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Merely fifteen minutes after Celtic released the news of their manager's surprising resignation via a brief short communication, the howitzer arrived, from the major shareholder, with whiskers twitching in obvious anger.

In 551-words, major shareholder Desmond eviscerated his old chum.

This individual he convinced to come to the team when Rangers were getting uppity in that period and needed putting back in a box. And the figure he once more turned to after Ange Postecoglou left for Tottenham in the summer of 2023.

Such was the severity of his takedown, the astonishing comeback of the former boss was practically an secondary note.

Two decades after his exit from the club, and after much of his latter years was dedicated to an continuous series of appearances and the performance of all his past successes at the team, Martin O'Neill is returned in the dugout.

For now - and maybe for a while. Considering comments he has expressed recently, O'Neill has been keen to secure a new position. He'll view this one as the ultimate chance, a present from the Celtic Gods, a homecoming to the environment where he enjoyed such success and adulation.

Will he give it up readily? You wouldn't have thought so. Celtic could possibly reach out to sound out Postecoglou, but O'Neill will serve as a balm for the moment.

All-out Attempt at Character Assassination

The new manager's reappearance - however strange as it may be - can be parked because the biggest shocking moment was the harsh manner Desmond described Rodgers.

It was a forceful endeavor at defamation, a branding of Rodgers as untrustful, a source of falsehoods, a disseminator of misinformation; divisive, misleading and unjustifiable. "A single person's wish for self-interest at the expense of everyone else," wrote Desmond.

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

Desmond, the club's dominant presence, operates in the margins. The absentee totem, the individual with the authority to make all the important decisions he wants without having the responsibility of explaining them in any public forum.

He never participate in club annual meetings, sending his offspring, his son, in his place. He rarely, if ever, does media talks about the team unless they're hagiographic in tone. And still, he's slow to communicate.

There have been instances on an rare moment to support the club with private messages to news outlets, but nothing is heard in the open.

This is precisely how he's wanted it to be. And it's just what he went against when launching all-out attack on Rodgers on Monday.

The official line from the club is that Rodgers stepped down, but reading Desmond's criticism, line by line, you have to wonder why he permit 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 inquire why had been the manager not removed?

He has charged him of spinning information in public that were inconsistent with the facts.

He says Rodgers' words "played a part to a hostile atmosphere around the club and fuelled animosity towards members of the executive team and the board. Some of the criticism directed at them, and at their loved ones, has been completely unwarranted and unacceptable."

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

His Aspirations Conflicted with the Club's Model Again

Looking back to better days, they were close, the two men. The manager praised the shareholder at every turn, expressed gratitude to him whenever possible. Brendan deferred to him and, really, to no one other.

This was Desmond who took the criticism when his returned occurred, post-Postecoglou.

It was the most controversial appointment, the return of the prodigal son for some supporters or, as some other supporters would have described it, the arrival of the shameless one, who left them in the lurch for another club.

The shareholder had his support. Over time, Rodgers turned on the persuasion, delivered the wins and the honors, and an fragile truce with the supporters turned into a affectionate relationship once more.

It was inevitable - consistently - going to be a point when his ambition clashed with the club's business model, however.

This occurred in his first incarnation and it happened once more, with added intensity, recently. Rodgers publicly commented about the sluggish way the team went about their player acquisitions, the interminable waiting for prospects to be secured, then missed, as was too often the situation as far as he was believed.

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

Despite the club spent unprecedented sums of funds in a calendar year on the £11m one signing, the costly Adam Idah and the £6m Auston Trusty - all of whom have cut it to date, with Idah since having departed - the manager pushed for increased resources and, often, he did it in public.

He set a bomb about a lack of cohesion inside the team and then distanced himself. When asked about his comments at his subsequent news conference he would typically minimize it and nearly reverse what he stated.

Internal issues? No, no, everybody is aligned, he'd say. It appeared like Rodgers was playing a dangerous strategy.

Earlier this year there was a report in a newspaper that purportedly originated from a source close to the club. It claimed that Rodgers was damaging Celtic with his public outbursts and that his real motivation was orchestrating his departure plan.

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

The fans were enraged. They now saw him as similar to a martyr who might be carried out on his shield because his directors wouldn't back his plans to achieve success.

The leak was damaging, naturally, and it was intended to hurt Rodgers, which it accomplished. He demanded for an inquiry and for the responsible individual to be dismissed. Whether there was a probe then we learned no more about it.

At that point it was clear Rodgers was shedding the support of the people above him.

The regular {gripes