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Merely fifteen minutes following Celtic released the announcement of their manager's shock departure via a perfunctory short communication, the bombshell landed, from Dermot Desmond, with clear signs in obvious fury.

Through an extensive statement, key investor Desmond savaged his old chum.

This individual he convinced to join the team when their rivals were getting uppity in 2016 and required being in their place. And the figure he again turned to after Ange Postecoglou departed to another club in the recent offseason.

So intense was the severity of his takedown, the astonishing return of the former boss was almost an secondary note.

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

Currently - and perhaps for a while. Based on things he has said lately, O'Neill has been keen to get another job. He'll see this role as the perfect chance, a present from the club's legacy, a return to the environment where he enjoyed such success and adulation.

Will he relinquish it easily? It seems unlikely. Celtic might well reach out to contact Postecoglou, but O'Neill will act as a balm for the time being.

All-out Effort at Character Assassination

The new manager's return - as surreal as it is - can be set aside because the biggest shocking moment was the harsh way Desmond wrote of Rodgers.

This constituted a forceful attempt at character assassination, a labeling of Rodgers as deceitful, a perpetrator of untruths, a disseminator of falsehoods; disruptive, misleading and unjustifiable. "A single person's wish for self-interest at the expense of others," stated he.

For a person who prizes propriety and places great store in business being done with confidentiality, if not complete privacy, this was a further example of how unusual things have become at Celtic.

The major figure, the club'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 public forum.

He does not attend team AGMs, dispatching his son, his son, instead. He rarely, if ever, gives interviews about Celtic unless they're hagiographic in tone. And even then, he's reluctant 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 heard in the open.

It's exactly how he's wanted it to remain. And it's exactly what he went against when going full thermonuclear on the manager on that day.

The directive from the club is that Rodgers resigned, but reviewing Desmond's criticism, carefully, you have to wonder why he allow it to get this far down the line?

If Rodgers is guilty of all of the accusations that Desmond is alleging he's guilty of, then it is reasonable to ask why was the coach not dismissed?

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

He claims Rodgers' statements "have contributed to a toxic atmosphere around the club and fuelled hostility towards individuals of the management and the directors. Some of the criticism aimed at them, and at their loved ones, has been entirely unwarranted and improper."

Such an remarkable charge, indeed. Legal representatives might be preparing as we discuss.

'Rodgers' Ambition Conflicted with Celtic's Strategy Again

To return to happier days, they were tight, Dermot and Brendan. The manager praised the shareholder at all opportunities, expressed gratitude to him whenever possible. Rodgers deferred to him and, truly, to nobody else.

This was Desmond who drew the heat when Rodgers' comeback happened, post-Postecoglou.

This marked the most controversial hiring, the return of the prodigal son for a few or, as some other Celtic fans would have put it, the arrival of the unapologetic figure, who left them in the lurch for Leicester.

The shareholder had Rodgers' back. Over time, Rodgers employed the persuasion, delivered the wins and the honors, and an uneasy peace with the fans became a affectionate relationship once more.

There was always - always - going to be a moment when his ambition clashed with Celtic's operational approach, though.

It happened in his initial tenure and it happened once more, with bells on, over the last year. He spoke openly about the sluggish process Celtic went about their player acquisitions, the endless delay for prospects to be landed, then missed, as was frequently the case as far as he was believed.

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

Despite the club splurged unprecedented sums of funds in a twelve-month period on the expensive Arne Engels, the £9m Adam Idah and the £6m further acquisition - none of whom have performed well so far, with Idah already having departed - Rodgers pushed for more and more and, oftentimes, he expressed this in public.

He planted a controversy about a lack of cohesion inside the team and then walked away. When asked about his comments at his subsequent media briefing he would typically minimize it and nearly contradict what he stated.

Internal issues? Not at all, all are united, he'd say. It looked like Rodgers was playing a risky strategy.

Earlier this year there was a report in a newspaper that allegedly originated from a insider close to the organization. It claimed that Rodgers was damaging the team with his open criticisms and that his real motivation was orchestrating his departure plan.

He desired not to be present and he was arranging his way out, that was the implication of the article.

The fans were enraged. They now saw him as similar to a martyr who might be carried out on his honor because his board members did not support his vision to achieve triumph.

This disclosure was poisonous, of course, and it was meant to hurt him, which it did. He demanded for an inquiry and for the guilty person to be removed. Whether there was a probe then we learned nothing further about it.

By then it was plain Rodgers was shedding the backing of the people in charge.

The frequent {gripes