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Merely a quarter of an hour after Celtic released the news of Brendan Rodgers' shock departure via a perfunctory five-paragraph communication, the howitzer arrived, from Dermot Desmond, with whiskers twitching in obvious fury.

In 551-words, key investor Dermot Desmond savaged his former ally.

This individual he convinced to join the team when their rivals were gaining ground in that period and needed putting back in a box. And the figure he once more turned to after the previous manager departed to another club in the summer of 2023.

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

Twenty years after his exit from the organization, and after much of his recent life was dedicated to an unending circuit of public speaking engagements and the playing of all his old hits at Celtic, O'Neill is returned in the dugout.

For now - and maybe for a while. Based on comments he has expressed lately, he has been keen to get another job. He'll view this role as the ultimate chance, a present from the Celtic Gods, a return to the place where he experienced such glory and praise.

Would he give it up readily? You wouldn't have thought so. The club might well reach out to contact Postecoglou, but O'Neill will act as a soothing presence 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 way the shareholder described Rodgers.

It was a forceful attempt at defamation, a branding of Rodgers as untrustful, a perpetrator of untruths, a spreader of falsehoods; disruptive, deceptive and unjustifiable. "One individual's desire for self-preservation at the expense of everyone else," stated he.

For somebody who values propriety and places great store in dealings being done with discretion, if not complete privacy, this was another example of how unusual situations have grown at the club.

The major figure, the organization's dominant presence, moves in the background. The absentee totem, the individual with the authority to take all the major calls he pleases without having the obligation of justifying them in any open setting.

He never attend team AGMs, sending his offspring, his son, instead. He rarely, if ever, does media talks about the team unless they're hagiographic in tone. And even then, he's slow to communicate.

There have been instances on an occasion or two to defend the organization with confidential messages 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 went against when launching all-out attack on Rodgers on Monday.

The official line from the club is that he resigned, but reading Desmond's invective, line by line, you have to wonder why did he permit it to reach this far down the line?

Assuming Rodgers is guilty of all of the accusations that the shareholder is claiming he's guilty of, then it is reasonable to ask why was the coach not removed?

Desmond has accused him of distorting things in public that did not tally with the facts.

He says his words "have contributed to a toxic atmosphere around the team and fuelled animosity towards members of the management and the directors. Some of the criticism directed at them, and at their families, has been entirely unjustified and improper."

Such an remarkable charge, that is. Lawyers might be mobilising as we speak.

His Aspirations Conflicted with the Club's Model Once More'

To return to happier days, they were close, Dermot and Brendan. The manager lauded Desmond at every turn, expressed gratitude to him every chance. Brendan deferred to him and, truly, to nobody else.

It was the figure who drew the criticism when his comeback occurred, post-Postecoglou.

It was the most divisive appointment, the reappearance of the returning hero for some supporters or, as other Celtic fans would have put it, the return of the shameless one, who departed in the difficulty for Leicester.

The shareholder had Rodgers' support. Gradually, Rodgers employed the persuasion, delivered the wins and the trophies, and an uneasy peace with the supporters became a love-in again.

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

This occurred in his first incarnation and it transpired once more, with bells on, recently. Rodgers publicly commented about the slow process the team went about their transfer business, the endless delay for targets to be landed, then missed, as was frequently the case as far as he was concerned.

Repeatedly he spoke about the necessity for what he called "agility" in the transfer window. Supporters concurred with him.

Even when the club spent record amounts of funds in a twelve-month period on the expensive one signing, the costly Adam Idah and the significant further acquisition - all of whom have cut it so far, with one already having departed - the manager demanded increased resources and, often, he expressed this in public.

He planted a bomb about a internal disunity inside the team and then distanced himself. When asked about his comments at his next news conference he would typically downplay it and nearly reverse what he said.

Lack of cohesion? Not at all, everybody is aligned, he'd say. It appeared like he was engaging in a dangerous strategy.

A few months back there was a report in a publication that purportedly came from a source close to the organization. It claimed that Rodgers was damaging the team with his public outbursts and that his real motivation was managing his departure plan.

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

The fans were angered. They now viewed him as akin to a martyr who might be removed on his shield because his directors wouldn't support his vision to achieve triumph.

This disclosure was poisonous, naturally, and it was intended to harm Rodgers, which it accomplished. He called for an inquiry and for the responsible individual to be dismissed. Whether there was a probe then we heard no more about it.

At that point it was plain Rodgers was shedding the support of the people in charge.

The frequent {gripes