The first question I was asked this morning by a solicitor and non-football fan was, “How much is Brendan Rodgers worth?” I said, “He’s probably earned around £30m over the last 15 years”. “So he has enough to sue, if anything Dermot Desmond said is wrong”, came back. You and I both know, he’s not going to sue. It’s all true. It is also high time Celtic took a direct approach to communicating with the supporters.
Who of us would have guessed that Brendan Rodgers, Brendan Rodgers, the man of legendary impeccable character, would have his “conduct and communication” called into question? How shocked was I to read that Brendan’s assertion about the club were “simply untrue”! Untruths come easier to some than others.
Two players in particular are pertinent to the assertion that Brendan had “full knowledge, approval, and endorsement” of players bought and sold; Kyogo and Nicolas Kuhn. “Sell them” is not what should have been said when offers came in for either player. Brendan has favourites in the squad. Others, not so much.
The first thing Martin O’Neill is likely to do when he meets the squad is put an arm around Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda, and put a call into Cameron Carter-Vickers. Where there are favourites, there are outsiders. Celtic have looked and played like a team divided for most of this year.
This absolute mess was predictable and predicted. On his return as manager in June 2023, I wrote, “Brendan will find a united dressing room, backroom and supporter base. We should all try hard to keep things this way, self-indulgent schisms do nothing for Celtic.” Two years later Dermot Desmond wrote that Brendan’s words and actions were “divisive, misleading, and self-serving”.
Predicted: “Self-indulgent schisms” and we got “divisive… self-serving”. I called it.
The wee-man toxicity that left the club in 2019 was welcomed back to my utter astonishment. Pardon my, “Welcome to Celtic, Brendan” on the day, it was with the best intentions but not entirely sincere.
Martin O’Neill was brought in with a remit to unite the dressing room. A team divided cannot win. Players need to know they are respected. The Honda Civic stuff was not a material comment, merely a public manifestation of what had been the reality at Lennoxtown for a long time.
Celtic has been set back years as a consequence of the decision to appoint Brendan in 2023. I hope the board recognise this, reflect how it came about and on their role in the mess. If you welcome the fox into the hen house, you cannot complain when he eats the hens.
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The only difference between the sad old guys who were always moaning about Celtic back then vs now is that they didn’t get spoon fed what to moan about by blog parasites who actually make a living out of stoking up the bitterness amongst the ‘hard of thinking’ or those who simply just want to be perma rage at a club they claim to want to succeed.
Funny that loads of these clickbait blogs are run by folk who really do try to make a living from them because they are not capable of doing so otherwise. Not for the good of the club.
Paul’s motives here are consistent. To ensure there is an outlet that can explain and give an alternative answer to the well trodden media crap we have to endure. ‘What happened to the Seville money’ was they cry. The answer is it became a debt which DD and others had to bale us out from. Hence we are where we are.
Of course few of these malcontents pro bloggers have ever actually had to ‘own the issues’ they opine on. Just as few posters can even tell us who we should be signing each window.
If 25 years of incredible success leads to this amount of misery then perhaps the strategy might be better to go back to playing second or third fiddle for a bit. Brendan was nearly taking us there anyway.
£5 million for McKenna seemingly, if he wants to come we won’t pay him what he’s currently on
Any word from our CEO yet?
Any club thanks for John Kennedy yet?
Or do we only issue comms that are unhinged and knee jerk?
McKenna’s Ipswich won 4 out of 38 games in EPL last season and they are currently 12th in Championship, 11 points off top spot after 12 games. Maybe he has been there too long (since 2021) or maybe he’s already peaked?
“growing unrest”
A prevailing narrative perhaps but based on what?
FWIW – among the small groups of online yap I participate in?
The overall mood is slightly (only slightly) more positive as a result of yesterday’s developments.
Let’s hope that MON and Shaun identify the weakness in tactics and play players to their strengths and hold the fort until a manager is appointed. Hoping too that the unspent kitty from last summer will be for the new manager and potential signings in January and summer.
I think MON is a very good interim appointment. It seems all of this happened very quickly yesterday, so for us to get him and Maloney in place so soon is good news for us.
MON will steady the ship and calm the nerves. He will need to find the leaders in the group and identify the players that are going to lead from the front.
I was glad to see him confirm he has no desire to stay longer than necessary. I recall the latter stages of his last tenure and the football was pretty dire.
Best of luck to the new Bhoys.
BBC 4 tonight @ 9 o’clock: How the Celts saved Britain. Thought that might cheer us up.
If BR is going to say something, he needs to wait till after tomorrow’s game
MON played 3-5-2,not sure how SM lined up
I routinely find myself in what I believe to be a minority space on CQN.
