Brendan Rodgers resigns as Celtic manager, Martin O’Neill and Shaun Maloney take temporary charge
Updated 28/10/2025 at 08:13 GMT
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Brendan Rodgers has resigned as Celtic manager, the Scottish Premiership club have announced. Former Bhoys boss Martin O’Neill and Shaun Maloney have agreed to take charge on a temporary basis. The Glasgow giants are second in the Scottish Premiership, eight points behind leaders Hearts. Celtic majority shareholder Dermot Desmond said Rodgers was "divisive, misleading, and self-serving".
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Brendan Rodgers has been accused of contributing towards a "toxic atmosphere" at Celtic after resigning as manager.
Rodgers was in his second spell as Celtic boss, winning successive league titles after his return in 2023. He also guided the club to Scottish Premiership titles in 2017 and 2018.
But the former Liverpool boss was under increasing pressure after a 3-1 defeat to league leaders Hearts on Sunday left Celtic eight points off top.
The club announced that former manager Martin O'Neill would return alongside ex-Celtic winger Shaun Maloney on a temporary basis.
"The club appreciates Brendan’s contribution to Celtic during his two very successful periods at the club," Celtic wrote in a statement.
"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.
"The process to appoint a new permanent manager is underway and the club will update supporters further on this as soon as possible."
O'Neill's latest managerial role was with Nottingham Forest in 2019. The 73-year-old managed Celtic between 2000 and 2005, winning three league titles, three Scottish Cups and reaching the UEFA Cup final in 2003.
Maloney, who played for Celtic under O'Neill, was most recently manager of League One side Wigan Athletic, where he spent two years after a spell with Hibernian.
Rodgers had made open complaints about the Celtic board's transfer activity before his departure, and the club's fans have this season protested against the hierarchy.
The Bhoys were knocked out in UEFA Champions League qualifying by Kairat Almaty of Kazakhstan, before an unexpected run of poor form in the league saw them drop 10 points in nine games.
After defeat at Hearts, Rodgers said: "I’ve always taken responsibility.
"There’s never been a time that I haven’t. When you’re the manager at Celtic, you’re responsible for the results, despite whatever else happens. So that responsibility is on me."
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Celtic majority shareholder Dermot Desmond launched a scathing attack on Rodgers immediately after the Northern Irishman's resignation.
In a statement, the Irish billionaire wrote: "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.
"In June, both [chief executive] Michael Nicholson and I expressed to Brendan that we were keen to offer him a contract extension, to reaffirm the club’s full backing and long-term commitment to him. He said he would need to think about it and revert. Yet in subsequent press conferences, Brendan implied that the club had made no commitment to offer him a contract. That was simply untrue.
"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. Any insinuation otherwise is absolutely false.
"His later public statements about transfers and club operations came entirely out of the blue. At no point prior to those remarks had he raised any such concerns with me, Michael, or any member of the board or executive team. In reality, 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."
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Desmond added: "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. Some of the abuse directed at them, and at their families, has been entirely unwarranted and unacceptable."
Celtic face Falkirk in the league on Wednesday, before a clash with rivals Rangers in the semi-finals of the Scottish League Cup on Sunday. That game is followed by a trip to Midtjylland in the UEFA Europa League on November 6 - live on TNT Sports and discovery+.
Stream the Premier League, UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europa League, UEFA Conference League and more on TNT Sports and discovery+.
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