The former Parkhead hero has had his say on the shock events at his old club and he couldn’t get his head around one thing
06:30, 01 Nov 2025
Brendan Rodgers has sensationally quit as Celtic boss
Seeing Martin O’Neill in his tracksuit and boots on the Celtic Park touchline was almost surreal.
I was half expecting to hear instructions being barked into my ear.
My old boss seemed to enjoy himself, but as much as it was nice to see him back out there, it just summed up a frankly incredible and surreal week at the club. In truth, that’s an understatement. Explosive and stunning is probably a more-accurate description.
Martin is back, but to be honest, it’s surely more as a shield to Shaun Maloney. The figurehead who can take the attention from Shaun and let him get on with it. Maybe also a shield to the board in an attempt to create some feelgood.
Shaun is going to know the current squad better. That’s not being unfair to Martin, just the fact he’s been around the club in recent times. I’m sure Maloney will be dealing with the finer details ahead of the semi-final against Rangers.
The fact Brendan Rodgers is no longer Celtic manager for the game at Hampden does not shock me. Let’s be honest, I said in this very column seven days ago that I felt he wanted to leave, yet the circumstances left my head spinning.
Resignation was not top of my list, but that’s what it was and I have absolutely no question it comes back to the same old thing. Recruitment. It was a disaster in the summer. I don’t care what anyone says. Rodgers did not get the quality to replace the quality that has left since January. Nothing that is said is going to alter my view on that.
Are you telling me that, when Kyogo Furuhashi left at the start of the year, Rodgers got an A4 piece of paper, wrote the names Shin Yamada, Callum Osmand and Kelechi Iheanacho on it and handed it over as his wishlist for replacements?
What did shock me was the subsequent statement that came from Dermot Desmond. Never in all my years as a player or a pundit have I seen or read anything quite like that. It was an annihilation of Brendan. An absolute slaughter job and it didn’t sit well with me.
Now I understand there will be people out there who think that Desmond is quite right to give his side of the story, the side from the board.
Former Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers(Image: PA)
That, if Rodgers gets to say his piece at weekly press conferences, then so should those above him when the time is right.
But I don’t feel Brendan ever caned the board. He wanted better work in the transfer market and said as much, but he didn’t directly criticise. Desmond did more than criticise. He took a flamethrower to Rodgers’ character and I’d have to wonder what prospective incoming managers would make of that.
Does any individual think: If I join Celtic and have a fall-out with the hierarchy, am I going to get some of that, too? If that’s the case, I’ll steer clear. Perhaps not, but I wouldn’t blame anyone if they did. One thing I will say is that, if anyone thinks an unrest towards the board from fans has just come about in the past few months due to Brendan’s comments, that’s to ignore events over the past decade or so.
There were ‘Don’t sleep at wheel’ protests during Neil Lennon’s second tenure, top tiers of the stadium being closed in Ronny Deila’s time due to apathy. This has been going on long before and after Rodgers’ two spells.
Celtic Fans Voice Their Opinions on Brendan Rodgers Resignation As Martin O’Neill Checks In At Celtic Park
I didn’t like the way John Kennedy was just harpooned out of the door. I have no relationship with John other than the fact he was a young player at the club when I was still there and I don’t know the facts or the details of why it happened, but it seemed a brutal way to go after 27 years of service.
Look, change was coming. Brendan was done and we could all see that at Tynecastle last Sunday. The team was abject and had just stopped performing. You can say that was down to the Honda Civic stuff, which I reiterate, he shouldn’t have said.
But the ending was unedifying and Celtic are now on the hunt. If you’re asking who I’d want to see as the club’s next manager, I’d say Ange Postecoglou. But the truth is I don’t think that will happen as it sounds like he wants a break. I’d like to think the club has asked. I’ve heard the other candidates like everyone else. Some good names in there such as Kieran McKenna, but if it’s not Postecoglou, I have no other strong candidate at the top of my mind.
For now, it’s Martin and Shaun and their job is to ensure Celtic are still fighting for the honours by the time the new guy enters the building.
Celtic interim boss Martin O’Neill with his assistant Shaun Maloney
Beating Falkirk was a good start for the pair. Sinking Rangers would be superb for them. Is it going to happen? I think it is too close to call.
The league meeting at Ibrox earlier this season was dreadful in terms of quality and it wouldn’t shock me one bit if it ended up 0-0 again and went to penalties.
If Celtic do win it, it’ll bring some short-term joy for the supporters. But it’s not going to erase the sorry chapter in the history of the club that’s been the last week.
