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Just a quarter of an hour following the club released the news of Brendan Rodgers' surprising departure via a perfunctory five-paragraph statement, the howitzer arrived, courtesy of the major shareholder, with whiskers twitching in apparent anger.

In an extensive statement, key investor Dermot Desmond eviscerated his former ally.

This individual he convinced to come to the club when their rivals were gaining ground in 2016 and needed putting in their place. And the figure he again relied on after Ange Postecoglou departed to Tottenham in the summer of 2023.

Such was the severity of Desmond's takedown, the astonishing return of the former boss was practically an after-thought.

Two decades after his departure from the club, and after much of his latter years was dedicated to an continuous series of public speaking engagements and the playing of all his old hits at Celtic, Martin O'Neill is returned in the dugout.

Currently - and maybe for a time. Considering things he has said lately, he has been eager to get a new position. He will view this one as the ultimate opportunity, a present from the Celtic Gods, a return to the place where he experienced such success and praise.

Would he relinquish it readily? It seems unlikely. Celtic might well reach out to contact Postecoglou, but O'Neill will act as a soothing presence for the moment.

'Full-blooded Attempt at Character Assassination

O'Neill's reappearance - however strange as it may be - can be set aside because the most significant 'wow!' moment was the harsh way the shareholder described Rodgers.

It was a full-blooded attempt at defamation, a branding of Rodgers as untrustful, a source of untruths, a spreader of misinformation; disruptive, misleading and unjustifiable. "One individual's wish for self-preservation at the cost of everyone else," wrote he.

For a person who prizes propriety and places great store in dealings being done with confidentiality, if not outright privacy, here was another example of how abnormal situations have become at Celtic.

Desmond, the organization's most powerful presence, operates in the background. The remote leader, the individual with the power to make all the important decisions he pleases without having the responsibility of justifying them in any open setting.

He does not attend club AGMs, sending his offspring, Ross, instead. He rarely, if ever, does media talks about Celtic unless they're hagiographic in tone. And still, he's reluctant to speak out.

He has been known on an rare moment to defend the club with confidential missives to media organisations, but no statement is made in public.

It's exactly how he's wanted it to remain. And that's just what he went against when launching all-out attack on Rodgers on that day.

The official line from the team is that he resigned, but reviewing his criticism, line by line, one must question why did he permit it to get this far down the line?

If the manager is culpable of all of the accusations that Desmond is claiming he's guilty of, then it is reasonable to ask why had been the coach not dismissed?

He has accused him of spinning things in open forums that were inconsistent with the facts.

He says Rodgers' statements "played a part to a toxic atmosphere around the club and encouraged hostility towards members of the management and the board. Some of the abuse directed at them, and at their loved ones, has been completely unjustified and improper."

Such an extraordinary allegation, indeed. Legal representatives might be preparing as we discuss.

His Ambition Conflicted with the Club's Strategy Again

To return to happier days, they were close, Dermot and Brendan. The manager praised the shareholder at every turn, expressed gratitude to him whenever possible. Rodgers respected Dermot and, truly, to nobody else.

This was Desmond who took the criticism when his returned occurred, after the previous manager.

This marked the most controversial appointment, the reappearance of the prodigal son for a few or, as other supporters would have put it, the return of the unapologetic figure, who left them in the difficulty for another club.

The shareholder had Rodgers' support. Gradually, Rodgers turned on the persuasion, achieved the wins and the honors, and an uneasy truce with the fans turned into a affectionate relationship again.

It was inevitable - always - going to be a moment when his goals clashed with Celtic's operational approach, however.

This occurred in his initial tenure and it happened once more, with added intensity, recently. Rodgers publicly commented about the sluggish process Celtic conducted their transfer business, the interminable delay for prospects to be secured, then missed, as was frequently the case as far as he was concerned.

Time and again he spoke about the need for what he termed "agility" in the market. Supporters concurred with him.

Even when the club spent record amounts of money in a twelve-month period on the £11m one signing, the costly another player and the significant Auston Trusty - none of whom have performed well to date, with one already having left - Rodgers pushed for increased resources and, often, he did it in openly.

He planted a controversy about a internal disunity inside the club and then walked away. Upon questioning about his comments at his subsequent news conference he would typically minimize it and almost contradict what he stated.

Internal issues? No, no, all are united, he'd claim. It appeared like he was engaging in a risky strategy.

A few months back there was a report in a newspaper that allegedly came from a insider close to the club. It said that the manager was damaging Celtic with his public outbursts and that his real motivation was orchestrating his exit strategy.

He didn't want to be there and he was engineering his way out, that was the tone of the story.

Supporters were angered. They then saw him as similar to a martyr who might be carried out on his honor because his board members wouldn't back his plans to bring triumph.

This disclosure was damaging, of course, and it was intended to hurt Rodgers, which it did. He demanded for an investigation and for the guilty person to be removed. If there was a examination then we heard nothing further about it.

At that point it was clear the manager was losing the backing of the individuals above him.

The regular {gripes