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Merely fifteen minutes after the club issued the announcement of their manager's shock departure via a perfunctory five-paragraph statement, the bombshell landed, from the major shareholder, with whiskers twitching in obvious anger.

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

This individual he convinced to join the team when Rangers were gaining ground in that period and needed putting back in a box. Plus the figure he again turned to after the previous manager left for Tottenham in the summer of 2023.

So intense was the severity of Desmond's critique, the astonishing return of Martin O'Neill was almost an secondary note.

Two decades after his departure from the club, and after a large part 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 returned in the dugout.

For now - and maybe for a time. Based on things he has said recently, he has been eager to secure a new position. He will view this role as the ultimate chance, a gift from the Celtic Gods, a return to the environment where he enjoyed such glory and adulation.

Will he relinquish it readily? You wouldn't have thought so. The club could possibly make a call to sound out Postecoglou, but the new appointment will serve as a soothing presence for the time being.

All-out Effort 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 Rodgers.

This constituted a full-blooded endeavor at defamation, a branding of him as untrustful, a source of untruths, a spreader of misinformation; disruptive, misleading and unacceptable. "One individual's wish for self-preservation at the cost of everyone else," stated Desmond.

For a person who prizes decorum and sets high importance in business being conducted with confidentiality, if not outright secrecy, this was a further example of how abnormal things have become at the club.

The major figure, the club's most powerful figure, operates in the background. The remote leader, the individual with the authority to make all the important calls he wants without having the obligation of explaining them in any open setting.

He never attend club AGMs, sending his offspring, Ross, instead. He seldom, if ever, does interviews about Celtic unless they're glowing in tone. And even then, he's reluctant to communicate.

He has been known on an occasion or two to defend the club with private missives to media organisations, but no statement is made in the open.

It's exactly how he's preferred it to remain. And it's just what he contradicted when going all-out attack on Rodgers on that day.

The official line from the team is that he resigned, but reviewing Desmond's invective, line by line, one must question why he allow it to get this far down the line?

Assuming Rodgers is guilty of all of the things that Desmond is claiming he's responsible for, then it is reasonable to inquire why had been the coach not dismissed?

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

He claims Rodgers' words "played a part to a toxic atmosphere around the team and fuelled animosity towards members of the executive team and the board. Some of the abuse aimed at them, and at their loved ones, has been completely unwarranted and unacceptable."

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

His Aspirations Conflicted with the Club's Model Once More'

To return to better times, they were close, the two men. The manager praised the shareholder at all opportunities, expressed gratitude to him every chance. Rodgers deferred to him and, truly, to nobody else.

This was the figure who took the heat when his comeback occurred, after the previous manager.

This marked the most divisive appointment, the reappearance of the prodigal son for a few or, as other Celtic fans would have described it, the arrival of the unapologetic figure, who left them in the lurch for another club.

Desmond had Rodgers' back. Gradually, the manager turned on the charm, achieved the wins and the trophies, and an fragile peace with the supporters turned into a affectionate relationship once more.

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

It happened in his first incarnation and it transpired again, with bells on, recently. He publicly commented about the slow process the team conducted their player acquisitions, the endless waiting for targets to be secured, then not landed, as was frequently the case as far as he was concerned.

Repeatedly he stated about the need for what he termed "agility" in the transfer window. The fans agreed with him.

Despite the organization splurged unprecedented sums of funds in a twelve-month period on the £11m one signing, the £9m Adam Idah and the significant Auston Trusty - all of whom have performed well to date, with Idah already having departed - Rodgers pushed for more and more and, often, he expressed this in public.

He planted a controversy about a lack of cohesion within the team and then walked away. Upon questioning about his comments at his subsequent media briefing he would typically minimize it and almost reverse what he stated.

Lack of cohesion? No, no, everybody is aligned, he'd claim. It looked like Rodgers was engaging in a dangerous strategy.

A few months back there was a story in a publication that allegedly came from a source associated with the club. It said that the manager was harming the team with his public outbursts and that his real motivation was managing his departure plan.

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

The fans were enraged. They then viewed him as similar to a sacrificial figure who might be carried out on his honor because his directors did not support his plans to bring success.

The leak was damaging, of course, and it was meant to harm him, which it accomplished. He called for an inquiry and for the guilty person to be dismissed. Whether there was a probe then we learned no more about it.

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

The regular {gripes