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Just a quarter of an hour following Celtic released the news of Brendan Rodgers' shock departure via a perfunctory short communication, the bombshell arrived, courtesy of Dermot Desmond, with whiskers twitching in apparent anger.

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

This individual he persuaded to come to the team when Rangers were gaining ground in 2016 and required being in their place. And the figure he once more relied on after the previous manager left for another club in the summer of 2023.

Such was the ferocity of his critique, the jaw-dropping comeback of the former boss was practically an secondary note.

Twenty years after his departure from the club, and after a large part of his recent life was dedicated to an continuous series of public speaking engagements and the performance of all his old hits at the team, Martin O'Neill is back in the manager's seat.

Currently - and perhaps for a time. Based on things he has said lately, O'Neill has been eager to secure a new position. He will see this one as the ultimate chance, a gift from the Celtic Gods, a homecoming to the place where he experienced such success and praise.

Will he give it up easily? You wouldn't have thought so. Celtic could possibly reach out to contact their ex-manager, but the new appointment will act as a balm for the time being.

'Full-blooded Effort at Character Assassination

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

It was a forceful endeavor at defamation, a branding of Rodgers as untrustful, a perpetrator of falsehoods, a disseminator of falsehoods; disruptive, misleading and unjustifiable. "One individual's wish for self-preservation at the expense of others," wrote he.

For a person who values propriety and places great store in dealings being done with discretion, if not outright privacy, here was a further illustration of how abnormal situations have become at the club.

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

He does not participate in team annual meetings, dispatching his offspring, his son, instead. He rarely, if ever, gives interviews about Celtic unless they're hagiographic in nature. And even then, he's reluctant to speak out.

There have been instances on an occasion or two to support the organization with private messages to media organisations, but nothing is heard in the open.

It's exactly how he's wanted it to be. And that's just what he went against when going full thermonuclear on Rodgers on that day.

The official line from the club is that Rodgers resigned, but reviewing his criticism, line by line, you have to wonder why he permit it to reach this far down the line?

If the manager is culpable of all of the accusations that Desmond is claiming he's guilty of, then it's fair to inquire why had been the manager not dismissed?

He has charged him of distorting information in open forums that did not tally with the facts.

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

Such an remarkable charge, indeed. Legal representatives might be mobilising as we speak.

'Rodgers' Aspirations Clashed with the Club's Model Once More'

Looking back to happier days, they were close, Dermot and Brendan. Rodgers praised Desmond at all opportunities, thanked him every chance. Brendan respected him and, truly, to nobody else.

This was the figure who took the heat when Rodgers' returned happened, post-Postecoglou.

This marked the most controversial appointment, the reappearance of the prodigal son for some supporters or, as some other supporters would have put it, the return of the shameless one, who left them in the difficulty for another club.

Desmond had his back. Over time, the manager employed the persuasion, achieved the wins and the honors, and an uneasy peace with the fans became a affectionate relationship again.

There was always - consistently - going to be a point when Rodgers' ambition clashed with Celtic's business model, however.

This occurred in his initial tenure and it happened again, with bells on, over the last year. He spoke openly about the sluggish process Celtic conducted their transfer business, the endless waiting for prospects to be secured, then not landed, as was too often the situation as far as he was concerned.

Repeatedly he stated about the necessity for what he termed "agility" in the market. The fans concurred with him.

Even when the organization splurged record amounts of money in a twelve-month period on the £11m one signing, the £9m another player and the significant further acquisition - all of whom have performed well to date, with Idah since having left - the manager demanded increased resources and, oftentimes, he expressed this in public.

He set a controversy about a internal disunity inside the team and then distanced himself. Upon questioning about his comments at his subsequent news conference he would typically downplay it and nearly contradict what he said.

Lack of cohesion? No, no, everybody is aligned, he'd claim. It appeared like he was playing a dangerous strategy.

A few months back there was a report in a publication that purportedly originated from a insider associated with the club. It claimed that the manager was damaging the team with his open criticisms and that his real motivation was orchestrating his departure plan.

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

The fans were enraged. They then saw him as akin to a sacrificial figure who might be removed on his shield because his directors did not back his plans to achieve success.

The leak was poisonous, of course, and it was meant to hurt him, which it accomplished. He demanded for an inquiry and for the responsible individual to be dismissed. Whether 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 in charge.

The regular {gripes