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Brendan Rodgers' cringiest moments from Saudi rifle to envelopes and divorce stinkers
Brendan Rodgers' managerial career has seldom been uneventful - but posing in Saudi Arabian traditional attire with a rifle might be his oddest moment
Brendan Rodgers might never have imagined that just over a decade after coming within touching distance of lifting the Premier League trophy with Liverpool, he would be holding aloft a rifle in the Middle East.
Even for the wild world of the Northern Irish football manager, wearing a half-smile while aiming a gun in traditional dress is a little out there. And yet, it makes perfect sense for the man who once flexed a Gucci belt to try and impress one of his own bewildered players.
So as Rodgers adjusts to life in the Saudi Pro League, as the head coach of Al Qadsiah, Daily Star Sport looks at some of the wildest and most embarrassing moments from the 53-year-old's coaching career.
Where else to start but the reason for this list, the moment that had social media in stitches while Rodgers celebrated Founding Day, a holiday that commemorates the first Saudi state in 1727, after moving to the Middle East in December.
“I want to give my sincere congratulations to all of the people of Saudi Arabia, Saudi has a real rich heritage and a really exciting future ahead," Rodgers said while wearing traditional attire.
However, the camera then cut to Rodgers holding a rifle. He is then told he's "looking sharp" to which he responds: “It probably looks a lot cooler on other people.
"But I think today is about respecting Founding Day here in Saudi Arabia and of course I will always respectfully wear it.”
Before he was soaking up the sun in the Middle East, Rodgers had quite the fall out when leaving Celtic - resulting in an explosive statement.
Having won two league titles with the Scottish giants, Rodgers was something of a legend north of the border. But he risked his reputation by ditching the club mid-season in 2018-19 and moving to Leicester City.
Some fans didn't forget this 'betrayal' even when he returned in 2023 to clinch two more Scottish Premierships, before sensationally quitting the club last October.
Rodgers had slammed the club's lack of investment and what he believed to be strategic failures in recruitment. He even said the board needed to be "braver".
But Celtic's principal shareholder Dermot Desmond unleashed a blistering tirade, writing: "The facts did not match his public narrative. Regrettably, his words and actions since then have been divisive, misleading, and self-serving.
"They have contributed to a toxic atmosphere around the club and fuelled hostility towards members of the executive team and the board. Some of the abuse directed at them, and at their families, has been entirely unwarranted and unacceptable."
Rodgers was no stranger to finding himself in the firing line at Celtic, and he was branded a "dinosaur" for his comments towards BBC journalist Jane Lewis.
In the video of the exchange, released by the BBC on TikTok at the time, Lewis had asked Rodgers to explain himself after he told her: "In terms of the title race, the story has already been written about this group, but we will write our own story."
When asked to explain herself, he said: "No, no, you know exactly what I mean," before adding: "Done, good girl, well done." He was slammed by media across the board - including Jeff Stelling.
However, he refused to apologise, and instead blamed society for "looking to find something offensive".
Back in 2016, Rodgers' very public romantic proposal to Liverpool's former travel coordinator Charlotte Searle hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Rodgers' marriage to his wife of 14 years, Susan, ended in divorce in 2015. Just 68 days after the paperwork was finalised, he was seen getting down on one knee in New York's Times Square with blonde Charlotte.
Charlotte was working for Liverpool when she first met Rodgers - who is more than a decade her senior - in 2013. According to the Daily Mail, neighbours told how they would often see Rodgers parking his Porsche near the rented home she shared with her then-15-month-old daughter.
To add to the mess, she was said to have been "befriended" by the football boss while in the process of divorcing her husband, Steven Hind.
As well as being stepdad to Searle's daughter Lola, Rodgers shares two children with ex-wife Susan - a daughter Mischa and son Anton. Rodgers and his former wife had been together for 20 years when news broke of their intention to part ways.
May 2015 saw Susan take her soon-to-be ex-husband to court, reportedly seeking to claim 50% of his future earnings, as well as half of his wealth including a property empire, before they reached a cash settlement.
