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Merely fifteen minutes after the club released the news of Brendan Rodgers' shock departure via a perfunctory short communication, the bombshell arrived, courtesy of the major shareholder, with clear signs in obvious fury.

In 551-words, major shareholder Dermot Desmond savaged his former ally.

The man he persuaded to come to the team when Rangers were gaining ground in that period and needed putting in their place. Plus the man he again turned to after Ange Postecoglou departed to another club in the summer of 2023.

So intense was the ferocity of Desmond's takedown, the astonishing return of the former boss was almost an secondary note.

Twenty years after his exit from the club, and after much of his recent life was given over to an continuous series of public speaking engagements and the playing of all his old hits at Celtic, O'Neill is back in the dugout.

Currently - and perhaps for a while. Considering comments he has said recently, he has been keen to secure a new position. He will see this one as the ultimate chance, a gift from the club's legacy, a homecoming to the place where he enjoyed such glory and adulation.

Will he relinquish it easily? It seems unlikely. Celtic might well make a call to contact their ex-manager, but the new appointment will serve as a balm for the time being.

'Full-blooded Effort at Character Assassination

O'Neill's return - as surreal as it may be - can be parked because the biggest shocking moment was the brutal manner Desmond described the former manager.

It was a forceful attempt at defamation, a branding of him as untrustful, a source of falsehoods, a spreader of falsehoods; divisive, deceptive and unacceptable. "One individual's desire for self-interest at the expense of others," stated he.

For somebody who values propriety and places great store in business being done with discretion, if not outright secrecy, this was a further illustration of how abnormal things have grown at Celtic.

Desmond, the organization's most powerful figure, operates in the background. The remote leader, the one with the power to take all the important calls he wants without having the obligation of justifying them in any public forum.

He does not participate in team AGMs, sending his offspring, Ross, in his place. He seldom, if ever, gives media talks about Celtic unless they're glowing in nature. And even then, he's reluctant to speak out.

There have been instances on an rare moment to defend the club with confidential messages to news outlets, but nothing is made in the open.

This is precisely how he's preferred it to be. And it's just what he contradicted when going full thermonuclear on the manager on that day.

The official line from the team is that he resigned, but reading Desmond's invective, line by line, you have to wonder why he permit it to reach this far down the line?

Assuming Rodgers is culpable of every one of the things that the shareholder is claiming he's guilty of, then it's fair to inquire why was the coach not dismissed?

He has charged him of spinning things in open forums that were inconsistent with the facts.

He says his words "played a part to a toxic atmosphere around the club and fuelled animosity towards individuals of the executive team and the directors. A portion of the abuse aimed at them, and at their families, has been completely unwarranted and improper."

What an remarkable allegation, that is. Legal representatives might be mobilising as we speak.

His Ambition Conflicted with Celtic's Strategy Again

Looking back to better days, they were tight, the two men. Rodgers praised Desmond at all opportunities, thanked him whenever possible. Brendan deferred to Dermot and, truly, to no one other.

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

It was the most controversial hiring, the return of the returning hero for some supporters or, as other supporters would have put it, the return of the unapologetic figure, who left them in the difficulty for Leicester.

Desmond had Rodgers' support. Gradually, the manager employed the charm, achieved the victories and the trophies, and an uneasy peace with the fans became a love-in once more.

There was always - consistently - going to be a moment when his ambition came in contact with the club's business model, though.

This occurred in his first incarnation and it transpired again, with bells on, over the last year. Rodgers spoke openly about the slow way Celtic went about their transfer business, the endless delay for targets to be landed, then missed, as was too often the situation as far as he was concerned.

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

Despite the organization splurged record amounts of money in a twelve-month period on the £11m Arne Engels, the £9m Adam Idah and the £6m further acquisition - all of whom have performed well to date, with one since having departed - the manager demanded more and more and, oftentimes, he expressed this in openly.

He planted a controversy about a lack of cohesion inside the team and then distanced himself. Upon questioning about his remarks at his subsequent media briefing he would usually downplay it and nearly reverse what he stated.

Internal issues? No, no, everybody is aligned, he'd claim. It appeared like he was playing a risky game.

A few months back there was a report in a publication that allegedly originated from a source close to the club. It claimed that the manager was damaging Celtic with his open criticisms and that his true aim was managing his departure plan.

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

Supporters were enraged. They now saw him as similar to a sacrificial figure who might be carried out on his shield because his directors did not support his plans to achieve success.

This disclosure was damaging, of course, and it was meant to harm him, which it did. He called for an investigation and for the responsible individual to be removed. Whether there was a examination then we learned no more about it.

By then it was clear Rodgers was losing the support of the individuals in charge.

The frequent {gripes