Celtic fan groups to continue campaign against board after Brendan Rodgers’ exit

Celtic fan groups vowed to step up their campaign to remove key directors in the wake of Brendan Rodgers’ departure after laying the blame for the club’s “crisis” squarely on the board.

A pre-match protest is planned ahead of Wednesday’s game against Falkirk by the Celtic Fans Collective, an umbrella group formed following discontent over summer transfer business and failure to qualify for the Champions League.

Rodgers has left, along with assistant John Kennedy, with Celtic eight points adrift of William Hill Premiership leaders Hearts. Former manager Martin O’Neill and Shaun Maloney will lead the club on an interim basis.

Principal shareholder Dermot Desmond blamed recent failings on “one individual’s desire for self-preservation at the expense of others” as he launched a scathing assessment of the departed manager.

The Irish businessman accused Rodgers of “divisive, misleading, and self-serving” behaviour which “contributed to a toxic atmosphere” and “fuelled hostility” towards board members.

The intervention did little to quell the desire for change from the Celtic Fans Collective, which claimed the “crisis has come as a direct result of a clear absence of planning and the latest poorly executed transfer window”.

A statement added: “Supporters hold differing views on Rodgers, but regardless of how anyone feels about our former manager, the ultimate responsibility for our current position lies with the board who appointed, reappointed and managed the manager as well as holding responsibility for all other operational matters.”

The group stated that chief executive Michael Nicholson’s recent assertion that there was no “disconnect” between board and manager had now been “directly contradicted” by Desmond.

It is time