Celtic have announced that Brendan Rodgers has left the club after Sunday’s 3-1 defeat at Hearts, which left them eight points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers announced his resignation after Sunday’s 3-1 defeat at Hearts. The Scottish champions have announced that former Hoops manager Martin O’Neill and Celtic’s Sean Maloney will take over as interim managers.
Sunday’s loss to Tynecastle leaves the reigning Scottish Premiership champions eight points behind leaders Hearts after nine games. The club have also struggled in Europe this season, with Celtic sitting 21st in the Europa League group stage standings, with just one win so far.
And now Glasgow Giants will be looking for a new manager after Rodgers’ second spell at the club came to a shocking end on Monday night.
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“Celtic Football Club can confirm that Director of Football Brendan Rodgers has today tendered his resignation,” a statement on the club’s website said. “The club has accepted this and Brendan will be leaving his position with immediate effect.
“The club is grateful for Brendan’s contribution to Celtic during two very successful spells at the club. Brendan leaves Celtic grateful for the role he has played during the club’s continued period of success and we wish him further success in the future.”
“The process to appoint a new permanent manager is underway and the club will update supporters on this matter as soon as possible. We are pleased that former Celtic manager Martin O’Neill and former Celtic player Sean Maloney have agreed to take charge of Celtic’s first-team affairs during this interim period. Further details will be confirmed shortly.”
The former Leicester City, Liverpool and Swansea City manager returns for a second spell at Celtic Park in 2023. Rodgers won back-to-back titles after winning the league in 2017 and 2018.
However, the 55-year-old will be leaving a side that is about to cede the title to Hearts, who have made incredible progress under manager Derek McInnes. Unbeaten Jam Tarts have won eight games and drawn one so far in the league, defeating traditional Scottish powerhouses Celtic and Rangers.
After Sunday’s defeat to Hearts, Rodgers denied he had lost any desire to compete with Scotland’s surprise package this season.
“I’ve never worked this hard in my time here,” he said. “So there’s a motivation there to try and turn the level we’re at at the moment we’re at. That’s fine, it’s still early days. I think that’s the important point in everything.”
“Hearts made a great start and got the points, but there’s a lot of football to play. We have to work hard in the moment and find a performance and find a result. And I hope our level improves as the season progresses.”
He added: “We have to give our players confidence. Given the circumstances today, both the game and the result were obviously disappointing. But there are still 29 games left.”
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