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Brendan Rodgers twice promised Celtic fans he would have to be sacked to leave his job prematurely this time around. But a fractured relationship with Dermot Desmond seemingly left him with no choice but to abandon ship once again – albeit in sharply contrasting circumstances. Just over six and a half years have passed since Rodgers first left the club under the cover of darkness to join Leicester and, when he signed a three-year deal in 2023, he had some grovelling to do. The first order of business was to reassure supporters there would be no repeat of his hasty exit when he was offered a return to the Premier League. Back then, the club were in fine form and, eight points ahead of Rangers in the title race, Rodgers said he felt comfortable leaving – since he was sure they had the structure in place to get the treble Treble over the line. When he came back to replace Ange Postecoglou, there was understandable reticence from supporters that history may repeat. So he got straight down to work assuring them it wouldn't happen again. He said in his 2023 unveiling: "As a Celtic supporter, I understood what it meant. So that was my regret, that I hurt Celtic supporters and it's a big part of coming back. "Hopefully in time, I can give you that feeling I gave you the first time. I don't expect anything, but if I get that support, great. "For those who doubt, I've had that all my career so I will continue to work hard and hopefully a team that plays with the commitment people will enjoy. It will just take time. "I've signed for three years and I guarantee I'll be here for three years unless I get emptied before that, as they say up here." For two years it looked for all the world like that would be a promise honoured. That was certainly the case when, at the tail end of sticky transfer window back in August, questions first began to arise back in that he could in fact walk away again – a year before the end of his contract. But was even firmer this time as he said: "Absolutely no chance. We've done that before, it didn't go down well. "We had the chances over the summer (of contract talks) but I said, 'now the season starts, I only want to think of the football'. "I don't want to think of the contract, just think of the football and that will come later on if it does. "I said I'd be here for three years and I'm here for three years." And yet, with a scathing Dermot Desmond statement that isn't so much 'farewell' as 'good riddance, here we are again. At his Leicester unveiling in 2019, Rodgers revealed one of his own golden rules, saying he only felt comfortable leaving the club because they were in a strong position . A promise to himself he wouldn't leave a club in the lurch unless he had to. At that time, they were eight points clear of Rangers, and closing in on a third successive Treble. Now, they are eight adrift of Hearts, and look by no means assured of any silverware at all. So what's changed? At face value, it looks like his relationship with Desmond and the board simply hit the point of no return. But that doesn't wash out the bad flavour of broken promises as far as the fans are concerned.
