BRENDAN RODGERS TO SAUDI: EX-CELTIC BOSS TAKES LUCRATIVE AL-QADSIAH MANAGER JOB
Brendan Rodgers has been appointed head coach of Saudi Pro League side Al-Qadsiah, backed by Aramco. This move follows his acrimonious departure from Celtic and marks his first job outside the UK.
Brendan Rodgers is now the manager for Al-Qadsiah, a team in Saudi Arabia, after his time at Celtic ended dramatically.
Since leaving Glasgow in October, the ex-Liverpool boss has been without a job. His departure led to some harsh words from shareholder Dermot Desmond.
Even though there were rumours about Rodgers possibly taking on roles in the Premier League or Championship, he's now officially the head coach of the Saudi Pro League team.
Based in Khobar, Al-Qadsiah is currently fifth in the league. They recently fired their manager, Michel, and are owned by the Saudi oil company Aramco.
Rodgers will be working with a team that doesn't have many big-name superstars. The most well-known players are former Madrid defender Nacho Fernandez and Italian striker Mateo Retegui, who scored 28 goals in 49 games for Atalanta.
Al-Qadsiah’s CEO, James Bisgrove, mentioned that hiring Rodgers is a big step for the club. He believes Rodgers' experience and winning history show their goal of making Al-Qadsiah a leading club in Asia.
This job is the first time Rodgers has managed outside the UK. He began his career with Chelsea's reserves. In 2008, he managed Watford but struggled at first, only winning two of his first 10 league games. The team was close to being relegated but improved to finish 13th.
He then went to Reading, where he used to play, in 2009. He left after only six months by mutual agreement.
Rodgers had better luck at Swansea, where he helped the Welsh team get into the Premier League.
His success at Swansea led to him getting the Liverpool job. He almost became the first manager to win the Premier League with Liverpool, but his team, led by Luis Suarez, finished just two points behind Manchester City.
Unfortunately, Rodgers couldn't keep up that level of success, and he was fired in October 2015, with Jurgen Klopp taking his place.
After Liverpool, Rodgers moved to Celtic and had immediate success. He won a domestic treble in his first season and remained unbeaten. He won the league again in the 2017-18 season but left during the following season to join Leicester.
Returning to the Premier League, Rodgers nearly led Leicester to the Champions League but missed out. He did, though, win the club's first FA Cup, defeating Chelsea in 2021.
After a tough 2022-23 season, he left in April, and the club was later relegated.
Rodgers then went back to Scotland and Celtic after Ange Postecoglou moved to Spurs. After patching things up from his previous departure, Rodgers secured two more league titles but disagreed with the board about summer transfer plans for 2025.
He resigned after a 3-1 loss to Hearts, the league leaders. At that time, major shareholder Dermot Desmond accused Rodgers of divisive actions that created hostility.
CRISTIANO RONALDO PROTESTS AL-HILAL'S BENZEMA DEAL BY SKIPPING AL-NASSR LEAGUE MATCH
Cristiano Ronaldo is fuming. Discover why the Al-Nassr star skipped his last match and is now threatening to leave Saudi Arabia.
Cristiano Ronaldo has been the main attraction in the Saudi Pro League ever since he landed in the Middle East three years ago. Now, for the first time, it looks like he’s actually thinking about leaving. He’s frustrated. He feels the playing field isn’t level, and it’s starting to get to him.
Here’s the deal: Four clubs in the league—Al-Ittihad, Al-Nassr, Al-Hilal, and Al-Ahli—get their backing straight from the state. But Ronaldo sat out Al-Nassr’s match against Al-Riyadh on Monday night. Why? He was protesting. He found out Al-Hilal was about to sign Karim Benzema from Al-Ittihad, and that was the last straw. From Ronaldo’s perspective, Al-Hilal keeps getting more freedom to splash cash than everyone else. They’re the current champions, and Ronaldo still hasn’t managed to win his first Saudi title.
Saudi officials tried to calm him down. According to Diario AS, they reached out and argued that most of Al-Hilal’s extra spending comes from Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, not the Public Investment Fund (PIF). Al-Hilal just brought in Kader Meite for €30 million, Saimon Bouabre for €23 million, and now Benzema. Al-Nassr, on the other hand, only managed two free transfers this winter. Sure, they spent a lot more in the summer, but that didn’t seem to matter to Ronaldo.
Reports from Portugal, cited by AS, say Ronaldo’s not ruling anything out—not even leaving Saudi Arabia this summer. That’s despite just signing an extension with Al-Nassr until 2027.
And honestly, he has a point. Since he arrived, Al-Hilal have spent €647 million, while Al-Nassr have shelled out €410 million and Al-Ittihad €365 million. These numbers probably don’t include salaries—and let’s face it, nobody’s making more than Ronaldo. He’s supposed to return on Friday when Al-Nassr face Al-Ittihad, but right now, no one really knows if he’ll play or if he’s planning his next move.
N’GOLO KANTE SKIPS TRAINING AS AL-ITTIHAD BLOCK HIS MOVE TO FENERBAHCE OFFICIALLY
N’Golo Kante has gone on strike at Al-Ittihad after a paperwork error blocked his move to Fenerbahce. Can he still sign by Friday?
N’Golo Kanté didn’t show up for Al-Ittihad training on Tuesday, and it’s not hard to see why. He was all set to head to Fenerbahçe, but the deal fell apart at the last minute—apparently because Al-Ittihad messed up some paperwork. Kante was supposed to fly to Istanbul and sign, but thanks to this administrative slip, he’s stuck in limbo. There’s still a shot at reviving the transfer sinceKanté Turkey’s transfer window stays open until Friday, February 6.
Kante was one of the first big European names to jump to the Saudi Pro League, joining Al-Ittihad in 2023 after seven years with Chelsea. He’s been a key player in Jeddah, helping Al-Ittihad win the 2024-25 league title and the King’s Cup.
Then, in the middle of the January window, word got out that Fenerbahce wanted him. The Turkish club were eager to add a World Cup winner to their squad. The plan was to swap Kante for Youssef En-Nesyri, who’d head to Saudi Arabia. Everything seemed set until deadline day, when news broke that an error by Al-Ittihad in the Transfer Matching System stopped the transfer cold.
Fenerbahce didn’t hold back. They blamed Al-Ittihad directly, saying they’d done everything right: agreements with the players, medicals, paperwork, all wrapped up on time. But Al-Ittihad entered something wrong in the system, and that was that. Fenerbahçe even asked for an extension and reached out to FIFA, but nothing moved. In the end, the deal died, and Fenerbahçe put out a statement saying they understood the frustration and would keep working to strengthen the squad.
Meanwhile, Kante’s making his feelings clear. According to Ben Jacobs, he skipped training on Tuesday, still hoping the move to Fenerbahce can happen. Santi Aouna says talks between the clubs aren’t dead yet. L’Equipe is reporting that Kanté doesn’t want to play for Al-Ittihad while he waits for FIFA’s decision. With the Turkish window open until Friday, there’s still a glimmer of hope for Kante, though En-Nesyri’s move is off the table for now.