Rodgers Must Go Before January - or Celtic’s Season is Finished
Rodgers' one-dimensional Celtic are being exposed weekly - and the board just watches on as their incompetence played a huge part in the club's demise on the park.
Eight points behind league leaders Hearts after a humiliating 3–1 defeat at Tynecastle, Celtic’s season is hanging by a thread. You can dress it up however you like - bad luck, abysmal form, injuries, lack of quality - but the truth is unavoidable: Brendan Rodgers must leave Celtic with immediate effect.
And if the board doesn’t act now, before the January transfer window, they’ll have no one left to blame but themselves.
A Squad That’s Better Than This
On paper, this Celtic squad should be good enough to beat anyone in Scotland. Even after a chaotic, penny-pinching transfer window that left fans angered by the lack of ambition from the board, there’s still a side capable of winning the Premiership comfortably.
But Rodgers has managed to drain every ounce of confidence and creativity from them. Where there was once pace and purpose, there’s now hesitation and lethargy. Celtic’s attacking play has become predictable, methodical, and completely devoid of imagination. The side now plods through games without spark or intensity - a shadow of what it was under Ange Postecoglou.
The system is rigid, the passing is slow, and the movement off the ball is almost non-existent. Teams have figured Celtic out. Hearts did it today. Dundee did it last week. Hibs did it before that. They sit back, wait for mistakes, and punish a one-dimensional, possession-obsessed Celtic side that couldn’t fight themselves out of a paper bag.
The Blame Lies With Rodgers
Yes, the board failed spectacularly in the summer. Their dithering in the transfer market and refusal to strengthen obvious weak areas have crippled the team’s depth. But what happens on the pitch - the tactical setup, the motivation, the performances - that’s on Rodgers.
He’s had more than enough players of quality to dominate this league. Yet under Rodgers, the squad looks confused, lifeless, lacking fight and a fire in their belly. He has taken serial winners and moulded them into a team of serial losers.
His tactical rigidity borders on delusion. There’s no plan B, no tactical flexibility, and no sense that he’s learning from defeats. His use of substitutions often feels desperate rather than deliberate, and his man-management is miles off.
Rodgers was brought back for his supposed elite-level experience - the polished manager with Premier League pedigree. But what we’ve seen is the same pattern that unfolded at Leicester, at Liverpool, and even during his first stint at Celtic - a talented squad turned stale by ego, indecision, and tactical comfort zones.
Every time Celtic lose, the post-match script is the same: talk of “mentality”, “process”, and “moments”. But there’s no process left. Just a team that looks terrified to take responsibility under a manager who’s clearly out of ideas and is merely working his ticket.
A Board Paralysed by Comfort
If Rodgers’ shortcomings are obvious, the board’s failures are catastrophic.
For years, this boardroom has confused profit with progress. They hoard money instead of investing it; they act like financial spreadsheets are silverware. Every summer they talk about sustainability and prudence while the team on the pitch stagnates.
And when it comes to major decisions, they always retreat to the same tired circle - the “old bhoys’ network” that defines Celtic’s modern decline.
It’s an echo chamber of mediocrity. Rodgers himself was a symptom of that nostalgia - the safe, familiar appointment instead of a bold new direction after Postecoglou left for Spurs.
If the board is serious about restoring Celtic’s edge, then it must finally break this pattern. Stop hoarding cash like a squirrel guarding winter nuts. Take risks. Back a manager with modern ideas and clear vision. Because right now, the club looks like it’s run by men who see the failure on the pitch secondary to what’s in the bank and don’t care about success on the park anymore.
However, I do not trust this board to do anything for the betterment of Celtic Football Club, and just like Rodgers it is now all about their ego - whether it is Peter Lawwell, Dermot Desmond or the rest of the lickspittles that feed off their scraps.
Clean Out the Entire Coaching Staff
If Rodgers goes, John Kennedy and Gavin Strachan have to go with him. Their continued presence through multiple managerial eras has turned Celtic’s coaching setup into a comfort zone rather than a performance-driven structure.