Having never met either, I quite like (or at least can live with) Brendan Rodgers AND Peter Lawwell.
Binary stances taken and held to doggedly?
… About any individual person
Particularly one you’ve never met?
Unhelpful and uninformed IMHO.
I’ve no doubt there are genuine angels and genuine devils out there.
Equally though … I’ve no doubt that the vast majority of human beings are somewhere in between.
Kieran McKenna’s profile is frighteningly similar to Russell Martin’s. Just saying…
I liked Bada’s idea about Martinez, although I think he can earn better money for considerably less hassle sticking with high profile international sides (Martinez, that is, not Bada).
Celtic40me
Catch the blog post by Graham Speirs, he tells us that MON met Dermot Desmond in London a couple of weeks ago. Irrespective of what MON said in today’s presser, I expect DD was lining up the ducks at the time and MON was up for it in the event that DD started shooting.
“I thought nothing of it when O’Neill and Dermot Desmond, Celtic’s most significant shareholder and powerbroker, were scheduled to have a coffee in London two weeks ago.”
Latest odds for your amusement:
Next Celtic Manager odds:
Kieran McKenna – 11/10
Ange Postecoglou – 2/1
Shaun Maloney – 7/1
Martin O’Neill – 9/1
Kjetil Knutsen – 12/1
Robbie Keane – 12/1
Roberto Mancini – 12/1
Marco Rose – 14/1
Ruud van Nistelrooy – 14/1
Damien Duff – 16/1
Edin Terzic – 16/1
Michael Carrick – 16/1
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer – 16/1
Wilfried Nancy – 16/1
I must admit I had never heard of Wilfried Nancy but over on FF there were a few panicking that we might get him. Highly rated in MLS.
Very surprised no money going on Muscat. Available in a few weeks and with a better CV than Ange had.
watched Martin’s presser………..
He looks in fine fettle and largely performed brilliantly…………
The hunned-up meeja got very little of what their hearts desired – pun intended.
We can’t take success for granted – I suspect, like most declines they get worse, much worse before they get better. Whoever we play now quite rightly smell blood in the water.
HHH
on 28TH OCTOBER 2025 4:42 PM
Yesterday, Celtic Football Club confirmed that Brendan Rodgers had left his position as manager. The signs of decline have been evident since the summer, and this crisis has come as a direct result of a clear absence of planning and the latest poorly executed transfer window
1. Only weeks ago, the Chief Executive assured the Celtic Fans Collective that “the Club did not accept there is a disconnect between the board and the manager”, which has now been directly contradicted by the Principal Shareholder in a statement hosted on the Club’s official platform.
———
What do you expect a CEO to say in this position. Relative to the time the comments were made?
” Celtic go for Duffer”………..
can almost see the headlines now…..
Sigh CSC
HHH
bankiebhoy.
all the questions came from celtic bloggers
Stivs
Thanks. Noted.
Surprised………
HH
Celtic40me
Catch the blog post by Graham Speirs, he tells us that MON met Dermot Desmond in London a couple of weeks ago. Irrespective of what MON said in today’s presser, I expect DD was lining up the ducks at the time and MON was up for it in the event that DD started shooting.
“I thought nothing of it when O’Neill and Dermot Desmond, Celtic’s most significant shareholder and powerbroker, were scheduled to have a coffee in London two weeks ago
———
MON is on record as saying he expected BR to finish the season and ‘had to pick himself off the floor yesterday when he received the call’.
This was not planned or executed behind Brendan’s back.
THE BATTERED BUNNET on 28TH OCTOBER 2025 6:15 PM
Not sure that’s fair. Martin took over one of the favourites for the Championship, got them up then looked odds on to get the lowest ever EPL points tally before being sacked.
McKenna took over a club that stagnated in League One and achieved two successive promotions. I’d say McKenna’s profile is more similar to Howe pre-Newcastle
Bankiebhoy
Cute move for MON to ‘stand behind’ his comment yesterday that this is “Hearts’ time”. Switches the pressure a little, off him and his players and onto them.
Celtic manager says Hearts are favourites for the title.
He can go about his business meantime and let McInnes look over his shoulder.
Of course, behind the scenes it’ll be rather different. I remember Paul Lambert saying he asked MON for advice when he got his first management gig. MON told him he had to “get the players running for him”. First base. That was a noticeable problem with our current side recently.
If all MON does it to get them running for him, it’ll make a difference.
We’ll see.
It looks like things moved quickly yesterday and the Hertz game was the final straw.
