GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) – Brendan Rodgers resigned as Celtic manager on Monday, with former managers Martin O’Neill and Sean Maloney appointed as interim managers.
Rodgers’ second spell at Celtic ended the day after the 3-1 defeat at Hearts. Celtic were second in the Scottish Premiership, eight points behind Hearts.
“Celtic Football Club can today confirm that Director of Football Brendan Rodgers has tendered his resignation,” a club statement said. “The club has accepted this and Brendan will be leaving his position with immediate effect.
“The club would like to thank Brendan for his contribution to Celtic during two highly successful periods at the club.
“We are delighted that former Celtic manager Martin O’Neill and former Celtic player Sean Maloney have agreed to take charge of Celtic’s first-team affairs.”
Rodgers will join Celtic for the second time in June 2023, replacing Ange Postecoglou.
The Northern Irishman’s previous spell between May 2016 and February 2019 saw him win consecutive league and cup trebles and complete the first unbeaten season in Scotland’s top flight since 1899.
Rodgers continued Celtic’s domestic supremacy by winning league titles in 2024 and 2025, as well as the Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup.
However, rifts began to appear this season when Celtic were eliminated from the Champions League by Kazakhstan side Kairat Almaty.
Reacting to Celtic’s drastic lack of summer recruitment, Rodgers said: “There’s no way you’re going to go to a race and be handed the keys to a Honda Civic and say, ‘I want you to drive it like a Ferrari.’ That won’t happen. ”
Major shareholder Dermot Desmond released a statement on Monday criticizing Rodgers, saying: “In June, Michael Nicholson (chief executive) and I indicated to Brendan that we would like to offer him a contract extension, reaffirming the club’s full support and long-term commitment to him.”
“He said he needed to think about it and get back on track. But in the press conference afterwards, Brendan implied that the club had not committed to offering him a contract. That was completely untrue.”
“Every player signed and every player sold during his tenure was done with Brendan’s full knowledge, approval and support. Any insinuation to the contrary is completely false.”
“His subsequent public comments regarding transfers and the management of the club were completely out of the blue. Prior to those comments, he had never raised any such concerns with me, Michael or any member of the board or management team.
“In fact, he was given final say in all football matters and was consistently supported in the recruitment process, including record investments in players that he personally identified and approved.”
