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Just a quarter of an hour following Celtic issued the news of their manager's shock departure via a perfunctory five-paragraph communication, the howitzer landed, from the major shareholder, with clear signs in obvious fury.

Through an extensive statement, key investor Desmond eviscerated his old chum.

This individual he convinced to come to the team when their rivals were getting uppity in that period and required being in their place. Plus the figure he once more turned to after the previous manager departed to another club in the summer of 2023.

Such was the severity of Desmond's critique, the astonishing return of Martin O'Neill was almost an secondary note.

Two decades after his departure from the club, and after a large part of his recent life was dedicated to an unending series of public speaking engagements and the performance of all his past successes at Celtic, Martin O'Neill is returned in the manager's seat.

Currently - and perhaps for a time. Based on comments he has expressed recently, he has been keen to secure another job. He will see this one as the perfect chance, a present from the club's legacy, a homecoming to the place where he experienced such glory and praise.

Would he give it up easily? It seems unlikely. The club could possibly reach out to sound out their ex-manager, but the new appointment will act as a soothing presence for the time being.

'Full-blooded Effort at Character Assassination

The new manager's return - however strange as it is - can be set aside because the most significant shocking moment was the brutal manner the shareholder wrote of Rodgers.

It was a forceful endeavor at character assassination, a branding of him as deceitful, a source of falsehoods, a spreader of misinformation; disruptive, misleading and unacceptable. "A single person's desire for self-interest at the expense of others," wrote Desmond.

For a person who values decorum and sets high importance in dealings being conducted with discretion, if not outright secrecy, this was another example of how unusual situations have become at the club.

The major figure, the organization's dominant figure, moves in the background. The remote leader, the one with the power to take all the important decisions he wants without having the responsibility of justifying them in any open setting.

He does not attend team annual meetings, sending his offspring, his son, in his place. He seldom, if ever, does interviews about the team unless they're hagiographic in nature. And still, he's slow to communicate.

He has been known on an rare moment to support the club with confidential messages to media organisations, but no statement is made in the open.

This is precisely how he's preferred it to be. And it's exactly what he contradicted when launching all-out attack on Rodgers on that day.

The official line from the club is that Rodgers stepped down, but reviewing his invective, line by line, one must question why did he allow it to reach such a critical point?

Assuming Rodgers is culpable of all of the accusations that Desmond is alleging he's guilty of, then it is reasonable to ask why was the manager not dismissed?

Desmond has accused him of spinning information in public that were inconsistent with the facts.

He says Rodgers' statements "have contributed to a toxic atmosphere around the club and fuelled hostility towards members of the management and the board. A portion of the abuse directed at them, and at their families, has been entirely unjustified and unacceptable."

Such an remarkable allegation, that is. Legal representatives might be preparing as we discuss.

His Ambition Conflicted with Celtic's Strategy Again

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

This was Desmond who took the heat when his returned happened, after the previous manager.

This marked the most controversial hiring, the return of the prodigal son for a few or, as other Celtic fans would have described it, the return of the shameless one, who departed in the difficulty for another club.

Desmond had his back. Gradually, the manager employed the persuasion, achieved the wins and the honors, and an uneasy peace with the supporters turned into a affectionate relationship once more.

It was inevitable - always - going to be a moment when his ambition came in contact with the club's business model, however.

It happened in his first incarnation and it happened once more, with added intensity, recently. He publicly commented about the slow process the team went about their player acquisitions, the endless delay for targets to be landed, then not landed, as was frequently the case as far as he was concerned.

Repeatedly he spoke about the need for what he called "agility" in the market. The fans agreed with him.

Even when the organization spent unprecedented sums of money in a twelve-month period on the £11m 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 demanded increased resources and, often, he did it in openly.

He planted a bomb about a internal disunity within the club and then walked away. Upon questioning about his remarks at his next media briefing he would typically downplay it and nearly reverse what he said.

Lack of cohesion? No, no, everybody is aligned, he'd say. It looked like he was playing a risky strategy.

Earlier this year there was a story in a publication that allegedly originated from a insider close to the organization. It claimed that Rodgers was harming Celtic with his public outbursts and that his real motivation was managing his departure plan.

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

The fans were angered. They now viewed him as similar to a sacrificial figure who might be carried out on his honor because his directors did not back his vision to achieve success.

The leak was damaging, naturally, and it was intended to hurt him, which it did. He called for an inquiry and for the responsible individual to be dismissed. Whether there was a probe then we heard no more about it.

At that point it was clear Rodgers was losing the backing of the people in charge.

The frequent {gripes