Watford On 24 November 2008, Rodgers left Chelsea to become the manager of
Championship club
Watford. Rodgers won only two of his first ten league games as manager, leaving Watford in the relegation zone by January. Watford's form dramatically improved and Rodgers was able to guide them to finish 13th, avoiding relegation.
Reading Weeks after guaranteeing Watford's survival, and following the resignation of
Steve Coppell as Reading manager, Rodgers quickly became the favourite to succeed him and rejoin his old club. He initially distanced himself from reports linking him with the job, saying that his "concentration (is) fully on Watford". However, he eventually agreed a deal to become the new manager of Reading on 5 June 2009, after a compensation package worth an initial £500,000 with Watford was agreed, which later rose to £1 million. The Watford Supporters' Trust stated that Rodgers' reputation was "severely damaged" in the eyes of the supporters as a result of the move, but they nevertheless "thanked (Rodgers) for his efforts last season" and "(wished) him well for the future". On 11 August, Rodgers got his first win as Reading manager with a 5–1 win over
League Two side
Burton Albion in the first round of the
League Cup. Despite a good start in the league, a disappointing string of results followed, and Rodgers left Reading by mutual consent on 16 December, just over six months after his arrival, with Reading one place above relegation in the Championship.
Swansea City with
Swansea City Rodgers accepted an offer to become the manager of Championship side
Swansea City on 16 July 2010. Prior to this appointment, he had been asked to join the coaching staff at
Manchester City under manager
Roberto Mancini. His beginning as Swansea manager was very successful, leading to Rodgers being named the
Championship Manager of the Month for February 2011 after Swansea won five out of the six league games they played that month, while keeping four clean sheets. By 25 April 2011, Rodgers had managed to comfortably secure Swansea City's place in the
2011 Championship Play-Offs for promotion into the Premier League, with a convincing 4–1 victory over
Ipswich Town at the
Liberty Stadium. On 16 May 2011, Rodgers led Swansea to the
2011 Championship Play-Off final as the favourites after defeating underdogs
Nottingham Forest over two legs in the semi-final. He faced his old club Reading in the final at
Wembley Stadium on 30 May 2011, which Swansea won 4–2 thanks in part to a hat-trick from
Scott Sinclair, meaning Swansea became the first Welsh team ever to gain promotion to the Premier League. Rodgers was praised by the media and supporters for consoling Reading manager
Brian McDermott and owner
John Madejski before receiving the trophy. Rodgers' first win as a Premier League manager came on 17 September 2011, when Swansea defeated
West Bromwich Albion 3–0 at the Liberty Stadium. Despite many predicting before the
season began that Swansea were favourites to be relegated, their debut season proved very impressive, as they picked up points against
Liverpool,
Newcastle United,
Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea, keeping them well above the relegation zone. In January 2012, Swansea claimed their first away win of the season at
Aston Villa, a month which also saw them defeat
Arsenal 3–2 at home and hold Chelsea to a 1–1 draw. This saw Rodgers earn his first
Premier League Manager of the Month award. In February, Rodgers signed a new three-and-a-half-year contract to keep him at the club until July 2015.
Liverpool 2012–13 season in 2014 On 1 June 2012, Rodgers was unveiled as the new
Liverpool manager on a three-year contract, following the departure of
Kenny Dalglish two weeks prior. Rodgers' appointment was immediately endorsed by former colleague and
Real Madrid manager
José Mourinho. In July 2012, Rodgers wrote an open letter to the Swansea City supporters, thanking both the staff and supporters for his time at the club, and wishing them well for the future. Days later, Rodgers held his first training session at
Melwood as the squad reported back for pre-season training. On 2 August 2012, Rodgers oversaw his first competitive game as Liverpool manager, a 1–0 win in the
UEFA Europa League against Belarusian club
Gomel, and won his first home game in charge in the second leg one week later. In his first league game as manager on 18 August, Liverpool lost 3–0 against West Brom at
The Hawthorns. His first win in the league came against
Norwich City at
Carrow Road, Liverpool winning 5–2. On 31 October, Rodgers welcomed his former club Swansea to
Anfield in the fourth round of the
League Cup, a match Liverpool lost 3–1. On 6 December, Liverpool defeated
Udinese 1–0 away in the Europa League to qualify for the round of 32 as group winners. On 27 January 2013, Liverpool were knocked out of the
FA Cup in the
fourth round, surprisingly losing 3–2 to
League One team
Oldham Athletic. Liverpool finished in seventh position in the
Premier League in his
first season in charge, one position higher than the
previous season.
