{"id":424464,"date":"2026-02-14T00:16:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-14T00:16:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/424464\/"},"modified":"2026-02-14T00:16:15","modified_gmt":"2026-02-14T00:16:15","slug":"brendan-rodgers-writing-epic-celtic-response-to-dermot-desmond-as-al-qadsiah-shatter-the-odds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/424464\/","title":{"rendered":"Brendan Rodgers writing epic Celtic response to Dermot Desmond as Al Qadsiah shatter the odds"},"content":{"rendered":"

The ex-Hoops boss has kept his shtum despite Desmond’s astonishing public takedown\"dailyrecord\"<\/p>\n

17:00, 13 Feb 2026<\/p>\n

\"Brendan<\/p>\n

Brendan Rodgers has made a stunning impact at Al-Qadsiah<\/p>\n

Brendan Rodgers\u2019 name was dragged through the mire by Dermot Desmond<\/a>. But the divisive Celtic figure’s stock is soaring again after a sensational start with Al Qadsiah.<\/p>\n

Parkhead powerbroker Desmond\u2019s thermonuclear character assassination of Rodgers in October<\/a> gobsmacked the footballing world. The most successful living manager in the Hoops\u2019 history was branded untrustworthy, a purveyor of lies and a spreader of falsehoods in a brutal parting shot from the club\u2019s principal shareholder.<\/p>\n

Cynics questioned the motives behind the tycoon\u2019s explosive public takedown. If the intention was to tarnish Rodgers\u2019 <\/a>standing in the game, it hasn\u2019t worked.<\/p>\n

Rather than fire back at the powerful Irish billionaire, Rodgers kept his counsel.<\/p>\n

Just months later, his next move was entirely predictable – a lucrative switch to the Middle East, penning a mega-bucks deal with Al Qadsiah.<\/p>\n

The 53-year-old\u2019s Saudi Pro League bow ended in an underwhelming 1-1 draw at home to Damac.<\/p>\n

Since then, though, it\u2019s been lift-off.<\/p>\n

Rodgers has transformed Al Qadsiah from mid-table anonymity into genuine title contenders – all in front of modest average home crowds of around 5,000.<\/p>\n

\"Celtic<\/p>\n

Celtic powerbroker Dermot Desmond(Image: PA)<\/p>\n

A 5-1 demolition of Al-Hazm in January saw him set a new club record, becoming the first manager in their history to go six games unbeaten.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to now and Rodgers, supported by former Celtic<\/a> lieutenants John Kennedy and Jack Lyons, remains undefeated.<\/p>\n

He has won nine of his 12 matches in charge, drawing three and collecting 30 points in the process.<\/p>\n

His relatively modest squad have plundered 30 goals and conceded just 10 during that surge, climbing to fourth – just three points behind joint-top, PIF-backed moneybags Al Hilal and Al-Ahli.<\/p>\n

Rodgers also masterminded an eye-catching 2-1 victory over Cristiano Ronaldo\u2019s Al-Nassr, exchanging pleasantries with the Portuguese icon beforehand.<\/p>\n

He then swept aside star-studded Al-Ittihad, leaving household names like Karim Benzema, N\u2019Golo Kante and Fabinho to lick their wounds.<\/p>\n

With 13 games remaining, Rodgers may yet fancy his chances of delivering a fairytale title triumph – and writing the most emphatic response of all to his former Celtic paymaster.<\/p>\n

Get more Daily Record exclusives by signing up for free to Google\u2019s preferred sources. Click HERE<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The ex-Hoops boss has kept his shtum despite Desmond’s astonishing public takedown 17:00, 13 Feb 2026 Brendan Rodgers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":424465,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[7336,2817,3204,12431,218,632,8934,22709,8058,11728,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-424464","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-brendan-rodgers","9":"tag-celtic-fc","10":"tag-cristiano-ronaldo","11":"tag-dermot-desmond","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-middle-east","14":"tag-premium","15":"tag-saudi-pro-league","16":"tag-scottish-premiership","17":"tag-scottish-professional-football-league","18":"tag-sports","19":"tag-uk","20":"tag-united-kingdom","21":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=424464"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424464\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/424465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}