Brendan Rodgers has stepped down as Celtic manager following mounting pressure, with the club’s major shareholder launching a scathing attack on his conduct.
The Scottish champions announced on Monday that former manager Martin O’Neill, 73, and ex-player Shaun Maloney would oversee first-team affairs whilst the club searches for a permanent replacement.
Rodgers’ departure comes on the back of Sunday’s 3-1 Scottish Premiership loss at Hearts, which left Celtic languishing in second place, eight points behind the Edinburgh outfit.
The 52-year-old Northern Irishman had returned to Celtic Park in June 2023 for a second stint, delivering back-to-back league titles to complement his earlier successes in 2017 and 2018. However, this season proved disastrous, with the humiliating Champions League elimination by Kazakh underdogs Kairat Almaty marking a low point.
Relations between Rodgers and the Celtic hierarchy had visibly deteriorated over transfer policy disagreements. Following the club’s first defeat at Dundee in 37 years earlier this month, the manager publicly criticised the board’s summer recruitment strategy.
“And there’s no way you’ll go into a race and be given the keys to a Honda Civic and say, ‘I want you to drive it like a Ferrari’. It’s not going to happen,” Rodgers had stated, referencing what he described as the team’s diminished firepower.
Celtic’s principal shareholder Dermot Desmond responded forcefully on Monday, accusing Rodgers of operating without justification.
“Despite ample opportunity, he was unable to identify a single instance where the club had obstructed or failed to support him. The facts did not match his public narrative,” Desmond said.
“Regrettably, his words and actions since then have been divisive, misleading, and self-serving. They have contributed to a toxic atmosphere around the club and fuelled hostility towards members of the executive team and the board.”
The club issued a diplomatic statement acknowledging Rodgers’ contributions whilst confirming his exit.
“Brendan leaves with our thanks for the role he has played during a period of continued success for the club, and we wish him further success in the future,” Celtic said.
Rodgers’ first spell at Celtic proved historic, with his side completing successive domestic trebles and becoming the first Scottish team to finish a top-flight campaign unbeaten since 1899, accumulating a record 106 points in the 2016-17 season.
He departed in February 2019 to join Leicester City, before returning four years later to succeed Ange Postecoglou, who has emerged as a leading candidate to replace him permanently. Postecoglou was recently dismissed by Nottingham Forest.
During his second tenure, Rodgers secured two league titles, alongside Scottish Cup and League Cup triumphs, but the current campaign’s struggles proved terminal for his relationship with the club’s powerbrokers.
