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Merely a quarter of an hour following Celtic released the news of Brendan Rodgers' shock departure via a perfunctory short statement, the howitzer landed, courtesy of Dermot Desmond, with clear signs in obvious anger.

Through 551-words, major shareholder Dermot Desmond savaged his former ally.

This individual he persuaded to join the team when their rivals were gaining ground in 2016 and required being back in a box. Plus the figure he again relied on after Ange Postecoglou left for another club in the summer of 2023.

Such was the ferocity of Desmond's takedown, the jaw-dropping comeback of Martin O'Neill was almost an after-thought.

Twenty years after his departure from the club, and after much of his latter years was given over to an continuous series of appearances and the performance of all his past successes at Celtic, O'Neill is back in the dugout.

Currently - and perhaps for a time. Considering comments he has expressed recently, O'Neill has been eager to get another job. He will see this role as the perfect opportunity, a present from the Celtic Gods, a homecoming to the environment where he enjoyed such success and praise.

Would he give it up easily? You wouldn't have thought so. Celtic might well reach out to sound out Postecoglou, but O'Neill will act as a soothing presence for the time being.

All-out Effort at Character Assassination

O'Neill's reappearance - as surreal as it may be - can be parked because the most significant shocking development was the harsh manner the shareholder described Rodgers.

It was a full-blooded endeavor at character assassination, a branding of him as untrustful, a source of falsehoods, a spreader of falsehoods; divisive, deceptive and unacceptable. "A single person's desire for self-interest at the expense of everyone else," stated he.

For somebody who prizes propriety and sets high importance in business being done with discretion, if not complete secrecy, here was a further illustration of how unusual things have grown at Celtic.

The major figure, the club's dominant presence, operates in the background. The absentee totem, the individual with the power to take all the major calls he pleases without having the obligation of justifying them in any public forum.

He does not participate in team AGMs, sending his offspring, Ross, in his place. He seldom, if ever, does media talks about the team unless they're glowing in nature. And still, he's reluctant to speak out.

There have been instances on an occasion or two to defend the organization with confidential messages to news outlets, but no statement is heard in public.

This is precisely how he's preferred it to be. And it's just what he went against when launching full thermonuclear on Rodgers on Monday.

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

Assuming Rodgers is guilty of all of the accusations that Desmond is alleging he's guilty of, then it's fair to inquire why had been the coach not dismissed?

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

He says his statements "played a part to a hostile environment around the team and encouraged hostility towards individuals of the executive team and the directors. Some of the abuse directed at them, and at their families, has been completely unjustified and improper."

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

'Rodgers' Ambition Clashed with Celtic's Model Again

Looking back to better days, they were tight, Dermot and Brendan. Rodgers praised the shareholder at every turn, thanked him whenever possible. Rodgers respected him and, really, to nobody else.

It was the figure who took the heat when his comeback happened, post-Postecoglou.

It was the most controversial appointment, the return of the prodigal son for a few or, as other supporters would have put it, the arrival of the unapologetic figure, who left them in the lurch for Leicester.

Desmond had his back. Over time, Rodgers employed the charm, achieved the victories and the trophies, and an uneasy truce with the fans became a affectionate relationship once more.

It was inevitable - always - going to be a moment 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, over the last year. Rodgers spoke openly about the slow process Celtic conducted their player acquisitions, the endless waiting for targets to be landed, then missed, as was frequently the situation as far as he was concerned.

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

Even when the organization splurged unprecedented sums of funds in a twelve-month period on the expensive Arne Engels, the costly Adam Idah and the £6m further acquisition - none of whom have cut it to date, with Idah since having left - the manager demanded more and more and, often, he did it in openly.

He planted a controversy about a lack of cohesion within the team and then distanced himself. Upon questioning about his remarks at his next media briefing he would typically downplay it and nearly contradict what he said.

Lack of cohesion? Not at all, everybody is aligned, he'd say. It looked like he was playing a dangerous game.

A few months back there was a story in a newspaper that purportedly came from a insider associated with the organization. It said that the manager was harming the team with his public outbursts and that his true aim was orchestrating his exit strategy.

He didn't want to be there and he was arranging his way out, this was the tone of the article.

Supporters were angered. They then saw him as similar to a martyr who might be carried out on his shield because his board members wouldn't back his plans to achieve triumph.

This disclosure was poisonous, of course, and it was meant to hurt him, which it did. He called for an inquiry and for the responsible individual to be dismissed. Whether there was a probe then we heard nothing further about it.

At that point it was clear Rodgers was shedding the backing of the people in charge.

The regular {gripes