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Merely fifteen minutes following Celtic released the news of their manager's shock departure via a perfunctory five-paragraph communication, the howitzer arrived, courtesy of Dermot Desmond, with whiskers twitching in obvious anger.

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

The man he persuaded to come to the team when their rivals were getting uppity in that period and needed putting in their place. Plus the figure he once more relied on after the previous manager left for Tottenham in the recent offseason.

So intense was the ferocity of his critique, the jaw-dropping return of the former boss was practically an after-thought.

Two decades after his exit from the club, and after much of his recent life was dedicated to an unending circuit of appearances and the performance of all his past successes at the team, Martin O'Neill is back in the manager's seat.

For now - and maybe for a time. Considering things he has expressed recently, he has been keen to secure a new position. He will view this role as the ultimate chance, a present from the club's legacy, a return to the place where he experienced such success and adulation.

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

All-out Attempt at Reputation Destruction'

O'Neill's return - as surreal as it may be - can be set aside because the biggest shocking moment was the brutal manner Desmond wrote of the former manager.

This constituted a full-blooded endeavor at defamation, a branding of Rodgers as untrustful, a perpetrator of untruths, a disseminator of misinformation; divisive, deceptive and unacceptable. "A single person's desire for self-interest at the cost of everyone else," stated he.

For somebody who values propriety and places great store in business being conducted with confidentiality, if not outright privacy, this was another illustration of how unusual things have grown at the club.

The major figure, the organization's dominant presence, moves in the margins. The absentee totem, the individual with the authority to make all the major decisions he pleases without having the responsibility of justifying them in any open setting.

He never participate in club annual meetings, sending his son, his son, in his place. He rarely, if ever, does interviews about the team unless they're glowing in nature. And even then, he's reluctant to speak out.

There have been instances on an occasion or two to defend the club with confidential missives to news outlets, but nothing is heard in the open.

This is precisely how he's wanted it to be. And that's exactly what he went against when launching full thermonuclear on Rodgers on that day.

The directive from the team is that Rodgers resigned, but reading his invective, carefully, one must question why did he allow it to get this far down the line?

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

He has charged him of spinning information in public that did not tally with the facts.

He claims his statements "have contributed to a hostile atmosphere around the club and encouraged hostility towards individuals of the management and the directors. Some of the abuse directed at them, and at their loved ones, has been completely unjustified and unacceptable."

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

'Rodgers' Aspirations Conflicted with Celtic's Strategy Once More'

Looking back to better days, they were close, Dermot and Brendan. Rodgers lauded Desmond at every turn, thanked him every chance. Rodgers respected Dermot and, truly, to no one other.

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

It was the most controversial appointment, the return of the prodigal son for some supporters or, as some other supporters would have put it, the return of the unapologetic figure, who departed in the lurch for another club.

Desmond had Rodgers' back. Over time, the manager employed the persuasion, achieved the victories and the trophies, and an uneasy truce with the supporters became a affectionate relationship again.

There was always - consistently - going to be a moment when his ambition came in contact with the club's operational approach, though.

It happened in his initial tenure and it transpired again, with bells on, over the last year. He publicly commented about the slow way the team conducted their player acquisitions, the endless delay for prospects to be secured, then missed, as was frequently the case as far as he was concerned.

Time and again he stated about the need for what he called "flexibility" in the market. Supporters concurred with him.

Even when the organization spent record amounts of money in a twelve-month period on the £11m Arne Engels, the £9m Adam Idah and the £6m Auston Trusty - none of whom have cut it so far, with Idah already having departed - the manager demanded increased resources and, oftentimes, he expressed this in public.

He planted a controversy about a internal disunity inside the club and then distanced himself. Upon questioning about his remarks at his next news conference he would usually downplay it and almost 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 game.

A few months back there was a report in a newspaper that purportedly came from a source close to the club. It said that Rodgers was damaging the team with his public outbursts and that his real motivation was orchestrating his departure plan.

He didn't want to be present and he was arranging his exit, that was the tone of the story.

The fans were enraged. 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 bring triumph.

This disclosure was damaging, naturally, and it was intended to harm Rodgers, which it did. He called for an inquiry and for the guilty person to be removed. If there was a examination then we heard no more about it.

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

The frequent {gripes