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Just fifteen minutes following the club issued the news of their manager's shock resignation via a perfunctory five-paragraph statement, the bombshell arrived, courtesy of Dermot Desmond, with whiskers twitching in obvious fury.

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

The man he persuaded to come to the club when Rangers were gaining ground in 2016 and required being in their place. Plus the man he once more turned to after the previous manager left for another club in the summer of 2023.

Such was the ferocity of his takedown, the astonishing comeback of Martin O'Neill was almost an after-thought.

Twenty years after his exit from the organization, and after much of his recent life was dedicated to an continuous series of appearances and the playing of all his old hits at Celtic, O'Neill is back in the dugout.

Currently - and maybe for a time. Considering comments he has said recently, O'Neill has been eager to get a new position. He will see this role as the perfect chance, a gift from the club's legacy, a homecoming to the place where he experienced such glory and praise.

Will he give it up readily? It seems unlikely. Celtic could possibly reach out to sound out Postecoglou, but O'Neill will act as a balm for the time being.

All-out Attempt at Character Assassination

O'Neill's return - as surreal as it may be - can be parked because the biggest shocking moment was the brutal manner the shareholder described the former manager.

It was a forceful attempt at character assassination, a branding of Rodgers as deceitful, a source of falsehoods, a disseminator of falsehoods; divisive, misleading and unjustifiable. "One individual's desire for self-interest at the expense of others," wrote Desmond.

For somebody who values decorum and places great store in dealings being conducted with confidentiality, if not outright secrecy, here was a further example of how unusual things have become at Celtic.

The major figure, the organization's dominant presence, moves in the background. The absentee totem, the one with the power to take all the important calls he wants without having the responsibility of justifying them in any public forum.

He never participate in team annual meetings, dispatching his offspring, his son, instead. He rarely, if ever, gives interviews about Celtic unless they're glowing in tone. And still, he's reluctant to speak out.

He has been known on an occasion or two to support the organization with private messages to news outlets, but no statement is heard in public.

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

The official line from the club is that Rodgers resigned, but reading Desmond's invective, carefully, you have to wonder why did he permit it to get such a critical point?

If the manager is culpable of every one of the things that the shareholder is alleging he's guilty of, then it is reasonable to inquire why had been the coach not removed?

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

He says his words "played a part to a hostile atmosphere around the team and fuelled animosity towards individuals of the executive team and the board. A portion of the criticism directed at them, and at their families, has been completely unjustified and improper."

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

His Aspirations Clashed with Celtic's Strategy Once More'

To return to happier times, they were close, Dermot and Brendan. The manager praised the shareholder at every turn, thanked him every chance. Brendan respected Dermot and, truly, to no one other.

This was the figure who drew the heat when Rodgers' returned occurred, post-Postecoglou.

It was the most controversial appointment, the return of the prodigal son for some supporters or, as some other Celtic fans would have put it, the return of the shameless one, who left them in the difficulty for Leicester.

The shareholder had his back. Over time, the manager turned on the persuasion, achieved the victories and the honors, and an uneasy peace with the supporters became a affectionate relationship again.

It was inevitable - consistently - going to be a point when his goals came in contact with the club's business model, though.

This occurred in his initial tenure and it transpired once more, with bells on, recently. Rodgers spoke openly about the sluggish process Celtic conducted their transfer business, the endless waiting for targets to be secured, then not landed, as was frequently the case as far as he was believed.

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

Even when the club spent record amounts of funds in a calendar year on the £11m one signing, the costly Adam Idah and the £6m further acquisition - none of whom have performed well to date, with one since having departed - Rodgers demanded more and more and, often, he did it in public.

He planted a controversy about a internal disunity within the club and then walked away. When asked about his remarks at his next news conference he would typically downplay it and almost reverse what he stated.

Internal issues? Not at all, all are united, he'd claim. It appeared like Rodgers was playing a risky game.

A few months back there was a report in a newspaper that allegedly originated from a insider associated with the club. It said that the manager was damaging Celtic with his open criticisms and that his real motivation was orchestrating his exit strategy.

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

The fans were enraged. They now viewed him as similar to a martyr who might be carried out on his honor because his directors did not support his plans to achieve success.

This disclosure was damaging, naturally, and it was intended to harm him, which it did. He demanded for an inquiry and for the responsible individual to be removed. Whether there was a examination then we heard nothing further about it.

At that point it was plain the manager was losing the backing of the individuals in charge.

The regular {gripes