Sutton: Postecoglou the smart choice to replace Rodgers | 'Celtic in a pickle'

Chris Sutton insists former Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou is the "obvious choice" to replace Brendan Rodgers at Parkhead.

Rodgers quit the Scottish Premiership champions on Monday, just one day after the club fell eight points behind league leaders Hearts following their top-of-the-table clash.

Martin O'Neill, 73, has been placed in interim charge and returns to the Parkhead dugout alongside former player Shaun Maloney.

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Sutton also believes his old boss O'Neill can help unite the club, while a permanent return for Postecoglou would then be "a really smart appointment".

In the immediate aftermath, Celtic majority shareholder Dermot Desmond released an extraordinary statement, claiming Rodgers had created a "toxic atmosphere".

Desmond added that the former Liverpool boss' criticism of the club's transfer business was "divisive, misleading, and self-serving".

Sutton: It was clear Rodgers wanted out

"I don't think it's a complete shock," Sutton told Sky Sports News following Rodgers' resignation. "I wrote a column at the weekend that Brendan, with some of the stuff he's said in the recent past, wants out of the club.

"There's clearly been a breakdown in his relationship with the club hierarchy. It all stems from before the start of the season, when Brendan went public and was critical about the lack of quality coming into the club. I think he felt let down by that.

"Celtic then get knocked out of the Champions League qualifier, it's been a really slow start to the season, and they've lost quality players in the recent past and haven't replaced them. I think he felt he wasn't backed."

Desmond statement 'damaging' for Rodgers, board not blameless

"Reading the Dermot Desmond statement, it is very critical of Brendan. In many ways, when there's a relationship breakdown, which there clearly has been between Brendan and the club hierarchy, then it's inevitable that something would have to give, and Brendan has ended up walking away.

"It will be really interesting to see if Brendan responds to Dermot Desmond's statement. It's pretty damaging and Brendan's obviously got his right of reply. It hasn't ended well.

• Dermot Desmond blasts 'divisive' Rodgers - read extraordinary statement

"I think everybody suspected that things weren't right but let's also get it right - the board are not blameless in this whole situation.

"Celtic were in a really strong position when you go back to the earlier part of this year. They played Bayern Munich, nearly knocked them out of the Champions League, and the club was on a bit of a high. I think everybody expected the club, albeit losing quality players, to go quite strong in the summer in terms of player recruitment. That didn't happen.

"The manager was unhappy about that and the start of the season has been really woeful.

"Celtic are in a position where their frontline is a shadow of what it once was in the recent past and eight points behind Hearts now at the top of the league.

"The club's in a bit of a pickle and Brendan's decided to walk and it's probably the best thing for the club if the relationship was that bad."

O'Neill return the right choice for now

"I understand the appointment of Martin O'Neill because he's a very popular manager. He was my manager when I first went up to Celtic, and he is loved by the supporters.

"Had the club handed the role to just Shaun Maloney, I think a lot of the supporters would have been unhappy about that. They've now got a figurehead and a front piece.

"I suppose the biggest question is, who's going to be the next permanent Celtic manager? Who are they going to go for next?

"It's not going to be an easy situation because the squad is decimated with injuries to key players and there's not the strength and depth. The team will come under a fair bit of pressure [between now and January].

"There's a League Cup semi-final against Rangers, which is absolutely massive. All those games coming up are massive.

"In the short term, Martin O'Neill doesn't have an easy task on his hands with what he's taking over.

"I think that the support will be happy that Martin has come back because he was loved in his time as manager there.

"He turned the tables and his era was the beginning of Celtic's dominance in Scottish football. He will go in and try and do what he did first time round. Try and galvanise the club, try to bring the support and everybody, the staff at the club and hierarchy all pulling in the same direction."

Is Postecoglou the long-term answer?

Postecoglou spent two seasons at Celtic before leaving for Spurs, where he guided the club to the Europa League title.

He was sacked from that job, and despite then taking over at Nottingham Forest, he was once again out of work when he was dismissed after just 39 days.

"I think Ange Postecoglou would be a really smart appointment. He was loved the first time round," said Sutton.

"His brand of football went down well in Glasgow. He's out of work. I think that would be a pretty obvious choice, a good choice and bring a lot of positivity back to Celtic, which they need right now."