PUSHING THE ENVELOPE<\/p>\n
As splits go, Monday night\u2019s parting of Brendan Rodgers and Celtic<\/a> was as bitter and spectacular as any rock band have managed. And unlike M\u00f6tley Cr\u00fce, Guns N\u2019 Roses and the Gallaghers, there will be no reunion tour. Think The Smiths, with attendant wordy statements to reflect just how severed the alliance is. Rodgers\u2019 departure was initially sold as him stepping away. \u201cCeltic Football Club can confirm that football manager Brendan Rodgers has today tendered his resignation,\u201d droned a club statement. \u201cThe Club appreciates Brendan\u2019s contribution to Celtic during his two very successful periods at the Club.\u201d<\/p>\n So far so normal, including the dismally unnecessary capitalisation of \u201cClub\u201d fully frowned upon by all respectable subeditors. Step forward Dermot Desmond, usually publicity-shy majority owner. \u201cI want to acknowledge Brendan\u2019s contribution,\u201d was a gentle opener before firing up his flamethrower. \u201cHowever, I must also express my deep disappointment at the way the past several months have unfolded.\u201d Desmond went on: feel the heat of phrases like \u201cnot reflected that trust\u201d, \u201csimply untrue\u201d, \u201cabsolutely false\u201d, \u201cthe facts did not match his public narrative\u201d, \u201ctoxic atmosphere\u201d, \u201cfuelled hostility\u201d, \u201cdivisive\u201d and the final headshot: \u201cOne individual\u2019s desire for self-preservation at the expense of others.\u201d Oof.<\/p>\n Celtic fans have been unable to fully enjoy Rangers\u2019 latest fall. The Russell Martin caper was a farce of Ben Travers proportions sullied by Rodgers\u2019 team being concurrently useless. Meanwhile, Hearts, who beat Celtic on Sunday, are partying like it\u2019s 1986<\/a> by running away with the Scottish Premiership. Celtic club suits have come in for heavy flak, the chosen method of protest lobbing tennis balls on the pitch. Rodgers comparing Celtic\u2019s squad to a \u201cHonda Civic\u201d was rather disparaging to players given his job was to motivate, as well as to one of the best-selling, reasonably priced, most reliable cars on the market. That toothy grin no longer gleamed as brightly as during his first spell in \u201cParadise\u201d.<\/p>\n Leaving for Leicester in February 2019 when a treble Treble was going begging was unforgivable in the eyes of many. Rodgers\u2019 return in the summer of 2023 has never quite been the same bed of roses, showing the ancient football adage of \u201cnever go back\u201d is usually one to stick to. About that: almost as shocking as Desmond\u2019s character assassination was news that \u201cMartin O\u2019Neill and former Celtic player Shaun Maloney have agreed to take charge of Celtic first-team matters\u201d. O\u2019Neill last managed Nottingham Forest in 2019, shelled after five months, by no means the last \u2013 or shortest-serving \u2013 former Bhoys manager to be tinned by Big Vange. An Ange Postecoglou return would complete the circle of high comedy but, for now, the clock is being rolled back<\/a> to the days when O\u2019Neill, actually 73, pogo-ed on the sidelines as Henrik Larsson wellied in a truckload of goals and the Celtic diaspora descended on Seville.<\/p>\n LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE<\/p>\n Join Yara El-Shaboury from 7pm GMT for updates from the Lionesses 2-1 Matildas in their international friendly, while Scott Murray will be on deck at 8pm when Wrexham pip Cardiff 1-0 in the Rumbelows Cup.<\/p>\n QUOTE OF THE DAY<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not only the players [to blame]. When we lose, I go home and don\u2019t speak to my wife. Do you know why? Because I am sad. We are playing sh1t\u201d \u2013 Wolves keeper Jos\u00e9 Sa has a full and frank conversation with fans outside Molineux after defeat to Burnley<\/a> left them rooted to the foot of the Premier League. V\u00edtor Pereira had already been escorted from the touchline after an angry post-match chat with the supporters with whom he was sharing pints<\/a> last season.<\/p>\n V\u00edtor Pereira gets in on some big chat. Photograph: Godfrey Pitt\/Action Plus\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n Watching the current success of my adopted fitba club Hearts (yesterday\u2019s Football Daily<\/a>), my mind immediately turns to Scott Hutchison of Frightened Rabbit\/Owl John\/Mastersystem fame and now tragically seven years deceased. A lifelong Hearts fan, he even recorded, with Frightened Rabbit, his own version<\/a> of Hector Nicol\u2019s \u2018The Hearts Song\u2019 to commemorate their main stand being knocked down after 103 years. Following his death, Hearts themselves wore the name of the charity set up in his honour (Tiny Changes<\/a>) on their shirts during the Scottish Cup semi-final warm-ups in 2020. I never had the pleasure to know or even meet Scott, but by all accounts he was one of the good ones. Rarely does much time pass before I put one of his (very, very good) albums on for a listen, and in this miserable autumn weather there\u2019s little better to listen to. I hope he\u2019s out there, somewhere, able to see his team flying high at the top of Scottish Premiership. RIP, Scott. The Jambos are doing you proud\u201d \u2013 Oliver Billenness.<\/p>\n Sad news about Sheffield Wednesday (yesterday\u2019s News, Bits and Bobs, full email edition). When I was over in the UK in 2016 (for the Leicester fiesta) I had an hour or two to spare in Sheffield between trains. So on impulse I went up to Hillsborough, which is curiously (to me anyway) up a valley in the \u2018burbs. The place was locked up except the club shop, to my chagrin, as I was keen to look around. However, I was directed to a suit passing through the shop who turned out to be the chief suit. When he learned I was a Kiwi footie fan on holiday, he generously took me for a quick tour around the stadium and even on to the pitch. That kind gesture instantly made me a secondary Wednesday fan. Can\u2019t remember his name but he told me he\u2019d previously also had a senior role at my beloved Leicester\u201d \u2013 Rod de Lisle.