Brendan Rodgers & Celtic: How irretrievable breakdown led to savage separation
Fans were furious. They now viewed him as a martyr who could be executed with his shield because his rulers did not support his vision of success.
The leak was, of course, toxic and meant to hurt Rodgers, and it did. He demanded that an investigation be opened and the culprit be suspended. If there is an investigation then we haven’t heard anything more about it.
At this point it was clear that Rodgers had lost the support of the people above him.
The usual complaints about transfers were followed by a despondent start to the season. A poor exit from the Champions League, poor home performances, the smell of rot in the air.
The blame was shifted. When Celtic lost to Dundee a few weeks ago he said: “You can’t hand over the keys to a Honda Civic and drive it like a Ferrari.”
It would have been contentious enough if Rodgers had said that after losing a big Champions League game, but after losing to Dundee – with a fraction of Celtic’s resources – it was disgraceful. He later doubled down on this.
Fans, growing weary of excuses, didn’t believe it, but if this was a fight between Rodgers and the Celtic board, Rodgers was still the clear winner in their eyes.
As usual, there was no news from Desmond, but the story of his business life tells us that he did not appreciate his people going rogue. Rodgers’ comment By Rodgers’ comment, those Desmond mustaches should have started dancing.
It was game over on Monday after defeat to Hearts left Celtic eight points behind Derek McInnes’ side. Desmond opened his laptop. Suddenly, brutally, and with almost surprising intensity, he unloaded.
Undoubtedly, the things Rodgers did and said were self-serving. He has hinted that some players were signed without his full approval, but Desmond categorically denies this.
He said as recently as Sunday that he had never been more determined to make things right because of the here and now, but that confidence had clearly vanished. In both directions.
Divorce is the smartest thing to do. It was an irreparable collapse. It’s unseemly and embarrassing.
But Rodgers brought up some good points, and while the fans may have turned on him a bit after his recent performances, they were fully behind him in other areas.
Some will now see him as a victim, a sacrificial lamb, a man who had the courage to raise the problems facing the club and was sent off for it. He was silenced and humiliated by Desmond.
This is a fair comment, but it was two parties involved in this separation.
Desmond turned this into a violent breakup with his caustic words. We’ll get Rodgers’ answer in time, but his time is over. There’s no going back this time, not even a chance to say a proper goodbye. A sad but inevitable outcome.
