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Merely fifteen minutes after Celtic issued the news of Brendan Rodgers' surprising departure via a brief short communication, the howitzer landed, from the major shareholder, with whiskers twitching in obvious fury.

Through 551-words, key investor Dermot Desmond eviscerated his old chum.

The man he convinced to join the club when their rivals were getting uppity in 2016 and required being back in a box. And the figure he again relied on after the previous manager departed to another club in the summer of 2023.

Such was the severity of Desmond's critique, the jaw-dropping return of Martin O'Neill was almost an after-thought.

Twenty years after his exit from the club, and after much of his recent life was dedicated to an continuous series 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 while. Based on things he has said recently, O'Neill has been eager to get a new position. He will view this one as the perfect chance, a present from the club's legacy, a return to the place where he experienced such success and adulation.

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

All-out Attempt at Character Assassination

O'Neill's reappearance - however strange as it may be - can be set aside because the biggest 'wow!' moment was the harsh way the shareholder wrote of Rodgers.

This constituted a forceful attempt at character assassination, a branding of him as untrustful, a source of falsehoods, a disseminator of misinformation; disruptive, misleading and unacceptable. "One individual's wish for self-interest at the cost of others," stated Desmond.

For a person who values decorum and places great store in dealings being done with discretion, if not complete secrecy, this was another illustration of how unusual situations have grown at the club.

The major figure, the club's most powerful figure, moves in the background. The absentee totem, the individual with the power to make all the important decisions he wants without having the responsibility of justifying them in any public forum.

He does not attend team AGMs, dispatching his son, Ross, instead. He rarely, if ever, does interviews about Celtic unless they're glowing in nature. And still, he's slow to speak out.

There have been instances on an rare moment to support the organization with confidential missives to media organisations, but no statement is heard in public.

It's exactly how he's preferred it to remain. And that's just what he contradicted when going full thermonuclear on Rodgers on Monday.

The directive from the team is that Rodgers stepped down, but reviewing his invective, carefully, one must question why he allow it to get such a critical point?

Assuming Rodgers is culpable of every one of the things that the shareholder is alleging he's responsible for, then it is reasonable to ask why was the manager not removed?

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

He says Rodgers' words "have contributed to a hostile atmosphere around the team and encouraged hostility towards members of the management and the directors. A portion of the abuse directed at them, and at their families, has been entirely unjustified and improper."

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

His Ambition Clashed with Celtic's Strategy Again

Looking back to happier times, they were close, Dermot and Brendan. Rodgers praised the shareholder at all opportunities, expressed gratitude to him whenever possible. Brendan deferred to him and, really, to nobody else.

It was Desmond who took the heat when Rodgers' returned happened, post-Postecoglou.

It was the most controversial hiring, the return of the prodigal son for some supporters or, as some other supporters would have put it, the arrival of the shameless one, who departed in the lurch for Leicester.

Desmond had Rodgers' support. Over time, the manager turned on the charm, achieved the wins and the honors, and an uneasy peace with the supporters turned into a affectionate relationship again.

There was always - consistently - going to be a moment when his goals came in contact with Celtic's business model, though.

It happened in his first incarnation and it happened once more, with bells on, recently. Rodgers publicly commented about the slow process Celtic went about their player acquisitions, the interminable delay for prospects to be landed, then not landed, as was too often the situation as far as he was concerned.

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

Despite the club spent record amounts of money in a calendar year on the £11m one signing, the costly Adam Idah and the £6m Auston Trusty - all of whom have cut it so far, with one already having left - Rodgers pushed for more and more and, often, he did it in public.

He set a controversy about a internal disunity within the club and then distanced himself. Upon questioning about his remarks at his subsequent news conference he would typically minimize it and nearly reverse what he stated.

Internal issues? No, no, all are united, he'd claim. It appeared like he was playing a dangerous strategy.

A few months back there was a story in a newspaper that allegedly originated from a source associated with the club. It said that Rodgers was harming the team with his public outbursts and that his real motivation was managing his exit strategy.

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

Supporters were enraged. They now viewed him as similar to a sacrificial figure who might be removed on his shield because his directors wouldn't back his plans to bring triumph.

The leak was damaging, of course, and it was intended to hurt him, which it accomplished. He demanded for an inquiry and for the guilty person to be dismissed. If there was a examination then we heard nothing further about it.

At that point it was plain Rodgers was losing the support of the individuals above him.

The regular {gripes