In a dramatic turn of events, Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers resigned from his position at Parkhead late last night.
The shock departure means Rangers newly appointed head coach Danny Röhl will head to Hampden on Sunday for the League Cup semi-final not against the Honda-driving, Ferrari-loving former Liverpool boss, but against 73-year-old Martin O’Neill - returning to the Celtic dugout twenty years after the end of his first spell.
Celtic confirmed Rodgers’ exit in a brief club statement, revealing he had refused to sign a new contract that was due to expire at the end of the current season despite his numerous indications to the media he had not yet been offered an extension:
On their website they 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."
In the interim, O’Neill will lead the team alongside former Celtic midfielder Shaun Maloney.
So far, so polite.
But any sense of a smooth or respectful parting didn’t last long. The largest individual shareholder of Celtic, Dermot Desmond followed up with a statement of his own, one which firmly placed responsibility for the breakdown at Rodgers’ door.
Desmond said he acknowledged Rodgers’ success in both spells, but added pointedly: “I must express my deep disappointment at the way the past several months have unfolded.”
The key issue, according to Desmond, was trust and communication. The club believed they were aligning for a long-term rebuild; Rodgers, Desmond suggests, was playing his own game.
“His conduct and communication in recent months have not reflected the trust we placed in him,” he continued.
Desmond rejects outright Rodgers’ recurring public implication that he was not backed in the transfer market: “Every player signed, and every player sold during his tenure was done so with Brendan’s full knowledge, approval, and endorsement.
“Any insinuation otherwise is absolutely false.”
He goes further - stating Rodgers never raised concerns privately before airing grievances in the media: “At no point prior to those remarks had he raised any such concerns with me, Michael [Nicholson], or any member of the Board.”
And, perhaps the most cutting passage of all: “His words and actions since then have been divisive, misleading, and self-serving.
“They have contributed to a toxic atmosphere around the club.”
The message is unambiguous: Celtic believe Rodgers was rewriting events to protect his own reputation.
For Rangers, the timing could hardly be more striking. Röhl had already brought unity, clarity and a small upturn in form in his single domestic match in charge after joining only a week ago.
In our match against Kilmarnock on Sunday the players finally looked coached, and the supporters, despite being unsure of the appointment, are behind the man in the dugout for the first time this season.
Now, they walk into Hampden with momentum, identity and a manager whose message is landing.
And on the other side of the technical area: a club scrambling to reassemble itself ahead of a huge week after they fell eight points behind Derek McInnes’s Hearts at the weekend, also seeing Rangers close the gap between the Old Firm sides to five.
Martin O’Neill’s return will draw sentiment, applause and tributes to nostalgia. The stadium will shake for him, because it always did.
But emotion isn’t structure, and romance isn’t shape. Celtic under O’Neill, even in his later years, had power, presence and clarity.
Celtic right now have unrest in the stands, a dressing room in shock, and a club hierarchy trying to steady a ship that has been holed from within.
O’Neill also has not managed since a short spell at Nottingham Forest in 2019, where he was dismissed for “outdated methods,” six years ago.
This is the part Rangers will smell. Not arrogance. Opportunity.
While Celtic wrestle with a narrative suddenly turning inward, Rangers arrive knowing exactly what they are.
Röhl won’t talk about chaos. He won’t talk down O’Neill. He won’t need to. The work is already in the legs.
Sunday is not about history or sentiment. It is about timing, the balance of Glasgow power, and who believes more in what they are doing in the present tense.
For the first time in a long time, that may be Rangers. But first comes a huge trip to Easter Road, where Rangers have the very real chance to close the gap to two points between themselves and their in-crisis rivals.