John Kennedy leaves Celtic after 27 years amid Rodgers resignation

Assistant manager John Kennedy has ended a 27-year stay at Celtic as he leaves the club alongside Brendan Rodgers who resigned on Monday night.

Martin O’Neill and Shaun Maloney have been brought in as an interim management team.

The club announced that Rodgers was leaving his position following the 3-1 defeat to Hearts that left them eight points behind the Tynecastle side in the Premiership.

Assistant manager Kennedy, who has also worked beside Ronny Deila, Neil Lennon and Ange Postecoglou in the dugout, has also departed.

The former defender became Celtic’s youngest ever first team player when he made his debut as a 16-year-old in the 1999/2000 season.

His playing career came crashing down when he suffered a serious injury on his full Scotland debut in 2004.

He was initially out for over two years before returning to the pitch, however he struggled to regain full fitness and made a handful of sporadic appearances before hanging up his boots at the age of 26.

After retiring from playing, he joined Celtic’s backroom staff, initially as a scout and then as a coach to the development teams.

When Ronny Deila was appointed as manager in 2014, Kennedy was promoted to his coaching staff and has been in and around the first team setup since.

He was part of the coaching team that won a quadruple treble under Rodgers and Lennon, while also working closely with Postecoglou during his two-year spell at the club.

Kennedy was linked with a move to Tottenham with the Australian, but turned that down to work with Rodgers again when he returned in 2023.

The 42-year-old also had a brief spell as interim manager when he replaced Neil Lennon in the dugout towards the end of the 2020/21 season.