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Just a quarter of an hour after Celtic released the news of Brendan Rodgers' surprising departure via a brief short communication, the bombshell arrived, courtesy of Dermot Desmond, with whiskers twitching in obvious fury.

Through an extensive statement, key investor Dermot Desmond eviscerated his former ally.

This individual he convinced to come to the club when their rivals were gaining ground in 2016 and needed putting back in a box. And the man he once more relied on after Ange Postecoglou departed to Tottenham in the recent offseason.

Such was the severity of his critique, the astonishing return of Martin O'Neill was practically an after-thought.

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 past successes at Celtic, Martin O'Neill is back in the manager's seat.

Currently - and maybe for a while. Based on comments he has said recently, he has been keen to secure a new position. He will view this role as the ultimate opportunity, a present from the Celtic Gods, a return to the environment where he experienced such success and adulation.

Will he give it up easily? You wouldn't have thought so. The club might well reach out to contact their ex-manager, but O'Neill will act as a soothing presence for the time being.

All-out Effort at Reputation Destruction'

The new manager's return - as surreal as it may be - can be set aside because the most significant 'wow!' moment was the harsh way the shareholder described Rodgers.

This constituted a full-blooded attempt at character assassination, a branding of him as untrustful, a source of falsehoods, a spreader of misinformation; divisive, misleading and unjustifiable. "One individual's wish for self-interest at the expense of others," stated Desmond.

For a person who values decorum and sets high importance in dealings being conducted with confidentiality, if not complete secrecy, here was a further example of how unusual situations have become at Celtic.

The major figure, the club's dominant figure, operates in the background. The remote leader, the one with the authority to take all the major decisions he wants without having the responsibility of explaining them in any open setting.

He does not attend team AGMs, sending his offspring, his son, instead. He seldom, if ever, gives media talks about Celtic unless they're hagiographic in tone. And still, he's reluctant to speak out.

There have been instances on an occasion or two to defend the organization with private missives to news outlets, but no statement is heard in public.

This is precisely how he's wanted it to be. And it's exactly what he went against when launching full thermonuclear on the manager on that day.

The official line from the club is that he resigned, but reading his invective, line by line, you have to wonder why did he permit it to reach this far down the line?

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

He has charged him of distorting things in open forums that did not tally with reality.

He says Rodgers' statements "played a part to a toxic atmosphere around the team and fuelled animosity towards members of the management and the board. A portion of the abuse aimed at them, and at their families, has been entirely unjustified and improper."

Such an extraordinary allegation, that is. Lawyers might be preparing as we discuss.

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

To return to better days, they were close, the two men. Rodgers praised Desmond at all opportunities, thanked him every chance. Rodgers respected him and, truly, to no one other.

It was the figure who drew the criticism when Rodgers' comeback happened, after the previous manager.

It was the most divisive hiring, the reappearance of the returning hero for some supporters or, as other Celtic fans would have described it, the return of the shameless one, who left them in the difficulty for Leicester.

Desmond had his back. Gradually, the manager turned on the charm, delivered the wins and the honors, and an uneasy truce with the supporters became a affectionate relationship again.

There was always - consistently - going to be a point when Rodgers' ambition came in contact with Celtic's business model, however.

It happened in his first incarnation and it happened again, with added intensity, over the last year. Rodgers spoke openly about the sluggish process the team went about their transfer business, the interminable waiting for prospects to be landed, then not landed, as was frequently the situation as far as he was believed.

Repeatedly he stated about the necessity for what he termed "flexibility" in the market. Supporters concurred with him.

Even when the club spent unprecedented sums of funds in a twelve-month period on the £11m Arne Engels, the costly another player and the £6m further acquisition - all of whom have cut it to date, with one since having left - Rodgers demanded increased resources and, oftentimes, he expressed this in openly.

He planted a bomb about a internal disunity inside the club and then walked away. Upon questioning about his remarks at his subsequent news conference he would typically minimize it and almost reverse what he said.

Internal issues? Not at all, all are united, he'd say. It appeared like Rodgers was engaging in a dangerous game.

A few months back there was a report in a newspaper that purportedly came from a insider associated with the club. It claimed that Rodgers 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 engineering his way out, that was the tone of the article.

The fans were angered. They now saw him as similar to a martyr who might be removed on his shield because his board members did not support his vision to achieve success.

This disclosure was damaging, of course, and it was intended to harm him, which it accomplished. He demanded for an investigation and for the guilty person to be removed. If there was a examination then we learned no more about it.

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

The regular {gripes