Old Firm changes leave an opening for ‘Nearly Men’ Hearts

At the start of the season probably no managerial seat in British football looked more secure than that of Brendan Rodgers at Celtic Park.

- KICKBACKS By Nobby Piles

In his second spell at Celtic he had just won successive titles to go with the other two he earned during his first stint in 2017 and 2018. With Old Firm rivals Rangers in disarray and sacking manager Russell Martin things looked nicely set up for Rodgers to add to the Celtic trophy cabinet.

But on the field things were not quite up to the standard Rodgers was asking for. There had been rumblings after a surprise loss to Dundee but worse was to come with a 3-1 defeat at top of the table Heart of Midlothian giving the Edinburgh club an eight-point lead over Celtic in second place,

That defeat appeared to spark Rodgers’ shock decision to resign although some believe the manager had been looking for a way out of the club.