Brendan Rodgers has resigned as Celtic manager amid damning accusations from major shareholder Dermot Desmond of ‘divisive, misleading, and self-serving’ behaviour.
The Scottish giants announced Rodgers’ announcement on Monday night, just a day after their 3-1 defeat at league leaders Hearts on Sunday.
That loss was the latest setback in the Bhoys’ campaign which has included an early Champions League exit in the play-offs as well as a turbulent transfer window.
Despite those issues, Celtic issued a statement at 9.44pm thanking Rodgers for his services over two spells of the club which have yielded success.
They also revealed that Martin O’Neill will return to Celtic at the age of 73 as interim manager.
However, shortly after that statement Desmond wrote a letter to fans explaining the resignation and accusing Rodgers of ‘a desire for self-preservation at the expense of others.’
Celtic statement on Brendan Rodgers
In their 134-word statement, Celtic said of Rodgers: ‘Celtic Football Club can confirm that football manager Brendan Rodgers has today tendered his resignation. It has been accepted by the club and Brendan will leave his role with immediate effect.
‘The club appreciates Brendan’s contribution to Celtic during his two very successful periods at the Club.
‘Brendan leaves Celtic 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.
‘The process to appoint a new permanent manager is underway and the Club will update supporters further on this as soon as possible.
‘We are pleased that during this interim period former Celtic manager, Martin O’Neill and former Celtic player, Shaun Maloney have agreed to take charge of Celtic first-team matters. Further details will be confirmed shortly.’
Dermot Desmond’s tension with Brendan Rodgers
Rodgers returned to Celtic Park in 2023 on a three-year deal and guided them to Scottish Premiership titles in the last two seasons.
With his deal expiring at the end of this campaign, Rodgers revealed n August that he had received no formal offer to extend.
But speaking out, Desmond has dismissed that notion – labelling it as ‘simply untrue’.
This season has played out against a backdrop of anti-board protests at Celtic Park and Desmond went on to suggest Rodgers had contributed to a ‘toxic atmosphere’.
Rodgers has also made several references to underwhelming recruitment throughout the start of the season.
Speaking after the 2-0 loss at Dundee on October 19, Rodgers said: ‘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.’
But Desmond responded with: ‘Every player signed and every player sold during his tenure was done so with Brendan’s full knowledge, approval, and endorsement. Any insinuation otherwise is absolutely false.
‘His later public statements about transfers and club operations came entirely out of the blue. At no point prior to those remarks had he raised any such concerns.
‘In reality, he was given final say over all football matters and was consistently backed in the recruitment process, including record investment in players he personally identified and approved.
‘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.
‘What has failed recently was not due to our structure or model, but to one individual’s desire for self-preservation at the expense of others.’
