Paulo Bernardo has claimed former Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers played him out of position and denied him the consistency he needed in the team. The 24-year-old midfielder made just 20 appearances in all competitions for the Hoops last season, only seven of which came from the start, under Rodgers, Martin O'Neill and Wilfried Nancy.
Loan move to Gornik Zabrze
Bernardo was frozen out by O'Neill in the final two months of the campaign and in August sealed a loan switch to Polish outfit Gornik Zabrze, who have an option to buy the midfielder permanently at the end of the season. However, the Portugal youth international does not blame the 74-year-old for his Celtic downfall, instead pointing to the turning point under Rodgers last term.
He told The Herald: "In the beginning of the season, with the signing of other players, I started to play more as a six and not as my initial position when I joined Celtic. I think that was one of the key facts. In Celtic I never got the consistency to play in a run of games. It was always one or two and then bench again."
Preferred role as a No. 8
"Then maybe one start and then one bench. I think for me, I never got the consistency. For me, I think that was the problem at Celtic. I started to play in a more deep role. I'm not that comfortable there and I don't like it that much. I think that was it last season."
Asked if playing as a No. 8 is his preferred position, he added: "Yes, I think for me that's the best position I can play because I like to defend in the midfield, but I like to attack as well and be closer to the goal and have the opportunities to score goals or to create goals. For me, it's important to play. I can play as a six as well and I think I play well when I play there, but I think I can give more to the game as a No.8."
Talks with O'Neill and future at Celtic
Bernardo revealed he had honest talks with O'Neill before his departure, adding: "It was very important for me to play and I'm still at the age that I need to play. Here, hopefully I can do that for the rest of the season. Of course it all depends on how I can perform."
"It was a very important thing for me that I need to play football. When I talked to the club, to the coach [Gasparik], he was very happy for me to join and that was a key factor to join here. I spoke to him [O'Neill] the last days that the deal was almost done. I had the conversation with him and I told him I needed to play football and I don't think in Celtic right now I would have the game time that I needed."
He has refused to rule out a return to Parkhead, despite Gornik being able to trigger a purchase option: "If Gornik want me in the final part of the season, I'm happy here right now and I think it can be a good thing."
"I always loved my time at Celtic. The football last season, I didn't enjoy that much because I didn't play, but I was very happy for me and my team to win the championship in that part of the season was amazing, and the cup. I will always love Celtic. I think it's one of the biggest clubs in the world. I will fight always for my place, but you never know in these situations. I don't have any regrets to join Celtic or I don't have any problems to join Celtic again."
