Celtic star breaks cover with deleted message after Brendan Rodgers quit

Celtic star Michel-Ange Balikwisha appeared to take a veiled swipe at Brendan Rodgers in a mysterious Instagram post following his departure. Rodgers left his position as manager just before 10pm on Monday night, causing chaos at Parkhead, with Dermot Desmond's harsh statement further fuelling the fire by labelling the outgoing boss as 'divisive' and blaming him for creating a 'toxic' environment.

Simultaneously with Rodgers' departure, Martin O'Neill and Shaun Maloney were appointed as interim managers, tasked with getting the team back on track after their loss to Hearts put them eight points behind in the title race. One player they'll be eager to motivate is £4.5m summer recruit Balikwisha, who Rodgers had difficulty inspiring prior to his shocking exit.

The Belgian has yet to score for Celtic and hasn't started a match since September.

This could explain the cryptic post that appeared on his Instagram late last night, which has since been removed.

The post showed an image of him celebrating one of their recent home goals on his knees. While the praying and pointing emojis in the caption don't reveal much, a closer look reveals a reference to the Bible verse Romans 12:19.

This verse is most famous for the phrase: "Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God's wrath."

Celtic announced Rodgers' departure in a statement, which read: "Celtic Football Club can confirm that football manager Brendan Rodgers has today tendered his resignation. It has been accepted by the Club and Brendan will leave his role with immediate effect.

"The club appreciates Brendan's contribution to Celtic during his two very successful periods at the club. Brendan leaves Celtic with our thanks for the role he has played during a period of continued success for the Club and we wish him further success in the future.

"The process to appoint a new permanent manager is underway and the Club will update supporters further on this as soon as possible.

"We are pleased that during this interim period former Celtic manager, Martin O'Neill and former Celtic player, Shaun Maloney have agreed to take charge of Celtic first-team matters. Further details will be confirmed shortly."