Keith Jackson is adamant the Irishman was left with no choice but to walk away from the job

18:50, 28 Oct 2025Updated 20:56, 28 Oct 2025

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There is an element of acceptance from some sections of the Celtic support that Brendan Rodgers’ departure was inevitable given what has transpired in the early months of the season.

But our man in the know Keith Jackson is convinced that the Irishman’s ‘resignation’ from the hot seat at Parkhead is not all as it seems and that it’s insulting to suggest otherwise.

The former Liverpool boss called it quits on his second stint with the Hoops in a shock announcement confirmed by the club on Monday night, which was quickly followed up by a scathing attack on his own behaviour in recent weeks from Celtic’s largest shareholder, Dermot Desmond.

With the champions in action against Falkirk on Wednesday night, the club have drafted in Martin O’Neill to take the reins on an interim basis, 20 years after his first Celtic exit, but fans have already had enough and will launch another protest against the hierarchy prior to kick-off at Parkhead.

And Jackson believes Rodgers has been the victim of a power play by Irish billionaire Desmond.

Speaking on Tuesday’s Record Sport Hotline Live, he said: “I’m not convinced this was, how you would describe, a typical resignation.

“A typical resignation decides he has had enough and it’s time to go. I don’t believe that’s the head space Brendan Rodgers was in when all this happened last night.

“I strongly suspect he was almost blind-sided by a move made by Dermot Desmond and he was left with no other position but to resign. I don’t believe Brendan Rodgers would have chosen that course of action.

“I think it’s quite savage in the way he has been publicly been brought down and I don’t think it reflects well on Dermot Desmond and the board. It was brutal in nature and vicious in its delivery and also crass, vulgar and jaw-droppingly unprofessional.

“Dermot Desmond is using the club as his play thing right now and I think that’s insulting to the supporters.

Dermot Desmond(Image: Getty Images)

“I’m guessing that Brendan Rodgers will release a statement through the LMA in England that will be carefully legal and vetted because there will be all sorts of legal ramifications from what happened last night.

“I have got information that makes me very confident to say that late yesterday evening, Brendan Rodgers was still behaving like the manager of Celtic.

“He was taking and receiving texts and there was no indication from any of his conversations that he was pinging messages on his phone in one hand, he was actually writing his resignation in the other.

“This is not a resignation issue. This is you, (Desmond) deciding that this guy isn’t fit for your football club. Why on earth would you wait for Brendan Rodgers to decide that he’ll leave on his terms?

“That’s not what happened yesterday. And it’s insulting people’s intelligence to suggest anything otherwise, I feel.”