Back when Rodgers was at the wheel, Liverpool hadn't yet tasted Premier League glory - and when they dared to dream in 2014, it all came crashing down against Jose Mourinho's Chelsea.
After Steven Gerrard's infamous slip and the Blues 2-0 win at Anfield all but handed the title to Manchester City, Rodgers lashed out at the Special One's tactics. He moaned: "I'm not going to say... This game will prepare us for Crystal Palace.
"We will have to deal with long balls forward which we did very well today and we will have to deal with long throw-ins and got the chance to do that today.
"I can't fault the players, we just didn't find the breakthrough. Credit to Chelsea for that, they sat in really deep. There were probably two buses parked today instead of one."
Picture the scene: you're in a room with all your team-mates and the gaffer walks in. You think he's going to say something insightful, maybe even set out the goals for he season, but, instead, he pulls out three envelopes.
Well that's what Rodgers did back in 2012, revealing that he put down a name in each envelope of the player that will let him down this season.
While some felt it was a valid psychological game, others, including goalkeeper Brad Jones, said that players realised the envelopes were empty at the time because they could see through them... Oh dear.
The portrait of himself
Amazingly, the above might not have been the most baffling moment of the infamous Being: Liverpool documentary.
Among the envelopes and toe-curling debate over Joe Allen's squad number was the hanging portrait of the manager himself. It's not uncommon to hang-up photos of yourself in your own home.
But a massive black and white portrait while managing? It's a lot. However, it wasn't an act of arrogance - it was actually a parting gift from Swansea.
The Gucci belt
Even before Rodgers had started to earn suitors at Swansea, he was at the helm of Reading - where Matt Mills joked he was like David Brent.
There was a team-talk where he started speaking Spanish - to a room with no Spanish players - and, of course, the belt incident. Mills wanted more game time so he went to the gaffer, only to find himself admiring the designer belt that Rodgers was showing off.
He joked: "And I was like 'yeah, nice belt that mate!'" Mills didn't get the minutes he wanted.
Daily Star Sunday
Brendan Rodgers' managerial career has seldom been uneventful - but posing in Saudi Arabian traditional attire with a rifle might be his oddest moment
Brendan Rodgers might never have imagined that just over a decade after coming within touching distance of lifting the Premier League trophy with Liverpool, he would be holding aloft a rifle in the Middle East.
Even for the wild world of the Northern Irish football manager, wearing a half-smile while aiming a gun in traditional dress is a little out there. And yet, it makes perfect sense for the man who once flexed a Gucci belt to try and impress one of his own bewildered players.
So as Rodgers adjusts to life in the Saudi Pro League, as the head coach of Al Qadsiah, Daily Star Sport looks at some of the wildest and most embarrassing moments from the 53-year-old's coaching career.
Where else to start but the reason for this list, the moment that had social media in stitches while Rodgers celebrated Founding Day, a holiday that commemorates the first Saudi state in 1727, after moving to the Middle East in December.
“I want to give my sincere congratulations to all of the people of Saudi Arabia, Saudi has a real rich heritage and a really exciting future ahead," Rodgers said while wearing traditional attire.
However, the camera then cut to Rodgers holding a rifle. He is then told he's "looking sharp" to which he responds: “It probably looks a lot cooler on other people.
"But I think today is about respecting Founding Day here in Saudi Arabia and of course I will always respectfully wear it.”
Before he was soaking up the sun in the Middle East, Rodgers had quite the fall out when leaving Celtic - resulting in an explosive statement.
Having won two league titles with the Scottish giants, Rodgers was something of a legend north of the border. But he risked his reputation by ditching the club mid-season in 2018-19 and moving to Leicester City.
Some fans didn't forget this 'betrayal' even when he returned in 2023 to clinch two more Scottish Premierships, before sensationally quitting the club last October.
Rodgers had slammed the club's lack of investment and what he believed to be strategic failures in recruitment. He even said the board needed to be "braver".
