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Merely fifteen minutes after the club issued the announcement of Brendan Rodgers' shock resignation via a brief five-paragraph communication, the howitzer landed, courtesy of the major shareholder, with clear signs in apparent anger.

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

The man he convinced to join the club when their rivals were gaining ground in that period and needed putting in their place. And the figure he again relied on after the previous manager left for another club in the summer of 2023.

Such was the ferocity of Desmond's takedown, the astonishing return of Martin O'Neill was practically an secondary note.

Two decades after his exit from the club, and after a large part of his recent life was dedicated to an continuous circuit of appearances and the playing of all his past successes at Celtic, Martin O'Neill is back in the manager's seat.

For now - and perhaps for a time. Considering comments he has expressed lately, he has been keen to get a new position. He will view this role as the ultimate chance, a present from the Celtic Gods, a return to the environment where he enjoyed such glory and praise.

Will he relinquish it easily? It seems unlikely. Celtic could possibly make a call to contact their ex-manager, but the new appointment will act as a balm for the moment.

All-out Attempt at Reputation Destruction'

The new manager's reappearance - as surreal as it may be - can be set aside because the most significant 'wow!' development was the brutal way Desmond wrote of the former manager.

It was a forceful attempt at defamation, a labeling of Rodgers as deceitful, a perpetrator of falsehoods, a disseminator of falsehoods; divisive, deceptive and unjustifiable. "One individual's desire for self-preservation at the cost of others," stated he.

For somebody who prizes propriety and places great store in dealings being done with confidentiality, if not outright privacy, this was another illustration of how abnormal situations have become at Celtic.

Desmond, the organization's most powerful figure, operates in the margins. The remote leader, the individual with the authority to take all the major decisions he wants without having the obligation of justifying them in any public forum.

He does not attend team annual meetings, sending his son, Ross, instead. He seldom, 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 missives to news outlets, but no statement is heard in the open.

This is precisely how he's wanted it to remain. And that's exactly what he went against when going full thermonuclear on Rodgers on that day.

The directive from the team is that he resigned, but reading Desmond's invective, carefully, you have to wonder why did he allow it to reach this far down the line?

If the manager is guilty of every one of the accusations that Desmond is claiming he's responsible for, then it's fair to inquire why had been the coach not dismissed?

He has accused him of distorting things in public that did not tally with reality.

He claims Rodgers' words "played a part to a hostile environment around the club 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 entirely unjustified and improper."

What an remarkable charge, indeed. Legal representatives might be preparing as we speak.

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

Looking back to better times, they were close, Dermot and Brendan. The manager lauded Desmond at every turn, expressed gratitude to him every chance. Rodgers deferred to him and, truly, to no one other.

This was the figure who drew the criticism when Rodgers' comeback happened, post-Postecoglou.

It was the most divisive hiring, the reappearance of the prodigal son for some supporters or, as other Celtic fans would have described it, the arrival of the unapologetic figure, who departed in the lurch for Leicester.

The shareholder had his support. Gradually, Rodgers turned on the charm, achieved the victories and the trophies, and an fragile truce with the fans became a love-in once more.

It was inevitable - always - going to be a point when his goals came in contact with the club's operational approach, though.

This occurred in his first incarnation and it transpired again, with added intensity, over the last year. Rodgers spoke openly about the sluggish way the team conducted their player acquisitions, the interminable waiting for targets to be secured, then not landed, as was too often the case as far as he was concerned.

Time and again he spoke about the need for what he called "flexibility" in the transfer window. Supporters concurred with him.

Despite the organization spent record amounts of money in a twelve-month period on the expensive Arne Engels, the £9m Adam Idah and the £6m further acquisition - none of whom have cut it to date, with Idah since having left - the manager demanded increased resources and, oftentimes, he did it in openly.

He planted a controversy about a internal disunity inside the team and then walked away. When asked about his comments at his next media briefing he would typically downplay it and nearly contradict what he stated.

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

A few months back there was a story in a newspaper that purportedly came from a source associated with the organization. It said that the manager was harming the team with his open criticisms and that his real motivation was managing his departure plan.

He didn't want to be there and he was engineering his exit, this was the tone of the story.

Supporters were angered. They then saw him as similar to a sacrificial figure who might be carried out on his honor because his board members did not support his plans to bring triumph.

This disclosure was damaging, naturally, and it was intended to hurt Rodgers, which it did. He demanded for an inquiry and for the responsible individual to be dismissed. If there was a examination then we heard nothing further about it.

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

The frequent {gripes