First Celtic player responds to Brendan Rodgers’ shock exit with ‘revenge’ jibe

Brendan Rodgers resigned as Celtic manager on Monday following their defeat to Hearts at the weekend and was subsequently hammered in a brutal statement by the club’s majority shareholder

Brendan Rodgers walked out on Celtic just before 10pm on Monday night, sparking bedlam at Parkhead. Savaged by a scathing statement from Dermot Desmond, the club’s majority shareholder as he departed.

Rodgers’ second spell at Celtic ended after Sunday’s 3-1 Premiership defeat at Hearts left them eight points adrift of the Edinburgh side. Former boss Martin O’Neill and Shaun Maloney have been put in temporary charge at Parkhead. A Celtic statement said: “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 process to appoint a new permanent manager is under way 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.”

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It was far different from the comments by Desmond. And on social media, summer signing Michel-Ange Balikwisha appeared to take aim at his former boss too.

Balikwisha is one of the new arrivals whom Rodgers struggled to get a tune out of before his bombshell exit.

The Belgian is yet to score for the Hoops and hasn’t started a game since September. And it appears that he has taken that rather personally, given the post which appeared on his Instagram late last night, only to then be taken down.

He posted a picture of him on his knees celebrating one of their recent goals at home. And while the prayer and pointing emojis in the caption don’t give too much away, upon closer inspection the post also contains a reference to the Bible passage Romans 12:19.

That passage is best known for the line: “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath.”

Thus, it appears he wasn’t a fan of the outgoing Bhoys boss.

Rodgers repeatedly took aim at the board over the club’s summer business, with raging fans ramping up the pressure on the hierarchy demanding their removal. That has led fans to demand answers from principal shareholder Desmond, CEO Michael Nicholson and chairman Peter Lawwell.

Certainly, in the wake of Rodgers’ exit, Desmond has given his response, labelling Rodgers “divisive, misleading, and self-serving.”

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