But Celtic's principal shareholder Dermot Desmond unleashed a blistering tirade, writing: "The facts did not match his public narrative. Regrettably, his words and actions since then have been divisive, misleading, and self-serving.
"They have contributed to a toxic atmosphere around the club and fuelled hostility towards members of the executive team and the board. Some of the abuse directed at them, and at their families, has been entirely unwarranted and unacceptable."
Rodgers was no stranger to finding himself in the firing line at Celtic, and he was branded a "dinosaur" for his comments towards BBC journalist Jane Lewis.
In the video of the exchange, released by the BBC on TikTok at the time, Lewis had asked Rodgers to explain himself after he told her: "In terms of the title race, the story has already been written about this group, but we will write our own story."
When asked to explain herself, he said: "No, no, you know exactly what I mean," before adding: "Done, good girl, well done." He was slammed by media across the board - including Jeff Stelling.
However, he refused to apologise, and instead blamed society for "looking to find something offensive".
Back in 2016, Rodgers' very public romantic proposal to Liverpool's former travel coordinator Charlotte Searle hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Rodgers' marriage to his wife of 14 years, Susan, ended in divorce in 2015. Just 68 days after the paperwork was finalised, he was seen getting down on one knee in New York's Times Square with blonde Charlotte.
Charlotte was working for Liverpool when she first met Rodgers - who is more than a decade her senior - in 2013. According to the Daily Mail, neighbours told how they would often see Rodgers parking his Porsche near the rented home she shared with her then-15-month-old daughter.
To add to the mess, she was said to have been "befriended" by the football boss while in the process of divorcing her husband, Steven Hind.
As well as being stepdad to Searle's daughter Lola, Rodgers shares two children with ex-wife Susan - a daughter Mischa and son Anton. Rodgers and his former wife had been together for 20 years when news broke of their intention to part ways.
May 2015 saw Susan take her soon-to-be ex-husband to court, reportedly seeking to claim 50% of his future earnings, as well as half of his wealth including a property empire, before they reached a cash settlement.
Back when Rodgers was at the wheel, Liverpool hadn't yet tasted Premier League glory - and when they dared to dream in 2014, it all came crashing down against Jose Mourinho's Chelsea.
After Steven Gerrard's infamous slip and the Blues 2-0 win at Anfield all but handed the title to Manchester City, Rodgers lashed out at the Special One's tactics. He moaned: "I'm not going to say... This game will prepare us for Crystal Palace.
"We will have to deal with long balls forward which we did very well today and we will have to deal with long throw-ins and got the chance to do that today.
"I can't fault the players, we just didn't find the breakthrough. Credit to Chelsea for that, they sat in really deep. There were probably two buses parked today instead of one."
Picture the scene: you're in a room with all your team-mates and the gaffer walks in. You think he's going to say something insightful, maybe even set out the goals for he season, but, instead, he pulls out three envelopes.
Well that's what Rodgers did back in 2012, revealing that he put down a name in each envelope of the player that will let him down this season.
While some felt it was a valid psychological game, others, including goalkeeper Brad Jones, said that players realised the envelopes were empty at the time because they could see through them... Oh dear.
The portrait of himself
Amazingly, the above might not have been the most baffling moment of the infamous Being: Liverpool documentary.
Among the envelopes and toe-curling debate over Joe Allen's squad number was the hanging portrait of the manager himself. It's not uncommon to hang-up photos of yourself in your own home.
But a massive black and white portrait while managing? It's a lot. However, it wasn't an act of arrogance - it was actually a parting gift from Swansea.
The Gucci belt
Even before Rodgers had started to earn suitors at Swansea, he was at the helm of Reading - where Matt Mills joked he was like David Brent.
There was a team-talk where he started speaking Spanish - to a room with no Spanish players - and, of course, the belt incident. Mills wanted more game time so he went to the gaffer, only to find himself admiring the designer belt that Rodgers was showing off.
He joked: "And I was like 'yeah, nice belt that mate!'" Mills didn't get the minutes he wanted.
Daily Star Sunday