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Just a quarter of an hour following Celtic issued the news of their manager's shock departure via a brief short communication, the howitzer landed, from Dermot Desmond, with clear signs in obvious anger.

Through 551-words, key investor Dermot Desmond savaged his former ally.

The man he persuaded to join the team when their rivals were gaining ground in that period and needed putting in their place. Plus the man he again relied on after the previous manager departed to Tottenham in the summer of 2023.

So intense was the severity of his critique, the astonishing return of Martin O'Neill was almost an after-thought.

Two decades after his departure from the club, and after much of his recent life was dedicated to an continuous series of appearances and the playing of all his old hits at Celtic, Martin O'Neill is returned in the dugout.

For now - and maybe for a while. Considering things he has said lately, he has been keen to secure another job. He will see this role as the ultimate opportunity, a gift from the Celtic Gods, a return to the environment where he experienced such success and praise.

Would he give it up readily? You wouldn't have thought so. The club could possibly make a call to sound out Postecoglou, but O'Neill will act as a balm for the moment.

All-out Attempt at Character Assassination

The new manager's return - as surreal as it is - can be parked because the most significant 'wow!' moment was the brutal manner Desmond described the former manager.

It was a full-blooded attempt at defamation, a labeling of him as deceitful, a source of untruths, a spreader of falsehoods; disruptive, misleading and unacceptable. "A single person's wish for self-preservation at the cost of everyone else," wrote he.

For a person who values propriety and places great store in business being conducted with confidentiality, if not complete secrecy, this was a further example of how abnormal situations have become at the club.

Desmond, the club's dominant figure, moves in the margins. The absentee totem, the individual with the authority to make all the important decisions he wants without having the responsibility of justifying them in any public forum.

He does not participate in club annual meetings, sending his son, his son, in his place. He seldom, if ever, does media talks about Celtic unless they're glowing in tone. And even then, he's slow to speak out.

There have been instances on an occasion or two to defend the organization with private messages to media organisations, but no statement is heard in the open.

This is precisely how he's preferred it to remain. And it's exactly what he contradicted when going full thermonuclear on Rodgers on Monday.

The official line from the team is that Rodgers stepped down, but reading Desmond's invective, line by line, one must question why he permit it to reach this far down the line?

Assuming the manager is guilty of all of the accusations that the shareholder is claiming he's guilty of, then it is reasonable to ask why was the coach not dismissed?

Desmond has accused him of spinning information in open forums that did not tally with reality.

He says his statements "have contributed to a hostile atmosphere around the team and fuelled hostility towards members of the executive team and the board. A portion of the abuse directed at them, and at their loved ones, has been completely unjustified and improper."

Such an remarkable allegation, indeed. Lawyers might be preparing as we discuss.

His Aspirations Clashed with the Club's Strategy Again

To return to better times, they were tight, the two men. Rodgers praised the shareholder at all opportunities, thanked him whenever possible. Rodgers respected him and, really, to nobody else.

It was Desmond who drew the criticism when Rodgers' returned happened, post-Postecoglou.

It was the most controversial hiring, the reappearance of the returning hero for some supporters or, as some other supporters would have described it, the return of the unapologetic figure, who left them in the lurch for another club.

Desmond had Rodgers' back. Over time, Rodgers turned on the persuasion, delivered the victories and the trophies, and an fragile truce with the fans turned into a affectionate relationship again.

There was always - always - going to be a point when Rodgers' goals came in contact with Celtic's operational approach, though.

This occurred in his initial tenure and it transpired again, with bells on, recently. Rodgers publicly commented about the slow process the team went about their transfer business, the interminable delay for prospects to be secured, then missed, as was too often the case as far as he was concerned.

Repeatedly he spoke about the necessity for what he called "flexibility" in the transfer window. Supporters concurred with him.

Even when the club spent record amounts of funds in a calendar year on the £11m one signing, the costly another player and the £6m Auston Trusty - none of whom have cut it so far, with one already having departed - the manager pushed for more and more and, oftentimes, he did it in public.

He planted a controversy about a internal disunity inside the club and then distanced himself. When asked about his comments at his subsequent media briefing he would usually downplay it and almost reverse what he said.

Internal issues? No, no, all are united, he'd claim. It looked like Rodgers was playing a risky game.

A few months back there was a report in a newspaper that allegedly originated from a insider associated with the club. It claimed that the manager was harming Celtic with his public outbursts and that his true aim was managing his exit strategy.

He desired not to be there and he was arranging his way out, this was the implication of the article.

The fans were angered. They then saw him as akin to a martyr who might be removed on his shield because his directors did not support his plans to bring success.

This disclosure was damaging, of course, and it was intended to hurt him, which it accomplished. He called for an investigation and for the responsible individual to be removed. Whether there was a probe then we learned nothing further about it.

At that point it was clear Rodgers was losing the backing of the people above him.

The frequent {gripes