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Merely a quarter of an hour following the club released the news of Brendan Rodgers' surprising departure via a perfunctory short statement, the bombshell landed, from Dermot Desmond, with clear signs in apparent anger.

Through an extensive statement, major shareholder Dermot Desmond savaged his former ally.

The man he persuaded to join the club when their rivals were gaining ground in that period and needed putting in their place. And the man he again relied on after Ange Postecoglou departed to Tottenham in the recent offseason.

Such was the severity of Desmond's critique, the jaw-dropping comeback of Martin O'Neill was practically an secondary note.

Two decades after his exit from the organization, and after a large part of his latter years was dedicated to an continuous circuit of appearances and the performance of all his old hits at Celtic, Martin O'Neill is returned in the dugout.

Currently - and maybe for a while. Based on things he has expressed recently, he has been keen to get a new position. He will see this one as the ultimate chance, a present from the Celtic Gods, a return to the environment where he enjoyed such success and adulation.

Will he give it up readily? It seems unlikely. Celtic could possibly reach out to contact their ex-manager, but the new appointment will serve as a soothing presence for the moment.

'Full-blooded Attempt at Reputation Destruction'

The new manager's reappearance - however strange as it is - can be set aside because the biggest shocking moment was the harsh manner Desmond wrote of Rodgers.

It was a forceful endeavor at defamation, a branding of him as untrustful, a perpetrator of falsehoods, a disseminator of misinformation; disruptive, deceptive and unacceptable. "One individual's wish for self-preservation at the expense of others," wrote Desmond.

For a person who values decorum and sets high importance in business being conducted with confidentiality, if not outright secrecy, this was a further example of how unusual things have become at the club.

The major figure, the organization's most powerful presence, moves in the margins. The remote leader, the individual with the authority to take all the important decisions he wants without having the obligation of explaining them in any open setting.

He does not attend team AGMs, sending his son, his son, in his place. He rarely, if ever, gives media talks about the team unless they're hagiographic in tone. And still, he's slow to speak out.

He has been known on an occasion or two to support the organization with confidential missives to news outlets, but nothing is heard in public.

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

The directive from the club is that Rodgers resigned, but reading his criticism, carefully, you have to wonder why did he allow it to get such a critical point?

If Rodgers is culpable of every one of the things that the shareholder is alleging he's guilty of, then it's fair to inquire why was the coach not dismissed?

He has accused him of distorting information in public that were inconsistent with the facts.

He claims Rodgers' words "played a part to a hostile atmosphere around the club and fuelled hostility towards individuals of the management and the board. A portion of the criticism directed at them, and at their loved ones, has been entirely unwarranted and unacceptable."

What an remarkable allegation, that is. Legal representatives might be preparing as we discuss.

'Rodgers' Ambition Clashed with the Club's Model Again

To return to happier times, they were tight, the two men. The manager praised the shareholder at all opportunities, expressed gratitude to him every chance. Brendan deferred to Dermot and, truly, to no one other.

It was the figure who drew the heat when his comeback happened, post-Postecoglou.

It was the most controversial appointment, the return of the returning hero for a few or, as some other Celtic fans would have put it, the return of the shameless one, who left them in the lurch for another club.

Desmond had Rodgers' support. Gradually, the manager turned on the charm, delivered the wins and the trophies, and an fragile peace with the fans turned into a affectionate relationship again.

There was always - always - going to be a point when his goals came in contact with Celtic's operational approach, though.

This occurred in his initial tenure and it happened again, with bells on, recently. He publicly commented about the slow way Celtic conducted their player acquisitions, the endless waiting for prospects to be landed, then not landed, as was frequently the case as far as he was believed.

Repeatedly he spoke about the necessity for what he termed "flexibility" in the market. The fans concurred with him.

Despite the organization spent unprecedented sums of money in a calendar year on the expensive one signing, the costly Adam Idah and the significant further acquisition - none of whom have cut it so far, with Idah already having left - the manager demanded increased resources and, often, he expressed this in public.

He set a controversy about a lack of cohesion within the team and then distanced himself. Upon questioning about his comments at his subsequent news conference he would typically minimize it and nearly reverse what he stated.

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

A few months back there was a story in a publication that purportedly came from a source associated with the organization. It said that the manager was damaging Celtic with his public outbursts and that his real motivation was orchestrating his departure plan.

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

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

The leak was poisonous, of course, and it was intended to harm him, which it did. He called for an investigation and for the guilty person to be removed. If there was a examination then we heard nothing further about it.

By then it was clear Rodgers was shedding the support of the people in charge.

The regular {gripes