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Just fifteen minutes after Celtic released the news of Brendan Rodgers' shock resignation via a perfunctory short communication, the howitzer arrived, from Dermot Desmond, with clear signs in apparent anger.

Through an extensive statement, major shareholder Desmond savaged his old chum.

This individual he convinced to join the club when Rangers were getting uppity in 2016 and needed putting in their place. Plus the man he again relied on after Ange Postecoglou left for Tottenham in the summer of 2023.

Such was the severity of his critique, the jaw-dropping comeback of Martin O'Neill was almost an after-thought.

Twenty years after his departure from the organization, and after a large part of his recent life was dedicated to an unending circuit of appearances and the performance of all his old hits at Celtic, O'Neill is back in the manager's seat.

For now - and perhaps for a while. Based on comments he has expressed recently, he has been keen to secure another job. He will see this role as the ultimate opportunity, a gift from the club's legacy, a return to the environment where he experienced such success and praise.

Will he relinquish it readily? It seems unlikely. Celtic might well make a call to sound out their ex-manager, but the new appointment will act as a balm for the time being.

All-out Attempt at Character Assassination

The new manager's return - however strange as it is - can be parked because the most significant 'wow!' development was the brutal manner Desmond described Rodgers.

It was a full-blooded attempt at character assassination, a branding of Rodgers as deceitful, a source of untruths, a spreader of falsehoods; divisive, misleading and unacceptable. "One individual's wish for self-preservation at the cost of everyone else," stated he.

For somebody who prizes decorum and sets high importance in dealings being conducted with discretion, if not complete secrecy, this was another illustration of how unusual things have grown at Celtic.

Desmond, the organization's most powerful figure, operates in the margins. The absentee totem, the one with the authority to take all the major decisions he pleases without having the responsibility of explaining them in any public forum.

He never attend team AGMs, dispatching his son, Ross, instead. He seldom, if ever, gives interviews about Celtic unless they're hagiographic in tone. And still, he's reluctant to communicate.

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

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

The official line from the club is that Rodgers stepped down, but reviewing Desmond's criticism, carefully, one must question why did he allow it to get this far down the line?

Assuming Rodgers is culpable of all of the things that Desmond is alleging he's responsible for, then it is reasonable to ask why was the coach not removed?

He has accused him of spinning things in public that were inconsistent with reality.

He says Rodgers' statements "played a part to a hostile environment around the club and encouraged hostility towards members of the executive team and the board. Some of the abuse aimed at them, and at their families, has been entirely unjustified and unacceptable."

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

His Ambition Conflicted with the Club's Strategy Again

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

It was Desmond who took the criticism when his returned occurred, post-Postecoglou.

This marked the most divisive hiring, the return of the prodigal son for a few or, as other Celtic fans would have described it, the return of the shameless one, who left them in the lurch for another club.

The shareholder had Rodgers' support. Gradually, Rodgers employed the persuasion, achieved the victories and the honors, and an fragile peace with the fans became a affectionate relationship again.

It was inevitable - always - going to be a moment when Rodgers' goals came in contact with Celtic's business model, however.

It happened in his initial tenure and it happened again, with bells on, over the last year. He spoke openly about the sluggish process Celtic conducted their transfer business, the endless waiting for targets to be landed, then not landed, as was frequently the situation as far as he was believed.

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

Despite the organization splurged unprecedented sums of funds in a calendar year on the £11m one signing, the costly another player and the £6m Auston Trusty - none of whom have cut it so far, with Idah since having departed - Rodgers pushed for more and more and, oftentimes, he did it in openly.

He planted a controversy 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 almost reverse what he stated.

Lack of cohesion? Not at all, all are united, he'd say. It appeared like Rodgers was playing a dangerous game.

Earlier this year there was a story in a newspaper that purportedly came from a source close to the club. It claimed that the manager was harming the team with his public outbursts and that his true aim was managing his exit strategy.

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

Supporters were angered. They then viewed him as akin to a martyr who might be carried out on his honor because his directors did not support his vision to achieve triumph.

The leak was poisonous, of course, and it was meant to harm Rodgers, which it accomplished. He called for an investigation and for the guilty person to be dismissed. If there was a examination then we learned nothing further about it.

At that point it was plain Rodgers was shedding the backing of the people above him.

The regular {gripes