Football: Rodgers resigns as Celtic boss as owner hits out

Brendan Rodgers has resigned as Manager of Celtic, with former boss and ex-Nothern Ireand international Martin O'Neill taking interim charge.

The Scottish Premiership champions have had a difficult start ot the new season and currently lie in second place, eight points behind leaders Hearts, who beat Rodgers' side 3-1 at Tynecastle on Sunday.

In a statement, Celtic said: "Celtic Football Club can confirm that football manager Brendan Rodgers has today tendered his resignation. 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.

"Brendan leaves Celtic with our thanks for the role he has played during a period of continued success for the Club 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 further on this as soon as possible.

"We are pleased that during this interim period former Celtic manager, Martin O’Neill and former Celtic player, Shaun Maloney have agreed to take charge of Celtic first-team matters. Further details will be confirmed shortly."

However, Celtic owner Dermot Desmond released a subsequent statement, calling Rodgers' actions since the Summer 'misleading' and 'divisive'.

In a meesage to the club's supporters on the Celtic FC website, Desmond criticised the Carnlough man.

"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. However, I must also express my deep disappointment at the way the past several months have unfolded," said Desmond on CelticFC.com.

"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 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.

"We met with Brendan regularly, including in December last year and at the start of the summer, with regular dialogue in between, to discuss and agree our collective strategy, priorities, and approach. 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 added.

"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.

"When his comments were made publicly, I sought to address them directly. 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.

"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."