Brendan Rodgers resigns as Celtic manager
GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Brendan Rodgers resigned as the Celtic manager on Monday and former boss Martin O'Neill and Shaun Maloney were put in temporary charge.
Rodgers' second spell at Celtic ended a day after they lost at Hearts 3-1. Celtic was second in the Scottish Premiership but eight points behind Hearts.
“Celtic Football Club can confirm that football manager Brendan Rodgers has today tendered his resignation,” a club statement said. "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.
“We are pleased that ... former Celtic manager Martin O'Neill and former Celtic player Shaun Maloney have agreed to take charge of Celtic first-team matters.”
Rodgers arrived at Celtic for the second time in June 2023 to succeed Ange Postecoglou.
The previous stint by the Northern Irishman from May 2016 to February 2019 included consecutive league and cup trebles and the first undefeated season in the Scottish top flight since 1899.
Rodgers continued Celtic's domestic supremacy by winning league titles in 2024 and 2025 along with lifting the Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup.
But cracks began to appear this season as Celtic was knocked out of the Champions League by Kazakhstan minnow Kairat Almaty.
Rodgers reacted to Celtic’s underwhelming summer recruitment by saying, “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.”
A statement from principal shareholder Dermot Desmond on Monday criticized Rodgers, saying: "In June, both Michael Nicholson (chief executive) 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.
"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 with me, Michael, or any member of the board or executive team.
“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.”