<\/p>\n To cut down on travel, Truro City (yesterday\u2019s Football Daily, full email edition) should consider moving to Truro, Massachusetts. Truro, Massachusetts to Taunton, Massachusetts is only 87 miles. From Truro, Massachusetts it\u2019s 141 miles to Gloucester, Massachusetts. And it\u2019s only 67 miles to Plymouth, Massachusetts. Admittedly, some of their other matches would be a bit further: Hartlepool is approximately 3,200 miles away\u201d \u2013 Dan Davis.<\/p>\n Re: yesterday\u2019s Quote of the Day<\/a>. I am so glad this Kenny Dalglish film has finally been made, as it is a whopping 12 years since Rush came out\u201d \u2013 Antony Train.<\/p>\n Send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com<\/a>. Today\u2019s letter o\u2019 the day winner is \u2026 Oliver Billenness, who gets a copy of A History of Football in 100 Objects<\/a> from the Guardian Bookshop, which has loads of other great football reads, too. Get shopping!<\/a> Terms and conditions for our competitions can be viewed here<\/a>.\u200a<\/p>\n RECOMMENDED LISTENING<\/p>\n Fire up the Football Weekly podcast<\/a> as an EFL special gets somewhat overtaken by events up at Parkhead.<\/p>\n RECOMMENDED LOOKING<\/p>\n David Squires dons his best threads to check out long throws, Sean Dyche and more returning football fashion trends<\/a>.<\/p>\n Illustration: David Squires\/The GuardianEVERYBODY\u2019S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE<\/p>\n Most men in their 50s are more familiar with running a bath rather than running in behind, but Jamie Cureton isn\u2019t your typical middle-aged gent. The striker, still going strong at 50 years young, has become the first ever person to score in the top 10 tiers of England\u2019s football pyramid after netting for his new side, Kings Park Rangers, in a 4-1 win over Dussindale & Hellesdon Rovers in the Eastern Counties League Division One North. Cureton, in contrast to most people his age, also appears to have an impressive mastery of Social Media Disgraces in posting his thanks online. \u201cWhat a day, thanks to Kings Park Rangers for letting me become a king,\u201d he whooped. \u201cEveryone at the club has been amazing from the moment I walked through the door. Love this team. They have given me so much joy in the last few weeks. What a moment. [I was] celebrating like it was my first ever goal.\u201d Cureton\u2019s first professional goal was actually for Norwich City, back in 1994, but his latest was still a fine effort, a looping finish<\/a> from the edge of the box into the top corner. Cureton has no plans to retire and has already set his sights upon a new milestone. \u201cI\u2019m still about, I think, four or five goals away from 400, so that\u2019s one I\u2019d like to chase,\u201d he added. \u201cAs long as I\u2019m fit enough and not letting anyone down I\u2019ll still play.\u201d<\/p>\n RECOMMENDED SUBSCRIBING<\/p>\n Prefer pictures to words? Well, Big Website has a brand new weekly newsletter on the way, highlighting the very best sport photographs around. You can subscribe here<\/a>. But please do still stick with your faithful Football Daily, too.<\/p>\n NEWS, BITS AND BOBS<\/p>\n Former Bristol City forward Marvin Brown has died from cancer at the age of 42. \u201cHe was just such a nice, infectious, smiley character, one of life\u2019s good guys,\u201d said former teammate Joe Burnell, who will feature in a charity match at Bath City\u2019s Twerton Park on 9 November to raise funds for Brown\u2019s family.<\/p>\n Newcastle United Women have been charged with misconduct by the FA after allegedly making illegal approaches to six junior players<\/a> contracted to their second tier rivals, Sunderland.<\/p>\n Lionel Messi, the best paid player in MLS by a distance (earning north of $20m per year in guaranteed compensation \u2013 more than the total payroll of about two-thirds of the 30-team league in 2025), says the league must loosen its spending restrictions<\/a>. \u201cEvery team should have the opportunity to bring in players and sign whoever each team wants,\u201d he cheered.<\/p>\n Real Madrid defender Dani Carvajal has undergone arthroscopic surgery and is due to be sidelined for a couple of months with knee-knack.<\/p>\n And it looks like many fans will actually have to spend some time with their relatives this Christmas with only one Premier League fixture scheduled for Boxing Day<\/a>, which lands on a Friday and has only one broadcast slot. By contrast, eight Premier League games were played on 26 December last year.<\/p>\n MOVING THE GOALPOSTS<\/p>\n The latest edition of our sister email is out now, featuring this extract about the breakout stars from the Under-17 World Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n STILL WANT MORE?<\/p>\n Liverpool looked inevitable but now it\u2019s Arsenal that seem ominous. Our writers take a deep dive<\/a> into the Premier League title race.<\/p>\n Composite: Guardian Picture Desk<\/p>\n Why Sunderland\u2019s early-season success matters for the Premier League at large. By Jonathan Wilson<\/a>.<\/p>\n Former ref Chris Foy picks over the latest major talking points in Premier League officiating<\/a>.<\/p>\n Nathan Broadhead gets his chat on with Will Unwin<\/a> to tee up Wrexham\u2019s Milk Cup clash with Cardiff.<\/p>\n And come for this headline<\/a>, stay for Sid Lowe on the cl\u00e1sico fallout.<\/p>\n MEMORY LANE<\/p>\n