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brendan rodgers He was accused of “divisive, deceptive and selfish” behavior after resigning from office. celtic The manager in a surprise departure statement from the club’s major shareholder Dermot Desmond.
Celtic said Rodgers “tendered his resignation” late on Monday night, a day after the club’s defeat at Premiership leaders Hearts. former boss Martin O’Neill will take interim charge20 years after his first stint as manager.
But 15 minutes after Rodgers’ departure was confirmed came a blistering statement from major shareholder Desmond, in whom Desmond accused him of “contributing to a toxic environment” around the club.
Rodgers had been critical of Celtic’s transfer business in the summer, and was followed by further discontent among the club’s supporters. Defeat in Champions League play-off To Karat Almaty, Kazakhstan.
The Scottish champions have also made a disappointing start to the Premiership season and fell eight points behind league leaders Hearts after a 3-1 defeat at Tynecastle on Sunday, sparking anger across the club board.
However, Desmond presented his side of events, writing: “When we brought Brendan back to Celtic two years ago, it was done with complete trust and confidence in his ability to lead the club into a new era of sustained success. Unfortunately, his conduct and communications in recent months have not reflected that trust.”
Desmond claimed that Rodgers was told in July that Celtic were willing to offer him a contract extension. Desmond said, “Yet in the subsequent press conference Brendan said the club had made no commitment to offer him a contract. That was absolutely false.”
Desmond also said that Rodgers would meet regularly with the board to discuss his transfer plans and that “every player signed and every player sold during his tenure was done with Brendan’s full knowledge, approval and support”.
“Any indication otherwise is simply false,” Desmond said. He added, “His subsequent public statements regarding the transfer and club operations were completely unexpected.”
The statement continued: “When his comments were made publicly, I tried to address them directly. Brendan and I met for over three hours at his home in Scotland to discuss the issue. 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 statement.
“Sadly, his words and actions since then have been divisive, deceptive and selfish. He has contributed to the toxic environment around the club and fostered hostility towards members of the executive team and board. Some of the abuse inflicted on them and their families is completely unfair and unacceptable.
“Each member of the board and executive team is deeply passionate about Celtic and acts with professionalism, integrity and a shared desire to succeed at all times. What has failed recently is not because of our structure or model, but because of one individual’s desire for self-preservation at the expense of others.”
Rodgers expressed his frustration over Celtic’s transfer business in the summer when the club failed to replace star forward Kyogo Furuhashi and then sold Nicolas Kuhn after losing fellow winger Jota to long-term injury.
The only attacking player before the Kairat match was Shin Yamada, who had scored only two goals in 21 J-League games and had not featured in a game for two months.
Celtic sold striker Adam Idah to Swansea before the transfer deadline, while also adding two left wingers, Michel-Ange Balikwisha and Sébastien Tonecati, as well as free agent striker Kelechi Iheanacho.
Following a 2–0 defeat to Dundee, Rodgers expressed further frustration at his team when he compared the players he had at his disposal to a “Honda Civic”.
“There’s no way you go to a race and are given the keys to a Honda Civic and told ‘I want you to drive it like a Ferrari.’ That’s not going to happen,” Rodgers said.
Former Liverpool manager Rodgers won seven trophies with Celtic before leaving the club to take charge of Leicester in 2019, a move that upset many supporters. He returned to Glasgow in 2023 to replace Ange Postecoglou.
Rodgers won two more Scottish Premiership titles in his two full seasons, as well as a Scottish Cup and League Cup, and also reached the Champions League knockout play-offs last season.
Celtic lost by a narrow margin to Bayern Munich but their chance of progressing further in Europe was lost after defeat to Kairat on penalties in August.
Includes reporting from PA