Former Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers has been described as ‘divisive, misleading’ and self-serving’ in an extraordinary statement by Celtic after his resignation from the Scottish champions.
On Monday night, the Glasgow club confirmed the depature of the 52-year-old just days after Chris Sutton claimed that the Bhoys were in an even deeper crisis than Arne Slot’s Reds, having lost 3-1 to surprise Premiership leaders Hearts at the weekend.
Martin O’Neill has taken over the reins at Parkhead on an interim basis, although it’d be fair to say that the man he’s replacing has not gone quietly.
Rodgers labelled ‘divisive’ and ‘self-serving’ in explosive statement
Celtic’s largest individual shareholder Dermot Desmond released an explosive statement in which Rodgers’ resignation was announced (via celticfc.com), with some unflattering allegations made against the former Liverpool boss.
The 52-year-old is accused of ‘untrue’ public insinuations that he hadn’t been offered a new contract at Parkhead over the summer, and that he wasn’t given ‘full knowledge, approval, and endorsement’ over the club’s transfer dealings.
Desmond claimed: ‘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.’
Where next for Rodgers?
The accusations made against Rodgers are quite serious and hint at an extreme discord at Celtic, who’ve fallen eight points behind Hearts and had a mixed start to their Europa League campaign after their shock elimination by Kairat Almaty in the Champions League play-offs.
Where the 52-year-old goes next will be intriguing to see, and although he retraced his steps to Parkhead when taking charge of the Bhoys for a second spell two years ago, the chances of a return to Liverpool are plausibly nonexistent.
Slot has been subjected to some strong criticism from the press amid the Reds’ atrocious run of form over the past month, although Melissa Reddy has rightly said that he’s been subjected to an ‘unwarranted level of disrespect’.
The Dutchman has definitely got it wrong with some of his team selections, tactical ploys and substitutions in recent weeks, and he can’t dwell on last season’s Premier League success forever, but that unexpected triumph has given him enormous credit in the bank.
We still have every confidence in the 47-year-old to inspire a turnaround in Liverpool’s fortunes soon and get them back on track to maintain their bid to retain the top-flight title all the way to the business end of the campaign.