Brendan Rodgers Resigns as Celtic Manager, O'Neill Martin Comes Back as Interim

The club manager Rodgers during the final match

The manager's last match ended in a 3-1 defeat to Hearts on Sunday.

The Rodgers has stepped down from his position as the club's head coach, with former manager O'Neill agreeing to a short-term comeback.

The 52-year-old, who came back for a another spell at the club in 2023, won successive championships, complementing his previous title victories from 2017 and 2018.

However, the former Liverpool and Leicester City boss leaves with the champions trailing Hearts by eight points after 9 matches of the this season.

A team announcement disclosed that Rodgers offered his departure, which was approved with instant effect.

Dermot majority shareholder, Celtic's largest shareholder, then added a scathing message of his own, accusing him of disruptive, deceptive, and self-serving behavior.

O'Neill, 73, managed the team from 2000-05, securing three Scottish top-flight championships, three Scottish Cup titles, and a League Cup trophy.

He will be accompanied by Shaun Maloney, who had 2 spells as a footballer with the club and has management background with Hibernian and Wigan.

The outgoing manager signed a three-year deal on his comeback and consistently emphasized that he would honor the agreement, as his prior exit in 2019 had caused so much bitterness.

After questioned about renewing that deal in last August, he maintained there had been no official offer.

But, the shareholder has now provided his version of the situation, saying the team were eager to keep the manager on beyond the end of this season to confirm the team's complete backing and future dedication to him.

The businessman executive continued to assert that Rodgers' claim that no offer had been made was just false.

This campaign has unfolded against a background of anti-board protests at Celtic Park, and he blamed Rodgers of adding to a toxic environment.

Another feature in the early stages of this term was the manager's apparent dismay over player dealings, with several references to disappointing recruitment over the summer.

Speaking after the two-zero defeat at Dundee FC on October 19, he remarked: There's no way you'll enter a race and be handed the access to a standard car and tell 'I expect you to perform it like a sports car'. It's not going to occur.

Yet the shareholder wrote: Every footballer signed and every player sold during his tenure was done so with Brendan's complete awareness, consent, and endorsement. Every insinuation to the contrary is absolutely incorrect.

That which has gone wrong lately was not because of our structure or model, but to one person's wish for self-protection at the expense of others.

Anthony Nguyen
Anthony Nguyen

Elara is a seasoned luxury travel writer with a passion for uncovering hidden gems and sharing exclusive lifestyle insights.