This isn’t personal - it’s about football culture. A clean break is essential to rebuild not just results, but belief. Keeping the same backroom staff again would send a clear message that nothing ever really changes, even when everything needs to.
And if a manager is to be held accountable for failure, then the backroom staff must do so also.
The Fear of the Interim Fix
But even if the board finally grows a backbone and sacks Rodgers, there’s a deeper fear - that they’ll bottle it again.
We’ve seen it before. They’ll appoint an interim until May, pray Hearts’ form dips, and hope Celtic crawl back into contention. Then, by summer, they’ll quietly reset the cycle again with another safe pair of hands - a man the board can control, a man who won’t rock the boat.
That’s exactly how mediocrity becomes institutionalised.
If Celtic want to protect their long-term future, they must identify and pursue a quality manager now - not wait for convenience or sentiment. Celtic must be proactive not their usual reactive selves.
And that brings me to one name that makes sense on every level - Kjetil Knutsen.
Knutsen: The Obvious Choice
The Norwegian has turned Bodø/Glimt into one of Europe’s most admired modern football projects. His teams are fearless, flexible, and relentlessly attacking. They develop players, dominate with high-intensity pressing, and make the most of every resource.
That’s precisely the sort of system Celtic should be built upon - particularly with the players already at their disposal. Knutsen has proven he can elevate clubs far smaller than Celtic and compete with sides richer, deeper, and supposedly far superior.
He recently rejected Ajax, which shows his standards are high. But even if convincing him now seems difficult, Celtic should make him the priority. Because this job - despite the dysfunction - remains one of the biggest in Europe for the right football mind.
But with this board, who can trust them to even pick up the phone? If they told me it was raining outside, I’d go to the window and look out for myself.
From Dominance to Decay
Rodgers inherited a treble-winning team built to attack. He’s turned it into a cautious, predictable, risk-averse side that looks beaten before a ball is even kicked. The swagger, urgency, and unity that once defined Celtic are gone.
Postecoglou’s Celtic played with freedom and fire; Rodgers’ Celtic plays with fear. It’s that simple.
And as the points gap widens to 8 points, the damage grows. Every week that Rodgers remains in charge is another step toward surrendering the title - and another sign of a board incapable of acting in the club’s best interests.
Celtic’s domestic dominance has always been their safety net. But lose that - especially to Hearts - and even the most loyal shareholders will start to ask questions the board can’t ignore.
Time to Act, Not Talk
The solution is clear. Rodgers must go now, Kennedy and Strachan with him. Then bring in a manager who commands belief and build for the future in January.
This can’t wait until the summer. The January window is the last chance to salvage the season - and Celtic must go into it with a leader who can actually inspire and revitalise this team.
Fans are already furious, and rightly so. They’ve watched the club sleepwalk from dominance into decline while the board mutters about financial balance sheets. Silence from the top now would be total negligence.
You can’t preach ambition while standing still. You can’t talk about tradition while settling for mediocrity. And you certainly can’t demand loyalty from supporters when the football they’re getting is gutless and lifeless.
Rodgers once promised progress. Now he’s the anchor dragging Celtic down by their neck.
If the board truly cares about this club’s identity, they must stop watching and start acting. Sack the manager, clear the decks, and back a real football project in January.
Because if Celtic continue to drift like this, Hearts won’t just be eight points ahead - they’ll be champions. And history books will say Brendan Rodgers and a spineless board handed it to them.
An excellent article. Buzz word brendan at press conferences appeals to the lowest common denominator in the support. these people have let themselves be convinced/conned that every issue is down solely to the board and don't understand that we also have a manager who is an expert in managed decline. The record since Bayern is mid table form in the spl. He has improved no player. Most players he has let go for ‘not being good enough’ have improved since leaving. His choices in recruitment poor. I have no idea what strategy defensively or offensively he is coaching during training as the players look like they enter the pitch with no plan. There is no ability to change the way we play mid game. His choices of staff are awful. Initial personnel decisions are poor and substitutes are desperate and too late. He is neither a coach nor a manager. The board should have known this from the first spell in charge and need to act soon rather than being held hostage in January.
Brilliant article hit every point time for Rodgers to go and now