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brendan rodgers is gone celtic Amid dramatic allegations from major shareholder Dermot Desmond that he had instigated the split.
Former boss Martin O’Neill and ex-Celtic player Sean Maloney have been placed in temporary charge following Rodgers’ exit midway through his second season.
East liverpool The manager had repeatedly insisted that he would leave before his three-year contract expired if he was “fired”, and his departure has exposed the extent of internal discord.
Desmond issued a disappointing statement in which he accused Rodgers of being “deceptive, divisive and selfish”.
Celtic announced that Rodgers “has tendered his resignation” and left with “our thanks for the role he has played during a period of continued success”.
52-year-old man heads to William Hill twice in a row premiership The defeat, the latest for the leaders, saw them lose eight points.
The exit brought an end to a tumultuous past few months, which had seen fans pitted against key board members amid frustration with the club’s transfer approach and Champions League Lost to Kairat Almaty in play-offs.
The board took responsibility for the European failure, admitting that they failed to achieve their goals in the window, with Rodgers calling for attacking reinforcements, which arrived late.
However, Desmond had a very different view as he expressed “deep disappointment” at recent events.
The Irishman said: “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 continued success. Unfortunately, his conduct and communications in recent months have not reflected that trust.”
Desmond claimed that Rodgers was told in June that the club were willing to offer him a new contract.
He added, “Yet in the subsequent press conference Brendan said the club had made no commitment to offer him a contract.” “That was an absolute lie.”
Desmond insisted that any player bought and sold during Rodgers’ tenure was “done with Brendan’s full knowledge, approval and support” and claimed that “his subsequent public statements regarding transfers and club operations were completely unexpected”.
Desmond said: “He was given the final say on all football matters and was consistently supported in the recruitment process – including record investment in players he personally identified and approved.
“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, misleading and self-serving.
“He has contributed to creating a toxic environment around the club and fostered hostility towards members of the executive team and board.”
Desmond added: “What has failed recently has not been because of our structure or model, but because of one man’s desire for self-preservation at the expense of others.”
Rodgers won 11 trophies between his spells with Celtic at Leicester and returns to Glasgow in the summer of 2023 with the intention of improving his relationship with fans and progressing to Europe.
He led Celtic to the Champions League knockout play-offs last season, where they narrowly lost to Bayern Munich, but his frustration at transfer activity was evident throughout the summer.
Celtic failed to replace leading goalscorer Kyogo Furuhashi when he was sold in January and then sold Nicolas Kuhn to Como in July 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 also sold Adam Idah to Swansea before the deadline, while adding two left-backs and free agent striker Kelechi Iheanacho.
One of Rodgers’ final comments on his team came after the defeat to Dundee, when he said: “There’s no way you go to a race and are given the keys to a Honda Civic and say ‘I want you to drive it like a Ferrari.’ it’s not going to happen.”