Brendan Rodgers has taken charge of his final match at Celtic.
A defeat to Hearts on Sunday put the Hoops eight points behind in the Scottish Premiership table, but things didn’t seem too unusual in Rodgers’ post-match press conference.
But now, he has tendered his resignation out of nowhere. Martin O’Neill and Shaun Maloney will replace him on an interim basis.
If that already wasn’t enough, Dermot Desmond has launched a brutal attack on Rodgers in a bombshell statement.
It’s hard to believe that it’s all over. But now that he’s gone, let’s reminisce over three quotes in particular which have aged particularly interestingly.
Three quotes from Brendan Rodgers’ second spell at Celtic
‘My motivation has never been higher’
We start… 24 hours ago. Speaking after the Hearts defeat, Rodgers appeared to be even-tempered and quietly assured that he would turn things around.
READ MORE: Celtic fans react as Brendan Rodgers announces shock resignation as Celtic manager
He said: “Well, again, I am working day and night to maximise the extent threeto which we can play the game.
“So that’s always something that you look at. We got it after Dundee, we get the performance, and it’ll be the same after this one here.
“So my motivation has ever benen higher to get this team playing to a level that we want to and I’ll continue with that.”
Incredible stuff.
‘If you’re looking to maintain, I’m not your man’
Desmond’s statement confirmed talks over the summer over a new contract. Rodgers addressed these at the time.
He told Celtic TV:”[Principal shareholder] Dermot [Desmond], [chief executive] Michael [Nicholson] and I had a conversation over the summer on where we are at and I said I’m very happy here,” he said.
“There’s conditions we want to be able to improve because I’m not the type of manager that’s good at maintaining anything. If there’s just something to maintain, I’m not the manager for Celtic.
“But to build, grow, develop and push, then, of course, I love being at Celtic.”
The man behind the ‘cowardly action’
Some have suggested that Desmond could have been the man behind the leaked message that claimed Rodgers was ‘engineering his exit’.
Rodgers’ comments after the leak are interesting on reflection.
“It was interesting when I was shown that. My honest take? I thought it was a cowardly action from whoever it is.
“Was I surprised by it? Not really. I was briefed upon the last time I was here, when I left, and now that I’ve come back.”
Asked if he knew who the Celtic insider was, Rodgers simply responded: “No.”
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