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By WILL GRIFFEE Published: 00: 49 AEDT, 29 October 2025 | Updated: 02: 28 AEDT, 29 October 2025 25 View comments Brendan Rodgers' Celtic split is the latest explosive chapter in a career littered with the dramatic, controversial and occasionally cringeworthy. The 52-year-old, eviscerated by major shareholder Dermot Desmond in an extraordinary 556-word statement branding the manager 'toxic', 'divisive' and 'self-serving', is no stranger to the kind of storm currently swirling around him. Rodgers jumped before he could be sacked during a disastrous campaign but Desmond still landed heavy public blows to the Northern Irishman's reputation. It is one that has already taken a pounding at times during his colourful 17-year management journey - during which he has been in the limelight for his personal life on numerous occasions. Rodgers' very public romantic proposal to the club's former travel coordinator Charlotte Searle in 2016 came just 68 days after his divorce was finalised. The dissolution of the marriage to his wife of 14 years, Susan, was official in December 2015 and in the following February Rodgers was seen on one knee in New York's Times Square. Brendan Rodgers (above) has left Celtic in an extraordinarily explosive departure Rodgers, seen proposing to now wife Charlotte Searle in 2016 in Times Square, New York The former Liverpool manager was married to ex-wife Susan (pictured) for 14 years Tourists were shocked when they identified Rodgers as the man crouched in front of his then 33-year-old girlfriend after he had handed the mother-of-one her a bouquet of roses. The couple were seen stopping off in a Mercedes and he popped the question in front of a photographer before leaving again. Miss Searle was Liverpool's travel coordinator when she first met Rodgers - who was paid £5million-a-year as the club's manager - in 2013. She is said to have been 'befriended' by the former Swansea and Reading boss while in the process of divorcing her husband, Steven Hind. Neighbours told how they would often see Rodgers parking his Porsche near the rented home she shared with her then-15-month-old daughter. Searle was in the process of divorcing her husband of 17 months, who was given a restraining order against Searle in August 2014 after sending her a string of pernicious texts about Rodgers and the breakdown of their marriage. As well as being stepfather to Searle's daughter Lola, Rodgers shares two children with ex-wife Susan - a daughter Mischa and son Anton. Rodgers and his former spouse had been together for 20 years, and married for 14, when news broke of their intention to part ways. Rather than settle proceedings with amicable haste, May 2015 saw Susan take her soon-to-be ex-husband to court, seeking to claim 50 per cent of his future earnings, as well as half of an unexpected - but significant - source of wealth. Searle (left) used to be Liverpool travel coordinator and married Rodgers in 2017 The ex-Celtic manager proposed to Searle (far right) 68 days after his divorce came through Rodgers is pictured kissing Searle after Celtic were presented with the league trophy in 2017 The dispute shone a light on the manager's 102-house property empire, which he established with Susan and his business partner Judith O'Hagan. The multi-million-pound buy-to-let portfolio was said to be so valuable that an independent assessment of its worth cost the couple £32, 000. But running the properties did not come without pitfalls, with Rodgers and O'Hagan found guilty in 2013 of ignoring an improvement notice on one of the houses in Accrington. The partners later had their conviction overturned a year later having originally been ordered to pay £400 and £375 costs, with a £40 surcharge at Blackburn magistrates' court for leaving a £69, 950 terrace house with broken windows and doors and rubbish strewn across the garden. The Northern Irishman and his business partner were found guilty of ignoring an improvement notice issued by Hyndburn Council. The pair had been ordered to fix the windows, doors and roof, and to remove the rubbish, but the house was left to rot. Both Rodgers and O'Hagan, who bought the property in August 2007, were absent when found guilty at Blackburn magistrates' court. An improvement notice, as served to Rodgers and O'Hagan, requires a landlord to carry out work to deal with a hazard associated with a property. If the landlord does not do the work, or 'reasonable progress' is not made, the local authority can carry out work itself and claim the costs back from the landlord. They were convicted in December 2013 of failing to comply with an enforcement notice under Section 79 of the Building Act 1984 before it was overturned the next year. The homes owned by Rodgers were dotted across England, from South Shields in Tyne and Wear, to Reading in Berkshire, but it is not known what the final settlement reached in December 2015 between the two parties entailed. Both former spouses seemed keen to move beyond the ruling, with Susan thought to have relocated to Marbella over the summer of 2015. Also during Rodgers' time at Anfield, there was a fascinating insight to his character with behind-the-scenes documentary 'Being Liverpool'. He showed the cameras around his house where there was a giant portrait of himself hanging up, leading to plenty of ribbing from fans. Despite some accusations that the picture was an indication of a sizable ego and lack of humility, Rodgers received the image from a disability charity in Swansea as a gift. The large portrait of Rodgers hanging in his house in Liverpool was seen in the 'Being Liverpool' six-part documentary during his time in charge Another startling moment in the six-part documentary in 2012 was the widely panned 'envelope trick'. The stunt involved telling players that he had written names in three envelopes belonging to those he felt would 'let the team down' by the end of the season, in a bid to drive up motivation and competitive spirit. The result was a little different in practice, with Glen Johnson later sharing that he remembered he was 'looking around like, "is he f***ing serious? ". Adding that 'you could bet your bottom dollar all those envelopes were empty', his former team-mate Brad Jones confirmed as Rodgers spoke, he held up the envelopes and 'you could actually see straight through them, just the way that the light caught them'. Johnson said that master of the dark arts - and Rodgers' former boss - Jose Mourinho had been an originator of the trick, which was also used with aplomb by Manchester United icon Sir Alex Ferguson. 