A tumultuous early season in Scottish football took another sensational twist on Monday, October 27, when Brendan Rodgers resigned as Celtic manager.
Across two spells in charge of the Glasgow giants, Rodgers won the Scottish Premiership four times and claimed 11 major trophies overall.
However, a 3-1 defeat to leaders Hearts at the weekend left Celtic eight points off the pace after nine matches.
In the immediate aftermath, Rodgers insisted he was committed to turning the situation around, only to then walk away amid acrimony with the Celtic Park board.
There’s already been turbulence on the other side of Glasgow, with Russell Martin’s ill-fated tenure as Rangers manager yielding just a solitary league win before he was sacked.
Here’s all you need to know about Rodgers’ Celtic departure and what happens next.
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Next Celtic manager: Martin O’Neill returns as interim boss
In the statement announcing Rodgers’ departure, Celtic also confirmed their former manager Martin O’Neill would take charge on an interim basis, assisted by ex-Celtic and Scotland winger Shaun Maloney.
O’Neill led Celtic between 2000 and 2005 before going on to manage Aston Villa, Sunderland and the Republic of Ireland.
The 73-year-old has not worked since a brief spell in charge of Nottingham Forest in 2019 and he insists he will only be at Celtic Park on a temporary basis.
📖 Here’s to the next chapter… Welcome back, Martin.#CelticFC🍀 pic.twitter.com/XGCCO2ALfW
— Celtic Football Club (@CelticFC) October 28, 2025
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“It’s short-term. Celtic are probably stunned at the news that Brendan left. They are obviously seeking a permanent manager, so it’s a short-term fit,” he said.
“Interim does mean interim. It’s as simple as that. Celtic are looking for, I assume, a young coach with proven ability. We want to pull the club forward now.
“Naturally, I had a super time at Celtic, it was a privilege. I can’t emphasise enough, it’s short-term until a permanent manager is appointed. I’ll just keep the seat warm.”
O’Neill won three Scottish Premier League titles among seven major honours during his initial spell in charge. His Celtic team were also runners-up in the 2002/03 UEFA Cup, beaten in extra-time by Jose Mourinho’s Porto in the final.
He started his second spell at Celtic with a resounding 4-0 win over Falkirk, with Johnny Kenny scoring a first-half brace.
Will Ange Postecoglou return to Celtic as manager?
Ange Postecoglou, who enjoyed a successful two-season spell at Celtic Park between 2021 and 2023, when he won five of the six major trophies on offer in Scotland, was the early bookmakers’ favourite following the departure of Brendan Rodgers.
Ex-Celtic striker Chris Sutton believes Postecoglou represents an obvious choice for the club, despite the 60-year-old’s disastrous 39-game stint in charge of Nottingham Forest.
However, The Guardian reported that the prospect of Postecoglou had been “played down” by those close to the Celtic hierarchy
Ipswich Town manager Kieran McKenna has emerged as another potential option, with former Celtic and Republic of Ireland striker Robbie Keane listed amongst the betting favourites alongside O’Neill and Maloney.
Keane, also a fan favourite with Tottenham and LA Galaxy during his playing career, is currently in charge of Hungarian club Ferencvaros.
Why did Brendan Rodgers resign at Celtic?
Rodgers’ departure was the culmination of several months of speculation over his future.
The former Liverpool and Leicester City boss sought to temper this by telling Sky Sports in the aftermath of Celtic’s Premiership triumph last season — a historic success that put them level with Rangers in the all-time standings with 55 titles – that he was “200%” staying at Celtic.
However, Rodgers was widely reported to be at odds with his board over summer recruitment and the Celtic Park decision makers bore the brunt of fan anger after the club lost to Kairat Almaty on penalties in their Champions League playoff. Both legs finished in goalless draws
Celtic lost star striker Kyogo Furuhashi to Stade Rennes in January, and fellow forwards Adam Idah and Nicolas Kuhn joined Swansea City and Como respectively in the summer. Winger Jota is a long-term injury victim and Celtic’s goal threat has been drastically reduced without this quartet.
A 2-0 defeat at Dundee on October 19 was the sixth time in 14 matches they had failed to find the net, including a 0-0 draw with Martin’s embattled Rangers at Ibrox in August.
Referring to Celtic’s summer business after the Dundee game, Rodgers said, “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.”
Asked to clarify the comments prior to the 2-1 Europa League win over Sturm Graz, Rodgers replied, “It was based around the speed in our team. Clearly, it’s not what we had last season. I’m pretty sure both of those cards go at a different speed, so that was the reference to that.
“I’m not really worried, to be honest. You can’t please everyone and nobody’s trying to do that now. The players know that I’m with them, I’ve always been with them.”
After the loss to Hearts, Rodgers maintained he remained ready for the fight and committed to Celtic.
“I’ve never worked harder in all my time here,” he said. “So the motivation is there to try and flip the levels that we’re at. It’s absolutely fine, it’s still so early. I think that’s the key point in it all.
“Hearts have made a fantastic start, got the points on the board, but there’s so much football to play. We’ve just got to hang in there at this moment, find those performances, find the results and hopefully our levels will improve as the season goes on.”
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What did Dermot Desmond say about Brendan Rodgers?
A little over 24 hours on from those remarks, Rodgers walked. Although the club thanked their outgoing manager in an accompanying statement, as is customary, a follow-up post attributed to major shareholder Dermot Desmond caused shockwaves.
Irish businessman Desmond acknowledged Rodgers’ on-field success before lambasting his public comments about transfer policy as being “divisive, misleading and self-serving.”
Desmond also claimed that Rodgers had been made aware that Celtic wanted to offer him a contract extension beyond terms that expired in June 2026. “Yet in subsequent press conferences, Brendan implied that the club had made no commitment to offer him a contract. That was simply untrue,” the statement read.
It was also stated that every transfer, incoming and outgoing, during Rodgers’ tenure, was done so with Brendan’s full knowledge, approval and endorsement. Any institution otherwise is absolutely false.”
The statement added: “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.”
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