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Merely a quarter of an hour following Celtic issued the announcement of Brendan Rodgers' shock departure via a perfunctory short communication, the bombshell landed, from the major shareholder, with whiskers twitching in apparent anger.

In an extensive statement, key investor Desmond savaged his old chum.

The man he persuaded to join the team when Rangers were gaining ground in that period and required being in their place. And the man he once more turned to after the previous manager left for Tottenham in the recent offseason.

Such was the severity of his critique, the astonishing return of Martin O'Neill was practically an after-thought.

Twenty years after his exit from the club, and after a large part of his latter years was given over to an unending circuit of appearances and the playing of all his old hits at the team, O'Neill is back in the dugout.

Currently - and perhaps for a while. Considering comments he has said lately, O'Neill has been keen to get another job. He will see this one as the ultimate opportunity, a gift from the club's legacy, a homecoming to the environment where he experienced such glory and praise.

Will he relinquish it readily? It seems unlikely. The club might well reach out to sound out Postecoglou, but the new appointment will serve as a balm for the moment.

All-out Attempt at Character Assassination

O'Neill's return - as surreal as it may be - can be parked because the most significant 'wow!' development was the harsh manner Desmond described Rodgers.

It was a full-blooded endeavor at defamation, a labeling of Rodgers as deceitful, a perpetrator of falsehoods, a disseminator of misinformation; disruptive, misleading and unjustifiable. "One individual's desire for self-interest at the cost of others," stated Desmond.

For somebody who prizes decorum and sets high importance in dealings being conducted with discretion, if not complete privacy, here was a further example of how abnormal situations have grown at the club.

Desmond, the organization's dominant figure, moves in the background. The remote leader, the individual with the authority to make all the major calls he pleases without having the obligation of explaining them in any public forum.

He never participate in team AGMs, sending his offspring, his son, instead. He rarely, if ever, gives media talks about the team unless they're glowing in nature. And still, he's reluctant to speak out.

There have been instances on an rare moment to support the club with private missives to media organisations, but no statement is made in public.

It's exactly how he's wanted it to remain. And it's exactly what he contradicted when going all-out attack on Rodgers on Monday.

The directive from the team is that he resigned, but reading Desmond's criticism, line by line, you have to wonder why did he permit it to get such a critical point?

Assuming the manager is culpable of all of the accusations that the shareholder is alleging he's responsible for, then it's fair to inquire why had been the manager not dismissed?

Desmond has accused him of distorting information in open forums that did not tally with reality.

He says Rodgers' statements "played a part to a hostile atmosphere around the club and fuelled hostility towards members of the executive team and the directors. A portion of the criticism directed at them, and at their families, has been completely unjustified and unacceptable."

What an remarkable charge, indeed. Legal representatives might be preparing as we discuss.

His Ambition Clashed with Celtic's Strategy Again

Looking back to happier days, they were close, Dermot and Brendan. The manager lauded Desmond at every turn, expressed gratitude to him every chance. Rodgers deferred to Dermot and, really, to no one other.

It was Desmond who drew the heat when his comeback occurred, after the previous manager.

It was the most divisive appointment, the return of the returning hero for a few or, as other Celtic fans would have described it, the arrival of the unapologetic figure, who departed in the difficulty for Leicester.

Desmond had his back. Gradually, the manager employed the persuasion, delivered the wins and the trophies, and an fragile truce with the fans turned into a love-in again.

It was inevitable - consistently - going to be a moment when Rodgers' ambition clashed with Celtic's business model, though.

It happened in his first incarnation and it happened once more, with added intensity, over the last year. He spoke openly about the sluggish process Celtic conducted their transfer business, the endless waiting for prospects to be secured, then not landed, as was frequently the case as far as he was concerned.

Repeatedly he spoke about the necessity for what he called "agility" in the market. The fans agreed with him.

Despite the organization splurged record amounts of money in a calendar year on the £11m Arne Engels, the £9m another player and the £6m further acquisition - all of whom have cut it to date, with Idah since having departed - Rodgers demanded increased resources and, oftentimes, he expressed this in openly.

He planted a bomb about a internal disunity within the club and then walked away. Upon questioning about his remarks at his next news conference he would usually minimize it and nearly reverse what he stated.

Lack of cohesion? Not at all, all are united, he'd say. It looked like Rodgers was engaging in a dangerous strategy.

A few months back there was a story in a newspaper that allegedly came from a insider associated with the organization. It said that the manager was harming the team with his open criticisms and that his real motivation was managing his exit strategy.

He desired not to be there and he was engineering his way out, this was the implication of the article.

Supporters were angered. They now viewed him as akin to a martyr who might be removed on his shield because his board members wouldn't back his plans to achieve triumph.

This disclosure was damaging, naturally, and it was meant to harm Rodgers, which it accomplished. He called for an inquiry 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 plain Rodgers was shedding the support of the people above him.

The regular {gripes