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Merely fifteen minutes following Celtic released the news of Brendan Rodgers' shock resignation via a brief short communication, the howitzer landed, from Dermot Desmond, with clear signs in obvious anger.

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

The man he convinced to come to the team when Rangers were getting uppity in 2016 and needed putting in their place. And the man he once more relied on after the previous manager left for another club in the summer of 2023.

So intense was the severity of his takedown, the jaw-dropping return of Martin O'Neill was practically an secondary note.

Twenty years after his departure from the organization, 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 the team, O'Neill is back in the dugout.

For now - and perhaps for a while. Considering comments he has said recently, he has been eager to get a new position. He will see this role as the ultimate opportunity, a gift from the Celtic Gods, a homecoming to the environment where he enjoyed such success and praise.

Will he relinquish it readily? You wouldn't have thought so. Celtic might well make a call to sound out Postecoglou, but O'Neill will act as a soothing presence for the moment.

'Full-blooded Attempt at Character Assassination

The new manager's reappearance - as surreal as it may be - can be set aside because the biggest shocking development was the harsh way the shareholder wrote of the former manager.

It was a full-blooded attempt at defamation, a labeling of Rodgers as untrustful, a perpetrator of untruths, a spreader of falsehoods; divisive, deceptive and unacceptable. "One individual's desire for self-preservation at the cost of others," wrote Desmond.

For somebody who values decorum and places great store in business being conducted with discretion, if not complete privacy, this was a further example of how unusual situations have become at Celtic.

Desmond, the organization's most powerful presence, moves in the background. The absentee totem, the one with the power to make all the important decisions he pleases without having the obligation of explaining them in any open setting.

He never participate in team AGMs, sending his son, his son, in his place. He seldom, if ever, does media talks about Celtic unless they're glowing in tone. And still, he's slow to speak out.

He has been known on an occasion or two to defend the club with private missives to news outlets, but nothing is heard in the open.

It's exactly how he's preferred it to be. And it's exactly what he contradicted when launching full thermonuclear on the manager on Monday.

The official line from the club is that Rodgers stepped down, but reviewing his invective, line by line, one must question why did he permit it to reach this far down the line?

If Rodgers is guilty of every one of the accusations that the shareholder is claiming he's guilty of, then it is reasonable to inquire why had been the manager not dismissed?

Desmond has charged him of spinning things in open forums that were inconsistent with reality.

He claims Rodgers' words "have contributed to a hostile environment around the club and fuelled animosity towards individuals of the executive team and the board. Some of the criticism directed at them, and at their families, has been completely unjustified and unacceptable."

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

'Rodgers' Ambition Conflicted with the Club's Strategy Once More'

To return to better times, they were close, Dermot and Brendan. Rodgers praised Desmond at all opportunities, expressed gratitude to him every chance. Brendan respected Dermot and, really, to no one other.

It was the figure who drew the heat when Rodgers' comeback happened, post-Postecoglou.

This marked the most divisive appointment, the return of the returning hero for some supporters or, as other Celtic fans would have described it, the return of the unapologetic figure, who left them in the difficulty for Leicester.

The shareholder had his back. Over time, the manager employed the charm, delivered the victories and the honors, and an fragile peace with the fans turned into a affectionate relationship again.

It was inevitable - always - going to be a point when his goals came in contact with the club's operational approach, though.

It happened in his initial tenure and it happened once more, with bells on, recently. He spoke openly about the sluggish way the team went about their player acquisitions, the endless delay for prospects to be secured, then not landed, as was frequently the case as far as he was concerned.

Repeatedly he stated about the need for what he termed "flexibility" in the transfer window. The fans concurred with him.

Despite the organization splurged record amounts of funds in a calendar year on the £11m one signing, the £9m another player and the £6m Auston Trusty - all of whom have cut it so far, with one since having departed - Rodgers pushed for more and more and, often, he did it in openly.

He set a bomb about a internal disunity within the club and then walked away. When asked about his comments at his subsequent media briefing he would usually minimize it and nearly reverse what he said.

Lack of cohesion? No, no, all are united, he'd say. It looked like he was engaging in a dangerous strategy.

A few months back there was a report in a newspaper that purportedly originated from a insider close to the club. It said that Rodgers was harming Celtic with his public outbursts and that his true aim was orchestrating his exit strategy.

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

The fans were enraged. They then viewed him as akin to a martyr who might be removed on his honor because his board members wouldn't support his plans to bring triumph.

This disclosure was damaging, of course, and it was meant to hurt Rodgers, which it did. He called for an inquiry and for the guilty person to be dismissed. Whether there was a examination then we learned nothing further about it.

By then it was clear Rodgers was losing the backing of the people in charge.

The regular {gripes