‘Brendan Rodgers to leave Celtic after latest Rangers defeat’
Brendan Rodgers might already have one eye firmly fixed on the Celtic exit doors following a disappointing defeat to Rangers on Sunday.
Supporters at Celtic Park have taken quite a bit of persuading to open their hearts back up to the Northern Irishman, having left them crushed in 2019 for a job with Leicester City.
Despite spending four years at the King Power Stadium, his time in England came to an inevitable end and he came crawling back, at least in the eyes of some. Parts of the fanbase welcomed him back with open arms, but others were not so open-minded.
Rodgers looks to have already proven why he returned to Scotland, all but confirming another Scottish Premiership title while making their rivals look like a mid-table team.
In addition to that, the Hoops finally made it deep into the Champions League, bypassing the likes of RB Leipzig, Club Brugge and Atalanta before narrowly being knocked out by Bayern Munich.
However, the 52-year-old is now on the wrong side of consecutive Old Firm defeats in the league after Barry Ferguson’s Rangers side conquered Celtic Park on 16 March, having narrowly avoided three in a row with a penalty shoot-out victory in the League Cup final.
Brendan Rodgers likely fuming after Celtic Park embarrassment
The Hoops had a chance to wrap up the Scottish Premiership title in style, handing yet another blow to Rangers, but Ferguson, who is not at all rated at Celtic Park, masterminded a win on Sunday afternoon.
Philippe Clement was on the brink of being sacked by Rangers when Celtic lost the last meeting 3-0, putting yet another smear on his record with the reigning Scottish Premiership champions.
There is no question that Rodgers’ side will go on to lift the league title this season, with the Gers still 13 points behind but it does raise questions over how much of his success back in Scotland is down to his own work and how much has been the failures of his opposite numbers at Ibrox.
And while Hoops fans might be largely content with his management while he marches towards trophies each year relatively unopposed, it will be a different matter if the Light Blues can finally mount a proper fightback.
| Rangers’ previous Old Firm results | Competition |
| Celtic 2-3 Rangers | Scottish Premiership |
| Rangers 3-0 Celtic | Scottish Premiership |
| Celtic 3(5)-(4)3 Rangers | Scottish League Cup |
| Celtic 3-0 Rangers | Scottish Premiership |
| Celtic 1-0 Rangers | Scottish Cup |
Premier League jobs could appear at any moment for Celtic boss
A job with the Foxes in the Premier League drew him out of Scotland last time, and with Ally McCoist telling Football Insider that Rodgers could leave Celtic for a Premier League job again, fans might be fearing, or even hoping for, a repeat.
Ipswich Town and Leicester are both on the brink of being relegated but Ivan Juric’s first season at Southampton could come to a sorry end, only picking up nine points so far.
But it is not just the idea of moving back to England that will be distracting Rodgers from his job at Celtic Park, with decisions in the boardroom also causing frustrations for the manager.
It is no secret that selling Kyogo Furuhashi to Rennes during the winter transfer window was a bad call, especially after failing to bring in a suitable replacement for the goalscoring machine.
If Rodgers is not allowed the freedom to sign some much-needed reinforcement during the summer window, it could turn out to be a rather quick reunion with his old team before moving on to new pastures.
Additionally, if he can’t rely on triumphing against a chaotic and inconsistent Rangers in the Old Firm derby in the way Ange Postecoglou regularly did there may not be quite the amount of resistance at Parkhead, or among supporters, to Rodgers moving on as there was the first time.