2013–14 season At the start of the 2013–14 season, Rodgers was named the
Premier League Manager of the Month for August 2013 as Liverpool won their first three league games of the
season. In January 2014, he was fined £8,000 after making comments about referee
Lee Mason after a 2–1 loss to Manchester City in December 2013. He was later named Manager of the Month for the second time that season for March 2014, after Liverpool won all five of their games that month to go top of the Premier League. A run of 11-straight wins for Liverpool left them five points clear at the top of the Premier League with just three matches to play. However, they then suffered a 2–0 home defeat to Chelsea on 27 April. This result handed the advantage to Manchester City in the title race. In their next game away to
Crystal Palace on 5 May, Liverpool led 3–0 with 11 minutes to go, but the game finished 3–3. Liverpool ended the season as Premier League runners-up, two points behind champions Manchester City. Liverpool scored 101 league goals in the season, the club's most since the
1895–96 season and the third-highest in Premier League history. Later that month, Rodgers was named the
LMA Manager of the Year, becoming the first Liverpool manager to win the accolade in its 20-year history. On 26 May 2014, Rodgers signed a new four-year contract at Liverpool.
2014–15 season Liverpool were eliminated from the
2014–15 UEFA Champions League after drawing against
Basel in their final group match, dropping into the
Europa League.
The Reds were subsequently knocked out in the Europa League round of 32 after losing 4–5 on
penalties to Turkish side
Beşiktaş. On 19 April 2015, Liverpool were defeated by Aston Villa in the
FA Cup semi-final. Liverpool finished the season with a 6–1 defeat to
Stoke City, finishing sixth in the
Premier League. This meant Rodgers became the first Liverpool manager since the 1950s not to win a trophy after three seasons in charge. Despite this, Rodgers received the backing of Liverpool's
owners.
2015–16 season On 4 October 2015, Liverpool played their 225th
Merseyside derby against
Everton with the game ending again in a 1–1 draw. This was the fifth time in Liverpool's previous six games that they had taken a 1–0 lead, then to have the game end in a 1–1 draw; while they had just one win in their previous nine games. Just one hour after the game, Rodgers was sacked, leaving Liverpool in tenth place after eight matches played. Later, it became known that the decision to sack him had already been made prior to the match against Everton. The following day, Rodgers released a statement through the
League Managers Association stating, "I am, of course, incredibly disappointed to be leaving... [but] it has been both an honour and a privilege to manage one of the game's great clubs." Rodgers' signings for Liverpool included
James Milner,
Roberto Firmino,
Philippe Coutinho,
Adam Lallana,
Joe Gomez,
Dejan Lovren,
Divock Origi and
Mario Balotelli.
