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Merely fifteen minutes following Celtic released the announcement of Brendan Rodgers' surprising departure via a brief short communication, the bombshell landed, courtesy of Dermot Desmond, with whiskers twitching in obvious fury.

In 551-words, major shareholder Dermot Desmond savaged 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 again relied on after Ange Postecoglou departed to Tottenham in the recent offseason.

Such was the severity of his critique, the jaw-dropping comeback of the former boss was almost an after-thought.

Twenty years after his exit from the organization, and after much of his latter years was dedicated to an continuous series of appearances and the playing of all his old hits at Celtic, O'Neill is returned in the manager's seat.

Currently - and perhaps for a while. Based on things he has expressed lately, he has been eager to secure another job. He'll view this one as the perfect opportunity, a present from the club's legacy, a homecoming to the environment where he enjoyed such success and adulation.

Will he give it up readily? It seems unlikely. Celtic could possibly reach out to sound out their ex-manager, but O'Neill will serve as a soothing presence for the time being.

'Full-blooded Attempt at Character Assassination

The new manager's return - however strange as it is - can be parked because the biggest shocking moment was the brutal way Desmond described Rodgers.

This constituted a full-blooded endeavor at character assassination, a labeling of Rodgers as deceitful, a source of falsehoods, a spreader of falsehoods; disruptive, misleading and unjustifiable. "A single person's desire for self-interest at the expense of everyone else," wrote Desmond.

For somebody who prizes propriety and sets high importance in dealings being done with confidentiality, if not outright secrecy, here was a further illustration of how unusual situations have grown at the club.

The major figure, the organization's dominant presence, operates in the background. The remote leader, the one with the authority to make all the important calls he wants without having the responsibility of explaining them in any open setting.

He never attend team AGMs, sending his offspring, Ross, instead. He rarely, if ever, does media talks about the team 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 club with confidential missives to media organisations, but no statement is heard in the open.

It's exactly how he's wanted it to be. And that's just what he contradicted when going full thermonuclear on the manager on that day.

The directive from the club is that he stepped down, but reading Desmond's criticism, carefully, you have to wonder why did he allow it to reach such a critical point?

If the manager is culpable of every one of the accusations that the shareholder is alleging he's responsible for, then it is reasonable to inquire why was the manager not dismissed?

Desmond has charged him of spinning things in open forums that did not tally with reality.

He claims Rodgers' statements "have contributed to a toxic atmosphere around the team and encouraged animosity towards members of the management and the board. Some of the abuse directed at them, and at their families, has been completely unjustified and improper."

Such an remarkable allegation, indeed. Lawyers might be preparing as we discuss.

'Rodgers' Ambition Conflicted with Celtic's Strategy Again

To return to happier days, they were close, Dermot and Brendan. The manager lauded Desmond at all opportunities, expressed gratitude to him every chance. Brendan respected him and, truly, to nobody else.

It was Desmond who drew the heat when his returned occurred, post-Postecoglou.

This marked the most divisive appointment, the reappearance of the prodigal son for some supporters or, as some other supporters would have put it, the arrival of the unapologetic figure, who left them in the lurch for Leicester.

The shareholder had his back. Over time, the manager employed the charm, achieved the wins and the honors, and an fragile peace with the fans became a affectionate relationship once more.

There was always - consistently - going to be a moment when his ambition clashed with Celtic's business model, though.

This occurred in his first incarnation and it happened once more, with bells on, over the last year. He spoke openly about the sluggish way the team went about 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.

Repeatedly he stated about the necessity for what he called "agility" in the transfer window. Supporters concurred with him.

Even when the organization splurged unprecedented sums of funds in a twelve-month period on the expensive Arne Engels, the £9m another player and the significant Auston Trusty - all of whom have cut it to date, with Idah since having departed - the manager pushed for more and more and, oftentimes, he did it in public.

He planted a controversy about a internal disunity inside the club and then walked away. When asked about his comments at his next news conference he would usually downplay it and nearly contradict what he stated.

Lack of cohesion? Not at all, all are united, he'd claim. It appeared like he was playing a risky strategy.

A few months back there was a story in a newspaper that purportedly originated from a insider associated with the club. It claimed that the manager was damaging the team with his open criticisms and that his true aim was managing his exit strategy.

He didn't want to be there and he was arranging his exit, that was the implication of the article.

The fans were angered. They then saw him as similar to a martyr who might be carried out on his honor because his board members wouldn't back his vision to bring success.

The leak was poisonous, of course, and it was meant to harm Rodgers, 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.

At that point it was plain Rodgers was shedding the support of the people in charge.

The frequent {gripes