Celtic chief Dermot Desmond launched a scathing assault on Brendan Rodgers after he resigned.
Rodgers stop simply over 24 hours after the Hoops’ 3-1 loss to Hearts within the Scottish Premiership.
Celtic affirm Rodgers’ exit
“The membership appreciates Brendan’s contribution to Celtic throughout his two very profitable durations on the membership,” the assertion launched on Monday night learn.
“Brendan leaves Celtic with our thanks for the position he has performed throughout a interval of continued success for the membership and we want him additional success sooner or later.
“The method to nominate a brand new everlasting supervisor is underway and the membership will replace supporters additional on this as quickly as attainable.
“We’re happy that in this interim interval former Celtic supervisor, Martin O’Neill and former Celtic participant, Shaun Maloney have agreed to take cost of Celtic first-team issues. Additional particulars will likely be confirmed shortly.”
talkSPORT perceive Rodgers’ choice to go away early into the season has come as a shock to the board, although there had been rigidity between the 2 events over a perceived lack of funding within the workforce.
Shortly after the announcement of Rodgers’ departure, Desmond, Celtic’s largest particular person shareholder, launched a surprising assertion the place he accused the Northern Irishman of making a ‘poisonous environment’.
Desmond tears into Rodgers with sharply-worded assertion
“Once we introduced Brendan again to Celtic two years in the past, it was carried out with full belief and perception in his skill to steer the membership into a brand new period of sustained success. Sadly, his conduct and communication in current months haven’t mirrored that belief,” Desmond stated.
“In June, each [CEO] Michael Nicholson and I expressed to Brendan that we have been eager to supply him a contract extension, to reaffirm the membership’s full backing and long-term dedication to him. He stated he would wish to consider it and revert. But in subsequent press conferences, Brendan implied that the membership had made no dedication to supply him a contract. That was merely unfaithful.
“We met with Brendan frequently, together with in December final 12 months and in the beginning of the summer time, with common dialogue in between, to debate and agree our collective technique, priorities, and strategy.
“Each participant signed and each participant bought throughout his tenure was carried out so with Brendan’s full information, approval, and endorsement. Any insinuation in any other case is completely false.
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“His later public statements about transfers and membership operations got here fully out of the blue. At no level previous to these remarks had he raised any such considerations with me, Michael, or any member of the Board or government workforce.
“In actuality, he was given closing say over all soccer issues and was persistently backed within the recruitment course of — together with file funding in gamers he personally recognized and authorized.
“When his feedback have been made publicly, I sought to deal with them straight. Brendan and I met for over three hours at his residence in Scotland to debate the problem. Regardless of ample alternative, he was unable to establish a single occasion the place the membership had obstructed or didn’t assist him. The information didn’t match his public narrative.
“Regrettably, his phrases and actions since then have been divisive, deceptive, and self-serving. They’ve contributed to a poisonous environment across the membership and fuelled hostility in the direction of members of the manager workforce and the board. A few of the abuse directed at them, and at their households, has been fully unwarranted and unacceptable.
“Each member of the board and government workforce is deeply keen about Celtic and acts always with professionalism, integrity, and a shared want for fulfillment. What has failed not too long ago was not because of our construction or mannequin, however to at least one particular person’s want for self-preservation on the expense of others.
“Celtic’s construction — the place the supervisor oversees soccer, the Chief Government manages operations, and the board gives oversight — has served the membership with nice success for greater than twenty years. All of us share the identical ambition: to make sure Celtic’s continued success domestically and to attain additional progress in Europe.
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“Each pound generated by the membership is reinvested in the direction of these objectives and the continual enchancment of Celtic Soccer Membership.
“Celtic is bigger than anybody individual. Our focus now could be on restoring concord, strengthening the squad, and persevering with to construct a membership worthy of its values, traditions, and supporters.”
Rodgers’ second stint at Celtic
Rodgers departs with the Glaswegian giants sitting second within the Scottish Premiership on 17 factors, eight behind league leaders Hearts.
His exit got here on the again of an alarming run through which the Hoops had received simply twice of their final seven fixtures throughout all competitions.
The loss to Hearts additionally marked Rodgers’ 123rd match in command of Celtic throughout his second stint on the membership.
In that point, Rodgers led the Hoops to 2 Scottish Premiership titles, a Scottish Cup and a Scottish League Cup.
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Rodgers’ departure arrived sooner than some had anticipated, as talkSPORT revealed earlier in October the previous Liverpool boss was more and more prone to depart the membership on the finish of the season when his contract was because of expire.
O’Neill and Maloney’s Celtic connection
As for O’Neill, the interim appointment marks his second stint within the Celtic Park dugout.
O’Neill first took the reins of Celtic in June 2000 and was on the helm till Could 2005, when he resigned so he may take care of his spouse who had lymphoma.
Throughout his 5 years in cost, O’Neill guided Celtic to a few Scottish Premiership titles, three Scottish Cups, one Scottish League Cup and a runners-up end within the UEFA Cup.
The interim position additionally marks O’Neill’s first managerial gig since he left Nottingham Forest in June 2019.
As for Maloney, he makes a return to the membership he started his enjoying profession with and went on to make 138 appearances for.
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O’Neill and Maloney aren’t any strangers to one another both, as the previous managed the Scotland worldwide on 106 events for the Hoops and Aston Villa.
The duo’s first match in cost is on Wednesday as Celtic host Falkirk in a league fixture.
Jamie O’Hara lauds interim appointment of O’Neill
Celtic’s choice handy management to O’Neill on a brief foundation was hailed by talkSPORT’s Jamie O’Hara, who felt the 73-year-old may kind a robust tandem with Maloney within the dugout.
“Martin O’Neill is a superb supervisor,” O’Hara stated on the Sports activities Bar.
“Who’s to say he cannot go in there and do a great job with Shaun Maloney, who’s clearly youthful than him, who could be his little bit of a, you recognize, sidekick.
“And Martin O’Neill could be the person with the expertise and the respect that the gamers in all probability want. They’ve had a foul begin to the season, actually, have not they, Celtic.
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“And, you recognize, getting overwhelmed by Hearts on the weekend was a stinker for them.
“You understand, if Rangers are in turmoil, actually, they need to be strolling this.”
O’Hara additionally speculated whether or not Rodgers took the chance to leap ship with a job elsewhere in thoughts.
“So possibly he is come to the tip, Brendan Rodgers thought, ‘that is in all probability simply not for me,'” O’Hara stated.
“Perhaps there’s one other job within the pipeline possibly arising that he may suppose that he desires and doubtless thinks, ‘I will depart now’.”