Celtic 2016–17 season in 2018 Rodgers was appointed manager of
Scottish Premiership champions Celtic on a 12-month rolling contract on 20 May 2016, following the exit of
Ronny Deila. Upon his arrival in Glasgow, Rodgers spoke of his admiration for the late
Tommy Burns, the former Celtic player and manager who was in charge of Reading when Rodgers began his coaching career. On 12 July, in his first competitive game in charge, Celtic
lost 1–0 away to Gibraltar's
Lincoln Red Imps in the first leg of their
second qualifying round of the
2016–17 Champions League. He said of the surprise result, "There is obvious disappointment. There is no embarrassment." Celtic overcame their one-goal deficit with a 3–0 win at
Celtic Park. On 23 August 2016, Celtic qualified for the
group stage of the 2016–17 Champions League for the first time in three years after a 5–4 aggregate victory over
Hapoel Be'er Sheva. In the first game of the group stage, 13 September 2016, Rodgers suffered a 7–0 defeat against
Barcelona at
Camp Nou, this was Brendan Rodgers' heaviest defeat and the worst result for Celtic in European competition. On 27 November 2016, Rodgers won his first trophy as a manager as Celtic defeated
Aberdeen 3–0 in the
final of the
Scottish League Cup. The win also gave Celtic their 100th major trophy. On 31 December 2016, Rodgers became the first manager in Celtic history to win his opening three games against Rangers. This victory meant Celtic went 19 points clear, with a game in hand, in the
2016–17 Scottish Premiership table. It also secured Celtic their 5th consecutive league victory, 58 points from a possible 60, and stretched their unbeaten run in domestic football to 24 games. On 2 April 2017, Celtic defeated Hearts 5–0 to secure the club's sixth consecutive league title, with eight games to spare. Five days later, Rodgers signed a new four-year contract with Celtic. As Celtic's unbeaten domestic run continued, they subjected Rangers to their heaviest defeat at Ibrox since 1915, thrashing their rivals 5–1 on 29 April. Celtic's 2–0 win over Hearts on 21 May saw them finish 30 points ahead of second-placed Aberdeen in the league with a record 106 points, and the team become the first Scottish side to complete a top-flight season undefeated since 1899. On 27 May 2017, Celtic defeated
Aberdeen 2–1 to win the
Scottish Cup, securing a domestic treble for the fourth time in their history, and ending the
2016–17 season unbeaten in all domestic competitions.
2017–18 season On 4 November 2017, Rodgers guided Celtic to a 4–0 victory over
St Johnstone. This victory meant Celtic were unbeaten for their last 63 domestic games. The victory also meant they surpassed the 100-year British-held recorded for consecutive domestic games undefeated, which was also held by
Willie Maley's Celtic team, set in 1917 at 62. On 26 November 2017, Rodgers won his fourth trophy in a row as a manager as Celtic defeated
Motherwell 2–0 in the
2017 Scottish League Cup Final. Rodgers became the first manager in the club's history to win his first four domestic trophies and also stretch the unbeaten domestic record to 65 games. This unbeaten run finally ended after 69 games, with a 4–0 loss to
Hearts. On 29 April 2018, Rodgers secured his second and Celtic's seventh consecutive league title with a 5–0 win against Rangers at Celtic Park. This win also extended Celtic's unbeaten run against Rangers to 12 games. The season ended with Rodgers winning the first 'Double Treble' (a treble in two consecutive seasons) in Scottish football history with a 2–0
Scottish Cup Final win over Motherwell on 19 May 2018.
2018–19 season Rodgers said that he turned down an approach from a
Chinese club during the summer of 2018. He told
BBC Scotland: "With China it's big money, but I've found happiness here." After failing to qualify for the Champions League, Celtic qualified in second place from the group stage of the UEFA Europa League. They were knocked out by Valencia in the round of 32, 3–0 on aggregate. Celtic won the Scottish League Cup in December 2018, Rodgers' seventh successive trophy with the club.
Leicester City 2018–19 season In February 2019, Rodgers was appointed manager of
Leicester City, following the dismissal of
Claude Puel. Rodgers' first game in charge of
The Foxes was on 3 March 2019 away against former club Watford. The game ended in a 2–1 defeat, with
Andre Gray scoring a 92nd-minute winner for
the Hornets. In Rodgers' home debut, his second game in charge, Leicester won 3–1 over struggling
Fulham. Striker
Jamie Vardy scored his 100th goal for the club in the match.
2019–20 season On 6 December 2019, Rodgers signed a contract extension keeping him at the club until 2025. At the point of signing the deal, his team had recorded 7 wins in a row and sat second in the table after 15 Premier League games. In his first full season, Rodgers guided Leicester to fifth place and therefore qualifying for the
UEFA Europa League group stage.