With 10 games between them, I wonder if the decision to play Donovan and Murray together was viewed internally as a deliberate act of self sabotage.
so unless i missed something the neds are all up for reelection.
and the shareholders will all vote with dd.
nothing is changing.
bankiebhoy1- I watched the press conference and heard questions like “what can we do to score more goals?” so I assumed there were fans media involved as well as the MSM. To be honest, I thought the tone was ok. People obviously wanted to hear his thoughts on Brendan’s resignation which he said wasn’t for him to comment on.
I thought Shaun looked startled and wide eyed like a rabbit caught in the headlights – which he probably is. He was extremely complimentary towards Brendan. Said he is a great coach.
Also highly complimentary towards JL.
I don’t see Shaun being a leader out on the training ground, at players being willing to run through brick walls for him. But I have nothing to back that up with, it’s just a gut feeling and could be way off the mark.
A young MoN was a very different proposition. Players would go to war for him, loved and feared by all (including the media). The 73 year old Grandad figure is just too nice a bloke in my opinion. Can picture him regaling the players about games and times gone by before falling asleep in his armchair.
I watched Ipswich in the flesh last season and they were competitive but didn’t have quite enough to survive.
I would be surprised if he would come to Celtic though – would expect Ipswich to at least secure a play off spot and that might well be enough to keep him in situ.
GEEBEE
Eddie Howe took Bournemouth into the EPL as Champions and kept them there for 4 seasons, each season improving on the last until he ran out of juice in season 5. Even then he was a single point away from beating the drop.
By that point – 2020 – he’s so far ahead of the other two in experience and performance that he’s in another orbit altogether.
All the current crop of players will see before them – is their grandad.
What about the players – how do they feel
I wonder what they make of our Host today – slagging off their Manager
I would love to be a fly on the wall inside the Celtic changing room earlier today
Were the players happy the Manager had gone or were they downbeat
The mood of the players will have more of an impact than any letter written by DD or Paul67
IMHO
For divisive read – those that are helping the team and those that are not
Self Serving read – speaking out about the lack of support
Gone for Good read – Bye Bye 13 trophies out of 16
Having read most of the comments on here today – as well as watching various youtube “specials
I will settle on the piece written by
lionroars67 on 28th October 2025 4:42 pm – brilliant
Thanks Brendan but what happens now
Well tomorrow night will give us a clue – not the answer as its early days
Will the players be relinquished from some sort of restricted style of football and come out and play The Glasgow Celtic Way – more importantly will they win ?
Or are we in for high possession stats – but no or minimal shots on target
Martin and Shaun will have limited input into tomorrow only the players can change the style /results
Obviously I want a win tomorrow night but I don’t expect a revampt team
With or without Brendan someone needs to score the goals
I hope/pray for a revampt performance that shows we are galvanised and set free to play and score for fun
I expect a tough night
Either way personally I need to move on – what’s done is done
Hail Hail
67ECW
Thankfully Martin stopped short of saying that Hearts were the benchmark, just!
“There’s no such thing as bad publicity…..
except your own obituary”
brendanbehancsc
TBB…
“Cute move for MON to ‘stand behind’ his comment yesterday that this is “Hearts’ time”
Of course it’s cute. Remember when he arrived he said Rangers were the benchmark and look what happened.
some say rodgers had lost the dressing room with his comments – he most certainly had not lost his captain
calmac stepped up at the weekend
i had a new found respect for him – tho i was being an 4rse if i’d lost any
he’ll be every bit as important as mon and shaun in the coming weeks
for me jk leaving says more about the shitshow at CP than BR leaving…
Hearts are probably , really the benchmark!
HH
TBB,
Aye – I’m a huge fan of Mon and really appreciate his way of handling pressers. His time has come and gone but he still has some clout, I think we’ll have more difficult times in the short to medium term but can rely on Mon to have our best interests at heart…..
Denia – aye. I think Shaun lacks credibility as a leader but would be a very good asset on the training ground.
Log in
Just cant believe that just 3 short months ago we were champions, now, a laughing stock.
Break my heart
KINGLUBO
My 2 bobs worth
I’m delighted BR has gone for the primary reason that I was 100pc sure we were not winning the league this year with him in charge until May.
Now im 50/50 so that’s obviously better.
I was also glad that DD made his statement and trashed Brendan.
He deserved it due to his sleekit soundbites and poor me attitude.
He was never ever a Celtic fan, just a money-daft Brendan fan.
If Brendan had have went to the board with his recommendations for 3 forwards at a combined £25m the board would have signed them….but no, Brendan had no ideas other than Ferguson, Sterling and Grealish and every player he was offered he turned them down.
Lastly for a new manager….I am almost certain we’ll try for Knutsen.
I think we might have a chance and I think he will be our new manager in January.