'He's got so many mannerisms from him which almost seems like sometimes he's trying to be Mourinho, ' Johnson added damningly. 'You know when someone's trying too hard? It doesn't carry the same punch. ' Rodgers was sacked as Liverpool boss in 2015 before reviving his reputation north of the border in his first Celtic stint during three trophy-laden years before five seasons and an FA Cup win with Leicester City. He returned to Celtic in June, 2023 but it was not a mirror of the love-in from his first stint at the club. Last year, Rodgers landed himself in hot water for saying 'good girl' to BBC reporter Jane Lewis during a terse exchange - after which he was branded a 'dinosaur'. In the video of the exchange, released by the BBC on Tik Tok at the time, Rodgers appeared to pat Lewis after his 'good girl' comment, before walking off to abruptly end the interview. Lewis, 53, had asked Rodgers to explain himself after he told her: 'In terms of the title race, the story has already been written about this group, but we will write our own story. ' When she asked him to elaborate, he seemed unhappy with the line of questioning and said: 'No, no, you know exactly what I mean. ' Lewis again pressed Rodgers to explain, but he appeared to wind up the interview and said: 'Done, good girl, well done. ' Campaigners at For Women Scotland called on Rodgers to apologise. A spokeswoman said: 'It's depressing that casual sexism is still embedded in sport. Women's achievements are underrated and dismissed, and their professional status undermined. Rodgers owes the reporter an apology. ' And legendary broadcaster Jeff Stelling was left aghast at the Celtic manager's 'good girl' remark. Speaking on Talk SPORT, he said: 'Good girl, good girl? Goodness me, Brendan. What does he mean? ' Others played down the exchange, with Eamon Holmes saying on GB News: 'He meant good girl. Brendan Rodgers is from Carnock in Northern Ireland. We say "good girl" all the time. We are admonished for it all the time because it's not contemporary. 'I can honestly tell you that Northern Irish people will say "good girl, good boy, good lad". ' Rodgers refused to apologise and instead blamed 'society' for 'looking to find something offensive'. He said: 'I've spoken to Jane and she wasn't offended, we had a laugh about it. She'll continue to ask me awkward questions I'm sure, but I see her every week. We've got good relations, like I have with most people in my life, whether that's professional or social. 'So I find it saddening as much as anything, I'm not that type of person, it's not who I am or how I'm built. But sadly for society now, people are just looking and trying to find ways to somehow bring you down if they can and that's not nice. ' The Celtic boss called a female reporter 'good girl' in comments that sparked ire last year Lewis said: 'Clearly, the interview has become a talking point. I don't believe there was any offence meant by Brendan Rodgers - and for my part, there was none taken. ' And now Rodgers has left the club, burning bridges as he jumps ship with the Scottish giants eight points behind surprise leaders Hearts. Part of Desmond's scorching statement about Rodgers' exit on Monday read: 'His words and actions have been divisive, misleading, and self-serving. They have contributed to a toxic atmosphere around the club and fuelled hostility towards members of the executive team and the Board. ' So what was Rodgers was accused of? He had slammed the club's lack of investment and what he believed to be strategic failures in recruitment. Rodgers said the board needed to be ‘braver’. When a tabloid claimed Rodgers was effectively stage managing his exit ahead of his contract expiring next summer, he raged that the briefing as a ‘cowardly act’ and demanding that the club launched an investigation - it never came. On recruitment, Desmond insisted Rodgers could not 'identify a single instance where the club had obstructed or failed to support him', adding that 'the facts did not match his public narrative'. He went on to further contrast Rodgers' public criticism of the transfer strategy by saying: 'In reality, he (the manager) was given final say over all football matters and was consistently backed in the recruitment process — including record investment in players he personally identified and approved. ' Celtic majority shareholder Dermot Desmond accused Rodgers of being 'divisive, misleading and self-serving' during his final months in Glasgow There were also press conferences when Rodgers implied he had not been offered a contract extension that Desmond says is not the case. He explained: 'In June, both Michael Nicholson and I expressed to Brendan that we were keen to offer him a contract extension, to reaffirm the club’s full backing and long-term commitment to him. He said he would need to think about it and revert. Yet in subsequent press conferences, Brendan implied that the club had made no commitment to offer him a contract. That was simply untrue. ' The Celtic chief's 556-word onslaught brings a close to another extraordinary flashpoint in Rodgers' rollercoaster career. Where the ride will take him next remains to be seen but on previous evidence, of which there's now plenty, fans will need to strap themselves in.
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