Brendan Rodgers RESIGNS from Celtic with Scottish giants eight points adrift of league leaders Hearts – as club legend returns to dugout

Brendan Rodgers has sensationally resigned from Celtic with the club eight points behind shock Scottish Premiership leaders Hearts.

It comes amid a season of turmoil with regular fan protests against the ownership after a summer of limited spending and failure to qualify for the Champions League league phase.

His final game was a 3-1 defeat by Hearts at Tynecastle Park on Sunday.

Former Celtic boss Martin O’Neill and legendary Hoops midfielder Shaun Maloney have taken interim charge.

The club said in a statement: ‘Celtic Football Club can confirm that football manager Brendan Rodgers has today tendered his resignation. It has been accepted by the Club and Brendan will leave his role with immediate effect.

‘The club appreciates Brendan’s contribution to Celtic during his two very successful periods at the club.

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.

‘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. Further details will be confirmed shortly.’

Rodgers rejoined Celtic for his second stint in 2023 and won them another pair of Premiership titles, as well as the Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup.

His exit is just the latest drama to come out of Glasgow’s footballing world, with Rangers boss Russell Martin sacked earlier this month after a dire start to the season.

Once again, Celtic have dominated Scottish football under Rodgers’ tutelage and they even made inroads in the Champions League last season, reaching the knockout play-off phase, where they lost to Bayern Munich 3-2 on aggregate after a 94th-minute goal from Alphonso Davies.

But things have unraveled this campaign.

Over the summer, they spent £13.3 million on signings – only around half of what they accrued from selling important players.

More to follow.