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Merely a quarter of an hour after Celtic issued the news of their manager's surprising departure via a brief short communication, the bombshell arrived, courtesy of the major shareholder, with clear signs in obvious anger.

Through 551-words, major shareholder Desmond eviscerated his old chum.

This individual he convinced to join the team when their rivals were getting uppity in that period and required being in their place. And the man he once more turned to after Ange Postecoglou left for another club in the summer of 2023.

Such was the severity of Desmond's takedown, the astonishing comeback of Martin O'Neill was practically an secondary note.

Twenty years after his exit from the organization, and after a large part of his latter years was given over to an unending series of appearances and the performance of all his past successes at the team, O'Neill is returned in the manager's seat.

Currently - and perhaps for a time. Considering things he has expressed lately, he has been eager to secure another job. He will view this one as the perfect opportunity, a present from the Celtic Gods, a return to the environment where he experienced such glory and adulation.

Would he give it up easily? You wouldn't have thought so. Celtic could possibly make a call to sound out their ex-manager, but O'Neill will act as a soothing presence for the moment.

All-out Effort at Reputation Destruction'

O'Neill's reappearance - as surreal as it may be - can be parked because the biggest shocking development was the brutal way Desmond wrote of the former manager.

This constituted a forceful attempt at character assassination, a labeling of Rodgers as untrustful, a perpetrator of falsehoods, a spreader of misinformation; divisive, deceptive and unacceptable. "A single person's desire for self-preservation at the cost of others," stated Desmond.

For a person who prizes propriety and sets high importance in business being done with discretion, if not complete privacy, this was another illustration of how unusual things have grown at Celtic.

The major figure, the club's dominant presence, moves in the background. The absentee totem, the one with the authority to take all the important decisions he wants without having the responsibility of explaining them in any public forum.

He never participate in club annual meetings, sending his son, his son, in his place. He rarely, if ever, gives media talks about the team unless they're glowing in tone. And even then, he's reluctant to communicate.

He has been known on an occasion or two to defend the club with confidential messages to news outlets, but no statement is heard in public.

This is precisely how he's preferred it to be. And it's just what he went against when going all-out attack on Rodgers on Monday.

The directive from the team is that Rodgers stepped down, but reviewing Desmond's invective, line by line, one must question why did he allow it to get such a critical point?

If the manager is guilty of all of the things that Desmond is alleging he's responsible for, then it's fair to inquire why had been the coach not dismissed?

He has charged him of spinning things in public that did not tally with the facts.

He claims Rodgers' words "played a part to a hostile atmosphere around the club and fuelled hostility towards individuals of the executive team and the directors. A portion of the abuse aimed at them, and at their families, has been entirely unwarranted and unacceptable."

Such an remarkable allegation, indeed. Lawyers might be preparing as we discuss.

'Rodgers' Aspirations Clashed with the Club's Strategy Again

Looking back to better times, they were close, Dermot and Brendan. The manager praised the shareholder at all opportunities, expressed gratitude to him whenever possible. Brendan deferred to Dermot and, truly, to no one other.

It was the figure who drew the criticism when Rodgers' comeback happened, after the previous manager.

This marked the most controversial appointment, the return of the prodigal son for some supporters or, as other Celtic fans would have described it, the arrival of the shameless one, who left them in the difficulty for another club.

The shareholder had his support. Gradually, the manager employed the persuasion, delivered the victories and the honors, and an fragile truce with the supporters turned into a love-in again.

It was inevitable - always - going to be a moment when his ambition clashed with the club's business model, though.

This occurred in his initial tenure and it transpired again, with added intensity, recently. Rodgers spoke openly about the slow way the team went about their transfer business, the endless delay for prospects to be landed, then missed, as was frequently the case as far as he was believed.

Repeatedly he spoke about the need for what he termed "agility" in the market. Supporters agreed with him.

Despite the organization splurged record amounts of funds in a calendar year on the expensive one signing, the £9m another player and the £6m Auston Trusty - all of whom have cut it so far, with Idah already having departed - the manager pushed for more and more and, oftentimes, he did it in openly.

He set a controversy about a lack of cohesion inside the team and then walked away. Upon questioning about his comments at his next news conference he would typically downplay it and nearly contradict what he stated.

Internal issues? Not at all, all are united, he'd claim. It appeared like he was engaging in a risky game.

A few months back there was a report in a publication that allegedly originated from a source close to the club. It claimed that Rodgers was damaging the team with his public outbursts and that his true aim was orchestrating his departure plan.

He desired not to be present and he was arranging his exit, this was the implication of the article.

Supporters were angered. They now saw him as akin to a martyr who might be removed on his shield because his directors wouldn't back his vision to bring success.

This disclosure was poisonous, naturally, and it was meant to harm him, which it accomplished. He demanded for an inquiry and for the guilty person to be dismissed. If there was a probe then we learned nothing further about it.

At that point it was plain Rodgers was losing the backing of the individuals in charge.

The regular {gripes