou was huge.

"Now, if that was his only contribution to here, then he'd done a fantastic job, but he didn't. He was influential in bringing in other players, with Alistair Johnson and some of these other guys. All the players won't work out that come in here, and I know that as a manager and a coach.

"My experience of working with Mark was second to none. He decided to go down a different route, and I respect that. But I also sit here in his defence, because he's a massive Celtic supporter. Like Peter, in the Celtic family, they want nothing but the best for Celtic.

"Sometimes in that role as recruitment, like it is as a manager, you bring in a player and it just might not quite work out for whatever reason. But finally, what I do know, is that his intention was for the very, very best for Celtic. And for that, that's why I will defend him."