Brendan Rodgers resigns as Celtic manager as Martin O'Neill, Shaun Maloney take interim charge

Brendan Rodgers has resigned as Celtic manager amid scathing criticism from the club's major shareholder, with former boss Martin O'Neill making a temporary return.

Rodgers' second Celtic exit was confirmed during a dramatic series of events on Monday evening and follows a 3-1 Scottish Premiership defeat at Hearts, which left the club eight points adrift of the Edinburgh side.

Former Hoops boss O'Neill and ex-Celtic player Shaun Maloney have been put in temporary charge at Parkhead, with the club saying that the process to appoint a permanent replacement was "under way".

• Scottish Premiership table - Celtic off pace
• Hearts stun Celtic - Rodgers' last game in charge
• Celtic fixtures - Falkirk next

A statement from Celtic posted at 9.48pm on Monday announced that Rodgers had tendered his resignation and would leave his role "with immediate effect".

It added: "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."

Desmond blasts Rodgers in extraordinary statement

But shortly after confirming Rodgers' exit, Celtic released a further lengthy statement from Dermot Desmond in which the major shareholder hit out at the former boss and accused him of contributing to a "toxic atmosphere".

Rodgers won 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 were knocked out of the Champions League by Kazakhstan minnows Kairat Almaty and Rodgers questioned summer recruitment.

In an extraordinary message posted on the club's website, Desmond said: "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.

"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."

Desmond said that Rodgers' "public statements about transfers and club operations came entirely out of the blue" and claimed that it was "untrue" that the club "had made no commitment to offer him a contract".

"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," the statement continued.

Desmond claimed he had met Rodgers to discuss issues, before saying: "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."

He added: "Celtic is greater than any one person. Our focus now is on restoring harmony, strengthening the squad, and continuing to build a club worthy of its values, traditions, and supporters."

Rodgers exit is 'massive shock'

Sky Sports News' Gordon Duncan:

"There's been so much said about the disconnect between Rodgers and the club's board. But even taking all that into account, this still feels like a massive shock for it to happen now.

"When Brendan Rodgers came back to Celtic, he said he would be here until the end of his three-year contract. We now know that is not the case.

"It felt for a while like the board were getting blame from the Celtic fans. But as times progressed, that focus shifted a bit onto Brendan Rodgers and to the team.

"Yes, the failure to reach the Champions League, that sort of kicked all of this off. It was then a deadline day that was seen as a bit of a disaster, Celtic scrambling around in the market.

"But once that window closed, it was then clearly down to Rodgers and the players to get on with it, so to speak. And they haven't managed to do that. You look at the performance at the weekend, and in many ways it all came together.

"You're seeing Dane Murray put it into his own net. Dane Murray probably wouldn't normally start Celtic games. They've even had injuries. They were up against a Hearts team who have got their recruitment spot on.

"Everything that could be going wrong for Celtic this season has gone wrong. But I'll repeat, even taking all that into account, it still feels like an incredibly big shock that Brendan Rodgers is no longer the Celtic manager.

"But this feels like more than just managerial issues at Celtic.

"We keep mentioning it every week: the fans are protesting, they're throwing tennis balls onto the pitch, they've got banners up.

"A large number of them want change at boardroom level, they don't feel that the structure at Celtic is functioning the way that it should, so in some ways that remains unfixed by a change of manager.

"These are massive days ahead for Celtic. First of all, we'll have to get the managerial appointment right. If that manager then wins everything before him straight away, then maybe the other stuff does die down slightly, but it won't go away completely."

'O'Neill can galvanise Celtic - but Ange return would be smart'

Sky Sports' Chris Sutton:

"I understand the appointment of Martin O'Neill because he's a very popular manager. He was my manager when I first went up to Celtic and he is loved by the supporters. Had the club handed the role to just Shaun Maloney, a lot of the supporters would have been unhappy about that. They've got a figurehead and a front piece.

"The biggest question is who's going to be the next permanent Celtic manager. Who are they going to go for next? It's not going to be an easy situation because the squad is decimated, decimated with injuries to key players and there's not the strength and depth. The team and the squad will come under a fair bit of pressure [between now and January].

"There's a League Cup semi-final against Rangers, which is absolutely massive. All those games coming up are massive.

"In the short term, Martin O'Neill doesn't have an easy task on his hands with what he's taking over.

"He will go in and try and do what he did first time round. Try and galvanise the club, try to bring the support, the staff at the club and hierarchy all pulling in the same direction.

"Ange Postecoglou would be a really smart appointment. He was loved the first time round.

"His brand of football went down well in Glasgow. He's out of work. That would be a pretty obvious choice, a good choice and bring a lot of positivity back to Celtic, which they need right now."

O'Neill before appointment: 'This is the time for Hearts'

Martin O'Neill said "this is the time" for Hearts to disrupt Celtic's dominance in the Scottish Premiership just hours before being parachuted in to take temporary charge of the Hoops.

Celtic interim boss O'Neill, speaking on TalkSport on the day he would make a temporary return to Parkhead, said: "After the weekend, [Hearts] have put themselves in a really decent position. I get back to the point. I think it's early.

"Hearts have shown a great determination. Their record is great, at this minute. With Celtic not being as strong, as physically as strong, as maybe you would want them to be. It is possible.

"Celtic can actually lose games, whereas before, they looked invincible in matches. Rangers are no threat whatsoever. They are so far adrift it's untrue.

"But this is the moment. This is the time for Hearts. They have gone eight points clear. That is a decent enough lead, really. Their confidence has grown, and it will grow from that victory."

Celtic's upcoming fixtures

• Falkirk (H) - Scottish Premiership - Wednesday
• Rangers (N) - League Cup semi-final - Sunday
• Midtjylland (A) - Europa League - Nov 6
• Kilmarnock (H) - Scottish Premiership - Nov 9
• St Mirren (A) - Scottish Premiership - Nov 22 - live on Sky Sports

(c) Sky Sports 2025: Brendan Rodgers resigns as Celtic manager as Martin O'Neill, Shaun Maloney take interim charge