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Just a quarter of an hour after Celtic released the news of their manager's shock departure via a perfunctory short communication, the howitzer arrived, courtesy of Dermot Desmond, with whiskers twitching in apparent anger.

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

This individual he persuaded to come to the club when Rangers were gaining ground in that period and required being back in a box. Plus the figure he again relied on after Ange Postecoglou left for another club in the recent offseason.

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

Twenty years after his exit from the club, and after much of his recent life was given over to an continuous circuit of public speaking engagements and the playing of all his past successes at the team, Martin O'Neill is back in the dugout.

For now - and perhaps for a time. Considering things he has said recently, he has been keen to get a new position. He will view this role as the ultimate opportunity, a gift from the Celtic Gods, a return to the environment where he experienced such success and praise.

Will he give it up easily? It seems unlikely. The club could possibly make a call to contact Postecoglou, but the new appointment will act as a balm for the moment.

'Full-blooded Attempt at Character Assassination

O'Neill's reappearance - as surreal as it is - can be set aside because the most significant shocking development was the brutal manner Desmond described the former manager.

This constituted a full-blooded attempt at character assassination, a branding of Rodgers as deceitful, a source of untruths, a disseminator of falsehoods; divisive, misleading and unjustifiable. "A single person's desire for self-interest at the expense of others," stated he.

For a person who prizes propriety and places great store in dealings being conducted with confidentiality, if not outright secrecy, this was a further illustration of how unusual things have become at Celtic.

The major figure, the club's most powerful figure, operates in the margins. The absentee totem, the one with the power to take all the major decisions he pleases without having the obligation of explaining them in any public forum.

He never participate in team AGMs, dispatching his offspring, his son, in his place. He seldom, if ever, gives interviews about the team unless they're glowing in nature. And even then, he's slow to communicate.

There have been instances on an occasion or two to support the organization with confidential messages to news outlets, but nothing is heard in the open.

It's exactly how he's preferred it to be. And that's exactly what he went against when launching full thermonuclear on the manager on that day.

The directive from the club is that Rodgers resigned, but reading his invective, line by line, you have to wonder why he allow it to get this far down the line?

Assuming the manager is guilty of every one of the things that Desmond is claiming he's guilty of, then it's fair to ask why was the manager not removed?

Desmond has charged him of distorting information in public that did not tally with reality.

He says his statements "have contributed to a hostile atmosphere around the team and fuelled animosity towards members of the executive team and the directors. A portion of the abuse directed at them, and at their families, has been completely unjustified and unacceptable."

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

His Ambition Clashed with Celtic's Strategy Once More'

To return to happier times, they were close, the two men. The manager lauded the shareholder at all opportunities, expressed gratitude to him whenever possible. Rodgers deferred to him and, truly, to no one other.

It was the figure who took the heat when his comeback occurred, post-Postecoglou.

It was the most divisive appointment, the return of the prodigal son for a few or, as other Celtic fans would have described it, the return of the unapologetic figure, who departed in the difficulty for Leicester.

The shareholder had his back. Gradually, Rodgers employed the persuasion, achieved the victories and the trophies, and an fragile truce with the supporters turned into a love-in again.

There was always - always - going to be a point when his goals came in contact with the club's business model, however.

This occurred in his first incarnation and it transpired once more, with bells on, recently. Rodgers publicly commented about the sluggish process the team conducted their transfer business, the endless delay for prospects to be landed, then missed, as was frequently the situation as far as he was believed.

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

Despite the organization spent record amounts of money in a twelve-month period on the £11m one signing, the costly another player and the significant Auston Trusty - all of whom have cut it so far, with one since having left - Rodgers demanded more and more and, often, he did it in public.

He set a controversy about a lack of cohesion inside the team and then walked away. Upon questioning about his remarks at his next media briefing he would typically minimize it and nearly contradict what he said.

Internal issues? No, no, all are united, he'd say. It appeared like he was engaging in a risky strategy.

A few months back there was a report in a newspaper that purportedly came from a insider close to the organization. It said that the manager was damaging the team with his open criticisms and that his real motivation was managing his exit strategy.

He didn't want to be present and he was engineering his way out, this was the implication of the article.

Supporters were enraged. They now saw him as similar to a sacrificial figure who might be removed on his honor because his directors did not back his plans to bring success.

The leak was damaging, of course, and it was intended to hurt Rodgers, which it accomplished. He demanded for an inquiry and for the guilty person to be dismissed. If there was a probe then we heard nothing further about it.

At that point it was clear the manager was losing the support of the people in charge.

The frequent {gripes