Brendan Rodgers seems fed up with Celtic. Celtic seem fed up with him.
Stands to reason, then, that losing at Hearts this afternoon and slipping eight points behind in the title race would be the perfect juncture at which to end the stand-off between the manager and his board of directors by sacking him. Doesn’t it?
It is already taken as read that Rodgers is destined for pastures new. That he will run down his contract and sail into the distance at the end of the season with the rancour that accompanied his decision to jump ship to Leicester City first time round long forgotten and everyone parting as the best of friends. Or, at least, pretending so.
That would be the cordial way to do it. To let Rodgers be seen to be leaving on his own terms. To prevent anyone having to face up to the uncomfortable business of conceding that bringing him back for a second spell as the most expensive head coach in the club’s history — stand up, majority shareholder Dermot Desmond — didn’t really deliver as expected.
The only problem is that Celtic, in footballing terms, have fallen off the face of a cliff since New Year and are in serious danger of giving themselves a mountain to climb in a league competition that should really be a one-horse canter all the way down the hill to the finishing line.
Hearts must be licking their lips at the prospect of welcoming Rodgers and Co to Gorgie at lunchtime. Derek McInnes’ men are on a roll and getting better. They are scoring goals from all over the park while Celtic are struggling to score at all.
Brendan Rodgers has worn the look of an increasingly frustrated and unhappy manager of late
Disconsolate Celtic stars troop off the field following the embarrassing 2-0 loss at Dens Park
Rodgers is at a loss to fathom how his side failed to come out on top against Dundee
Cameron Carter-Vickers is out for the visitors, Kelechi Iheanacho is injured after five starts — as you might expect from someone who had barely played for a year before arriving in a panic — and there are doubts over Daizen Maeda and Alistair Johnston.
The champions are there for the taking and there is a cogent case to be made for putting a home win on your fixed odds coupon. Just as there is a cogent case to be made for putting Rodgers out of his misery should it all go belly-up.
That Celtic’s squad is in such a state that there are real conversations going on about Johnny Kenny starting at centre-forward and maybe even Dane Murray playing at centre-back is by no means to be laid purely at the feet of Rodgers.
The board, led by CEO Michael Nicholson, made a mess of the transfer window just gone. It is a disgrace that Kyogo Furuhashi has never been adequately replaced at centre-forward and unforgivable that reinforcements ready for first-team action did not arrive before that calamitous Champions League play-off loss to Kairat Almaty.
The directors are fully deserving of the heat being placed on them by a mutinous fan base.
However, simply because those in the boardroom have failed to translate cash in the bank to progression on the pitch, that does not mean Rodgers can get away scot-free. Far from it. Indeed, you could make an argument that the reason those upstairs were reluctant to start chucking around money like confetti again during the summer is that they’d reached a point where they didn’t know whether Rodgers could be trusted with it any longer.
Celtic finance chief Michael Nicholson must shoulder a lot of the blame for the club’s decline
Over the course of last term, almost £40million was spent on Arne Engels, Auston Trusty, Adam Idah, Paulo Bernardo and Jota. Engels is now more sub than starter, Trusty can’t get Liam Scales out of the team, Idah’s been punted at a loss and Bernardo is a bit-part player.
Jota is, admittedly, injured, but he looked a shadow of himself after returning from Rennes. Kieran Tierney, of course, was also tied up on a pre-contract back in January and that five-year deal on huge wages is looking more and more like a questionable vanity project than a market masterstroke.
Just consider the lack of debate around the last Scotland double-header over what should be done about him and Andy Robertson vying for the left-back slot. Robertson started, Steve Clarke played a back four, Tierney was benched. No arguments.
It was classic case of shutting the door after the horse had bolted, admittedly, but £10m was also spent following the Kairat humiliation on two left-wingers in Seb Tounekti and Michel-Ange Balikwisha. Balikwisha, of course, can no longer get a start.
Rodgers will no doubt want to strengthen again in January. Here’s a question to chew over, though. Why finance more permanent deals in the winter window when the manager looks like he’s off? If anything, bringing in a new guy and reshaping a desperately stale operation along the lines of his vision might be a smarter long-term move.
Kieran Tierney has failed to hit the heights expected of him on his return to Celtic
In truth, under Rodgers and the lesser-spotted Paul Tisdale, head of football operations, we are now at a point where it has become impossible to know what Celtic’s transfer strategy is at all.
It is equally difficult to detail just how bad the football has become. Celtic are lucky to be just five points off the top. Were it not for a last-gasp penalty at Kilmarnock – the kind of penalty that SFA refereeing chief Willie Collum has said he never wants to see given again — the Parkhead outfit would be seven adrift.
The 0-0 draw at Ibrox was just the latest failure against a Rangers side steeped in permanent crisis. In the first derby of 2025, Rodgers’ men copped a three-goal thwacking in Govan before losing 3-2 at home to Ibrox caretaker boss Barry Ferguson in March.
Put simply, Rodgers doesn’t beat Rangers any more. He doesn’t win many big games at all. Reference the shocking shoot-out loss to Aberdeen in the Scottish Cup final.
His side didn’t turn up — and their failings have only heightened since summer. Rodgers rejoined Celtic to rebuild the club in Europe. As it is, he’ll be leaving in the wake of recording their worst-ever result in that arena.
In the league, it has taken late goals to beat St Mirren and Motherwell. The goalless home draw with Hibs raised many red flags. Last weekend’s 2-0 loss at Dundee was unforgivable.
McInnes and Rodgers square off today in a match that will have huge significance on title race
Rodgers, meanwhile, carries on making his displeasure over transfer activity felt, like a stuck record. It came to a head at Dens when he said he was being asked to drive a Ferrari when given the keys to a Honda Civic. His suggestion since that he aimed the remark at his players doesn’t wash.
The Irishman has long been clear over his unhappiness regarding signings. He can’t back down now. And that’s fine, but it’s a risky strategy to operate, particularly when you are no longer delivering results against opposition with a fraction of your wage bill.
In most walks of life, having a go at your bosses in public would have you in line for the tin tack. There’s already been one report with a source inside the club stating Rodgers’ remarks over summer dealings were tearing the place apart. A penny for their thoughts after the Honda Civic analogy.
Sure, the clever money would suggest the board won’t wield the axe should this failing team slide deeper into the mire at Tynecastle. It would leave Desmond with egg on his face after enticing Rodgers back and put Nicholson and his cohorts under greater heat.
That doesn’t mean it shouldn’t happen, though. If it was anyone else, given the way the team is treading water and results are on a downward trend, a Gorgie gubbing would surely make it a fait accompli.
