Dermot Desmond criticises ‘divisive’ Brendan Rodgers after leaving Celtic

By Gavin McCafferty, PA

Brendan Rodgers has departed Celtic amid dramatic accusations from principal shareholder Dermot Desmond that he had stoked division.

Former boss Martin O’Neill and ex-Celtic player Shaun Maloney have been put in temporary charge following Rodgers’ second mid-season exit.

The former Liverpool manager had consistently insisted he would only leave before his three-year contract expired if he was “emptied”, and his departure has opened the lid on the extent of internal strife.

Desmond delivered a withering statement in which he accused Rodgers of being “misleading, divisive and self-serving”.

Celtic announced Rodgers had “tendered his resignation” and left with “our thanks for the role he has played during a period of continued success”.

The 52-year-old leaves on the back of two consecutive William Hill Premiership defeats, the latest by leaders Hearts which has left them eight points adrift.

The exit spelled the end of a fractious final few months which has seen fans turn against key board members amid frustration with the club’s transfer approach and Champions League play-off defeat by Kairat Almaty.

The board took responsibility for the European failure after admitting they failed to achieve their aims in the window, after Rodgers had called for attacking reinforcements, which arrived belatedly.

However, Desmond had a very different perspective as he expressed “deep disappointment” over recent events.

The Irishman said: “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 claimed Rodgers was told in June the club were keen to offer him a new contract.

“Yet in subsequent press conferences, Brendan implied that the club had made no commitment to offer him a contract,” he added. “That was simply untrue.”

Desmond insisted that every player who was bought and sold during Rodgers’ tenure was “done so with Brendan’s full knowledge, approval, and endorsement” and claimed “his later public statements about transfers and club operations came entirely out of the blue”.

Desmond added: “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.”

Desmond continued: “What has failed recently was not due to our structure or model, but to one individual’s desire for self-preservation at the expense of others.”

Rodgers won 11 trophies with Celtic either side of a spell at Leicester and returned to Glasgow in the summer of 2023 with the intention to repair his relationship with fans and make progress in Europe.

He led Celtic to the Champions League knockout play-offs last season, where they lost narrowly to Bayern Munich, but his frustrations over transfer activity were apparent throughout the summer.

Celtic failed to replace main goalscorer Kyogo Furuhashi when he was sold in January and then sold Nicolas Kuhn to Como in July after losing fellow winger Jota to a long-term injury.

The only attacking arrival before the Kairat tie was Shin Yamada, who had only scored two goals in 21 J-League games and has not featured for two months.

Celtic also sold Adam Idah to Swansea before the deadline while adding two left wingers and free agent striker Kelechi Iheanacho.

One of Rodgers’ final comments over his squad came in the wake of defeat by Dundee, when he 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.”