The Japan Times - Brendan Rodgers resigns as Celtic manager

The club said former boss Martin O'Neill and former player Shaun Maloney would take charge of the team until a permanent successor is appointed.

Rodgers' second spell at Celtic ended after Sunday's 3-1 Scottish Premiership defeat at Hearts left them eight points adrift of the Edinburgh side.

"Football manager Brendan Rodgers has today tendered his resignation" and "will leave his role with immediate effect", Celtic said in a statement.

"Brendan leaves 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 club added that the search for a replacement was already underway.

"We are pleased that during this interim period former Celtic manager, Martin O'Neill and former Celtic player, Shaun Maloney have agreed to take charge of Celtic first-team matters," it said.

Rodgers, 52, returned for a second spell at Celtic Park in 2023, winning successive titles, to add to his league triumphs from 2017 and 2018.

He previously managed Swansea, Liverpool and Leicester and arrived at Celtic for the second time in June 2023 to succeed Ange Postecoglou.

The Northern Irishman had been at Celtic between May 2016 and February 2019, completing successive league and cup trebles.

His first season in charge saw Celtic finish with a record 106 points and become the first Scottish side to complete a top-flight season undefeated since 1899.

Rodgers continued Celtic's domestic supremacy by winning league titles in the 2023-24 and 2024-25 seasons and also lifted the Scottish Cup and the Scottish League Cup.

But clouds were gathering over the club this season with Celtic knocked out of the Champions League by Kazakhstan minnows Kairat Almaty.

- 'Honda Civic' -

Rodgers had appeared at odds with his employers over their summer transfer window policy.

After Celtic's first defeat at Dundee in 37 years this month, he said the team had "lost a lot of firepower, a lot of goals".

"And 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."

Celtic's main shareholder Dermot Desmond hit back, saying Rodgers' criticism had come "entirely out of the blue".

"At no point prior to those remarks had he raised any such concerns with me, Michael (Nicholson, chief executive), or any member of the board or executive team," Desmond said.

"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."

K.Abe--JT