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Just fifteen minutes after the club released the announcement of their manager's surprising departure via a brief five-paragraph statement, the bombshell landed, from the major shareholder, with whiskers twitching in obvious fury.

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

The man he convinced to come to the club when Rangers were getting uppity in 2016 and required being back in a box. Plus the figure he again relied on after Ange Postecoglou departed to Tottenham in the recent offseason.

Such was the severity of Desmond's takedown, the astonishing return of the former boss was practically an after-thought.

Twenty years after his exit from the organization, and after much of his latter years was dedicated to an continuous series of appearances and the playing of all his past successes at Celtic, Martin O'Neill is back in the manager's seat.

Currently - and perhaps for a while. Considering things he has expressed lately, he has been eager to get a new position. He'll view this role as the perfect chance, a gift from the club's legacy, a return to the environment where he enjoyed such success and praise.

Will he give it up readily? You wouldn't have thought so. Celtic might well reach out to sound out Postecoglou, but the new appointment will serve as a soothing presence for the time being.

All-out Attempt at Character Assassination

O'Neill's return - as surreal as it is - can be set aside because the biggest 'wow!' moment was the harsh manner the shareholder wrote of the former manager.

It was a full-blooded attempt at character assassination, a labeling of Rodgers as deceitful, a source of falsehoods, a disseminator of misinformation; divisive, deceptive and unacceptable. "One individual's desire for self-interest at the expense of everyone else," stated he.

For somebody who prizes decorum and places great store in business being done with discretion, if not outright secrecy, this was another example of how abnormal things have become at Celtic.

The major figure, the club's most powerful figure, moves in the background. The remote leader, the one with the power to make all the important decisions he pleases without having the responsibility of justifying them in any open setting.

He never participate in club annual meetings, sending his son, Ross, in his place. He rarely, if ever, gives media talks about Celtic unless they're glowing in nature. And even then, he's slow to communicate.

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

This is precisely how he's wanted it to be. And that's exactly what he contradicted when going full thermonuclear on the manager on Monday.

The official line from the team is that he stepped down, but reading his invective, carefully, you have to wonder why did he permit it to reach such a critical point?

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

Desmond has charged him of spinning things in open forums that did not tally with reality.

He says his words "played a part to a hostile atmosphere around the team and fuelled hostility towards members of the management and the board. Some of the criticism aimed at them, and at their loved ones, has been entirely unwarranted and improper."

What an remarkable allegation, that is. Lawyers might be preparing as we speak.

His Aspirations Clashed with Celtic's Model Again

To return to better days, they were close, Dermot and Brendan. The manager lauded Desmond at all opportunities, expressed gratitude to him whenever possible. Brendan respected Dermot and, really, to nobody else.

It was Desmond who drew the criticism when his comeback happened, after the previous manager.

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

The shareholder had his back. Gradually, Rodgers employed the charm, delivered the victories and the trophies, and an fragile truce with the fans turned into a love-in again.

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

It happened in his initial tenure and it transpired once more, with bells on, over the last year. Rodgers publicly commented about the sluggish way Celtic conducted their transfer business, the interminable waiting for prospects to be landed, then missed, as was too often the situation as far as he was believed.

Repeatedly he spoke about the necessity for what he termed "agility" in the market. Supporters agreed with him.

Despite the organization splurged unprecedented sums of funds in a twelve-month period on the expensive Arne Engels, the costly Adam Idah and the £6m Auston Trusty - none of whom have performed well so far, with one since having left - Rodgers pushed for increased resources and, oftentimes, he expressed this in public.

He set a bomb about a lack of cohesion within the club and then distanced himself. When asked about his comments at his next news conference he would usually minimize it and nearly contradict what he said.

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

Earlier this year there was a story in a publication that allegedly originated from a source associated with the organization. It claimed that Rodgers was damaging the team with his open criticisms and that his true aim was orchestrating his exit strategy.

He desired not to be there and he was arranging his exit, this was the tone of the story.

The fans were angered. They now saw him as similar to a sacrificial figure who might be carried out on his honor because his directors wouldn't support his vision to achieve success.

This disclosure was damaging, naturally, and it was meant to harm him, which it accomplished. He called for an inquiry and for the responsible individual to be removed. If there was a probe then we heard no more about it.

By then it was plain Rodgers was losing the backing of the individuals above him.

The regular {gripes