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Just fifteen minutes following the club released the announcement of their manager's shock resignation via a perfunctory short statement, the howitzer arrived, from the major shareholder, with clear signs in obvious fury.

Through an extensive statement, key investor Desmond savaged his former ally.

The man he persuaded to come to the club when their rivals were gaining ground in that period and required being back in a box. Plus the figure he again relied on after Ange Postecoglou left for Tottenham in the summer of 2023.

Such was the severity of his takedown, the astonishing return of Martin O'Neill was almost 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 continuous series of appearances and the performance of all his past successes at Celtic, Martin O'Neill is returned in the dugout.

Currently - and perhaps for a while. Considering comments he has expressed lately, O'Neill has been keen to secure another job. He will view this role as the perfect chance, a present from the club's legacy, a return to the place where he enjoyed such glory and praise.

Would he give it up easily? It seems unlikely. The club might well reach out to contact Postecoglou, but O'Neill will serve as a soothing presence for the time being.

All-out Effort at Reputation Destruction'

The new manager's return - as surreal as it may be - can be parked because the most significant shocking moment was the harsh manner Desmond described the former manager.

It was a full-blooded endeavor at defamation, a labeling of Rodgers as deceitful, a source of untruths, a spreader of misinformation; divisive, misleading and unacceptable. "One individual's wish for self-preservation at the cost of everyone else," stated Desmond.

For somebody who prizes propriety and places great store in dealings being conducted with discretion, if not complete secrecy, here was a further illustration of how unusual situations have become at Celtic.

Desmond, the club's most powerful figure, operates in the margins. The remote leader, the one with the authority to take all the important decisions he pleases without having the obligation of justifying them in any open setting.

He never participate in team annual meetings, dispatching his offspring, Ross, instead. He seldom, if ever, gives media talks about the team unless they're hagiographic in nature. And still, he's slow to communicate.

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

This is precisely how he's preferred it to remain. And it's just what he contradicted when launching all-out attack on Rodgers on Monday.

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 the shareholder is claiming he's responsible for, then it's fair to inquire why was the coach not dismissed?

He has charged him of spinning things in public that were inconsistent with the facts.

He says Rodgers' words "have contributed to a hostile atmosphere around the team and encouraged animosity towards members of the executive team and the directors. Some of the criticism directed at them, and at their loved ones, has been completely unjustified and unacceptable."

What an extraordinary charge, that is. Legal representatives might be preparing as we speak.

His Ambition Conflicted with the Club's Model Again

Looking back to happier times, they were tight, Dermot and Brendan. The manager lauded Desmond at every turn, thanked him whenever possible. Rodgers respected him and, truly, to nobody else.

This was Desmond who drew the heat when Rodgers' comeback occurred, after the previous manager.

This marked the most divisive hiring, the return of the returning hero for some supporters or, as some other supporters would have described it, the return of the unapologetic figure, who departed in the difficulty for Leicester.

Desmond had his back. Over time, the manager employed the charm, achieved the victories and the trophies, and an uneasy truce with the fans became a love-in once more.

It was inevitable - always - going to be a point when Rodgers' goals clashed with Celtic's business model, however.

This occurred in his initial tenure and it happened again, with bells on, over the last year. Rodgers publicly commented about the sluggish process the team conducted their transfer business, the interminable delay for targets to be secured, then not landed, as was too often the situation as far as he was believed.

Time and again he spoke about the necessity for what he termed "agility" in the transfer window. The fans agreed with him.

Despite the organization spent unprecedented sums of money in a twelve-month period on the expensive Arne Engels, the costly another player and the £6m Auston Trusty - none of whom have performed well so far, with one since having departed - the manager demanded more and more and, often, he expressed this in openly.

He set a controversy about a internal disunity inside the club and then walked away. When asked about his comments at his subsequent news conference he would usually minimize it and almost reverse what he stated.

Internal issues? No, no, all are united, he'd say. It looked like he was playing a risky strategy.

Earlier this year there was a story in a newspaper that allegedly came from a source close to the club. It said that Rodgers was damaging Celtic with his public outbursts and that his true aim was managing his departure plan.

He desired not to be present and he was engineering his way out, this was the tone of the story.

The fans were enraged. They now viewed him as akin to a sacrificial figure who might be removed on his shield because his directors did not back his plans to bring success.

This disclosure was poisonous, naturally, and it was meant to hurt Rodgers, which it did. He called for an inquiry and for the guilty person to be removed. Whether there was a examination then we heard no more about it.

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

The regular {gripes