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Merely a quarter of an hour after Celtic released the news of Brendan Rodgers' shock departure via a perfunctory short communication, the howitzer landed, courtesy of the major shareholder, with whiskers twitching in obvious fury.

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

The man he persuaded to come to the club when their rivals were gaining ground in that period and required being back in a box. And the figure he again turned to after the previous manager left for Tottenham in the summer of 2023.

Such was the ferocity of his critique, the jaw-dropping comeback of Martin O'Neill was practically an after-thought.

Twenty years after his exit from the organization, and after a large part of his recent life was dedicated to an continuous series of public speaking engagements and the playing of all his past successes at the team, Martin O'Neill is back in the dugout.

For now - and maybe for a time. Considering comments he has expressed recently, he has been eager to secure another job. He'll see this one as the ultimate chance, a present from the club's legacy, a return to the environment where he enjoyed such success and adulation.

Would 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 time being.

'Full-blooded Effort at Reputation Destruction'

The new manager's reappearance - as surreal as it is - can be parked because the biggest shocking moment was the harsh manner Desmond wrote of the former manager.

It was a full-blooded attempt at character assassination, a labeling of him as untrustful, a source of untruths, a spreader of falsehoods; divisive, deceptive and unacceptable. "A single person's wish for self-interest at the cost of everyone else," stated Desmond.

For somebody who values decorum and places great store in business being conducted with discretion, if not complete secrecy, this was another illustration of how unusual things have become at the club.

The major figure, the club's dominant presence, operates in the margins. The absentee totem, the individual with the authority to make all the important decisions he pleases without having the obligation of explaining them in any open setting.

He never participate in club annual meetings, dispatching his son, Ross, instead. He rarely, if ever, does media talks about Celtic unless they're glowing in nature. And still, he's reluctant to communicate.

There have been instances on an rare moment to support the organization with confidential missives to news outlets, but nothing is made in the open.

This is precisely how he's preferred it to remain. And that's just what he went against when launching all-out attack on the manager on that day.

The directive from the team is that he stepped down, but reviewing Desmond's invective, line by line, one must question why he permit it to reach such a critical point?

If the manager is culpable of every one of the accusations that Desmond is claiming he's guilty of, then it is reasonable to inquire why was the manager not dismissed?

He has charged him of spinning information in public that did not tally with reality.

He claims Rodgers' statements "played a part to a hostile atmosphere around the club and encouraged hostility towards individuals of the management and the directors. Some of the abuse directed at them, and at their loved ones, has been entirely unwarranted and unacceptable."

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

'Rodgers' Ambition Conflicted with the Club's Strategy Once More'

Looking back to better days, they were close, the two men. Rodgers praised the shareholder at all opportunities, expressed gratitude to him every chance. Rodgers respected Dermot and, really, to no one other.

It was the figure who took the heat when his returned occurred, post-Postecoglou.

This marked the most controversial appointment, the return of the returning hero for a few or, as some other Celtic fans would have put it, the return of the shameless one, who departed in the lurch for Leicester.

Desmond had Rodgers' support. Gradually, the manager employed the charm, delivered the victories and the trophies, and an fragile truce with the fans became a affectionate relationship again.

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

It happened in his first incarnation and it happened again, with added intensity, recently. He spoke openly about the slow way the team conducted their transfer business, the endless waiting for prospects to be secured, then missed, as was too often the case as far as he was believed.

Time and again he stated about the necessity for what he termed "flexibility" in the transfer window. Supporters agreed with him.

Even when the organization splurged record amounts of money in a twelve-month period on the expensive one signing, the £9m Adam Idah and the significant Auston Trusty - none of whom have performed well to date, with one since having departed - the manager demanded increased resources and, often, he expressed this in openly.

He planted a bomb about a internal disunity inside the team and then walked away. When asked about his remarks at his next news conference he would typically downplay it and almost contradict what he said.

Lack of cohesion? No, no, all are united, he'd claim. It looked like he was playing a dangerous game.

Earlier this year there was a report in a publication that allegedly came from a source associated with the club. It claimed that the manager was harming Celtic with his open criticisms and that his true aim was orchestrating his departure plan.

He desired not to be present and he was engineering his way out, that was the tone of the article.

Supporters were enraged. They now viewed him as akin to a martyr who might be removed on his shield because his directors did not back his plans to bring triumph.

The leak was damaging, naturally, and it was intended to harm Rodgers, which it accomplished. He called for an inquiry and for the guilty person to be dismissed. If there was a examination then we learned nothing further about it.

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

The frequent {gripes