2020–21 season Leicester defeated
Manchester City 5–2 away from home on 27 September 2020, making Rodgers the first manager whose team scored five goals against a team managed by
Pep Guardiola. In Europe, Leicester won the
Europa League group with
Braga,
AEK Athens and
Zorya Luhansk to progress to the round of 16, but they were eliminated by
Slavia Prague after a 0–0 away draw in
Czech Republic and a 0–2 home loss. On 15 May 2021, Rodgers led Leicester City to win the first
FA Cup title in their history, after a 1–0 win over
Chelsea in the
final. The end of the season in the league saw a fierce battle between Leicester, Chelsea and Liverpool for the remaining
UEFA Champions League spots. Despite being in third place for most of the season, a 1–2 loss to Chelsea in the penultimate round saw Leicester drop to 5th place after Liverpool's 3–0 defeat of
Burnley, with Leicester and Liverpool tied on points and Chelsea up in third via a solitary point. Despite Chelsea's 1–2 loss against
Aston Villa giving them a chance to a fourth-place finish, Leicester could not take advantage due to a 2–4 loss to
Tottenham Hotspur after maintaining a 2–1 lead until
Kasper Schmeichel's own goal in the 76th minute, followed by two goals from
Gareth Bale. Thus, Leicester once again finished fifth, qualifying for the
Europa League.
2021–22 season In the Europa League, Leicester City finished third in their group to drop to the
UEFA Europa Conference League, in which they managed to reach their first ever European semi-final as a club, before losing 2–1 on aggregate against
Roma, who were managed by Rodgers' former colleague
José Mourinho.
2022–23 season Leicester began the season with seven defeats from their opening 10 Premier League games, slumping to the bottom of the table before a run of four wins from five games going into the
2022 World Cup break. The Foxes continued to struggle after the season resumed, and Rodgers conceded he understood fans' frustrations after chants against him from some away fans. He left the Foxes by mutual consent on 2 April following a 2–1 defeat against fellow strugglers
Crystal Palace. On 4 April, he said he had every confidence he would have been able to keep the team in the Premier League. At the end of the season, Leicester would be relegated, despite their final day 2–1 win over
West Ham United.
Return to Celtic On 19 June 2023, Rodgers returned to Celtic, agreeing a three-year contract to replace outgoing manager
Ange Postecoglou. He stated that "from a professional perspective and from a personal perspective, there was a real happiness for us to come back", and he "guaranteed" that he would stay for the entirety of this three-year contract. Celtic began the
2023–24 season with a 4–2 win against
Ross County in the opening fixture of the
Scottish Premiership. Despite criticism after a League Cup exit to
Kilmarnock and a goalless draw against St Johnstone, Celtic opened up an early lead in the Scottish Premiership helped by winning their first five away matches – something last achieved by Celtic in the 2017–18 season under Rodgers. In the Champions League, Celtic finished bottom of their group with four points, however they won their first home game in the competition since 2013 after beating
Feyenoord 2–1. In February 2024, Rodgers was criticised after calling the BBC journalist Jane Lewis "good girl" during an interview. The campaign group
For Women Scotland said it was depressing that "casual sexism is still embedded in sport", although Lewis defended Rodgers, stating she did not believe there was any offence intended by the comment. In March 2024, after criticising match officials (including John Beaton) following a 2–0 defeat at
Heart of Midlothian, Rodgers was charged by the SFA. He said he would defend the charges, but received a one-match ban. Celtic finished the 2023–24 season winning the Scottish Premiership title, eight points ahead of Rangers. Celtic also won the
Scottish Cup. In October 2024, after Celtic lost 7–1 against
Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League, Rodgers' tactics were criticised, but he defended them and his players. Celtic finished in 21st place in the Champions League group stage, and were knocked out by
Bayern Munich in the play-off phase. Celtic won the 2024–25 Scottish Premiership, finishing 17 points ahead of second-placed Rangers. The title was the club's 55th, bringing them level with Rangers for most in Scottish football. Celtic also won the
League Cup. Celtic lost the
2025 Scottish Cup final to
Aberdeen on penalties, falling short of a domestic treble. In August 2025, Rodgers denied that there was a conflict between him and the Celtic board over transfer policy. That same month, Celtic failed to qualify for the Champions League, losing on penalties to
FC Kairat. On 27 October 2025, Rodgers resigned following a 3–1 loss to Heart of Midlothian, with
Martin O'Neill appointed as his temporary replacement; Celtic were second in the Scottish Premiership when he resigned, but had lost two league matches in a row and were eight points behind the league-leading Hearts.
Al Qadsiah On 16 December 2025, Rodgers was appointed as head coach of Saudi Pro League side
Al Qadsiah, signing a contract until 2028. ==Management style==