The scale of recent disharmony inside Celtic has come to light with the resignation of Brendan Rodgers. By way of immediate response the club’s main – and typically publicity-shy – shareholder, Dermot Desmond, has remarkably unleashed on what he branded “self-serving” behaviour by Rodgers. In a further dramatic twist and two decades after leaving the club, Martin O’Neill will return to take charge of Celtic on an interim basis.
Celtic confirmed Rodgers had left his position shortly before 10pm on Monday. O’Neill, assisted by Shaun Maloney, will preside over Wednesday’s visit of Falkirk to Celtic Park and most likely the League Cup semi-final against Rangers on Sunday. Celtic are likely to at least assess the situation of Ange Postecoglou, another of their former managers who left Nottingham Forest earlier this month.
It will, however, take considerable time for dust to settle on the circumstances behind Rodgers’s exit. His final match was Sunday’s 3-1 defeat against Hearts at Tynecastle, which leaves Celtic eight points from the summit of Scotland’s top flight. Rodgers had made plain his disquiet over a lack of summer transfer activity, sentiment his paymasters clearly believe fuelled supporter protest towards the board.
Within 15 minutes of Celtic’s official statement on Rodgers, Desmond issued a savage one of his own. “I want to acknowledge Brendan’s contribution across his two spells as manager, during which he helped deliver success that forms part of the club’s modern history,” said the Irish tycoon. “However, I must also express my deep disappointment at the way the past several months have unfolded.
“When we brought Brendan back to Celtic two years ago, it was done with complete trust and belief in his ability to lead the club into a new era of sustained success. Unfortunately, his conduct and communication in recent months have not reflected that trust.
“In June, both [the chief executive] Michael Nicholson and I expressed to Brendan that we were keen to offer him a contract extension, to reaffirm the club’s full backing and long-term commitment to him. He said he would need to think about it and revert. Yet in subsequent press conferences, Brendan implied that the club had made no commitment to offer him a contract. That was simply untrue.” There appeared little chance of Rodgers extending his deal, which was due to end next summer.
Desmond added: “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.”
Desmond insisted Rodgers was “given final say over all football matters” and disputed Celtic’s transfer approach has been poor. “When his comments were made publicly, I sought to address them directly,” said Desmond. “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 narrative.
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“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. Some of the abuse directed at them, and at their families, has been entirely unwarranted and unacceptable.”
After the loss at Hearts, Rodgers denied shifting the blame on to others. “I’ve always taken responsibility,” he said. “There’s never been a time that I haven’t. When you’re the manager at Celtic, you’re responsible for the results, despite whatever else happens. So that responsibility is on me.”
