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Just a quarter of an hour following Celtic issued the announcement of Brendan Rodgers' shock resignation via a perfunctory short communication, the bombshell arrived, courtesy of the major shareholder, with clear signs in apparent fury.

Through an extensive statement, major shareholder Dermot Desmond savaged his former ally.

This individual he convinced to come to the club when their rivals were getting uppity in 2016 and required being back in a box. Plus the man he once more relied on after the previous manager left for Tottenham in the summer of 2023.

Such was the ferocity of Desmond's critique, the jaw-dropping return of Martin O'Neill was almost an after-thought.

Twenty years after his exit from the club, and after a large part of his latter years was dedicated to an unending series of appearances and the playing of all his old hits at the team, Martin O'Neill is returned in the dugout.

Currently - and maybe for a time. Based on things he has said recently, O'Neill has been eager to get another job. He will see this role as the perfect opportunity, a gift from the Celtic Gods, a return to the place where he enjoyed such success and adulation.

Would he relinquish it easily? It seems unlikely. The club could possibly reach out to sound out their ex-manager, but the new appointment will serve as a soothing presence for the time being.

'Full-blooded Attempt at Character Assassination

O'Neill's return - as surreal as it may be - can be parked because the most significant shocking moment was the harsh manner Desmond wrote of the former manager.

It was a full-blooded attempt at character assassination, a labeling of Rodgers as untrustful, a source of untruths, a disseminator of misinformation; disruptive, deceptive and unacceptable. "One individual's wish for self-interest at the expense of others," stated he.

For a person who prizes decorum and places great store in dealings being done with confidentiality, if not outright secrecy, here was a further example of how abnormal things have grown at the club.

The major figure, the club's dominant presence, moves in the margins. The absentee totem, the individual with the authority to make all the major decisions he pleases without having the responsibility of explaining them in any open setting.

He never attend club AGMs, sending his son, his son, instead. He rarely, if ever, gives media talks about Celtic unless they're glowing in nature. And still, he's reluctant to speak out.

There have been instances on an rare moment to support the club with confidential messages to media organisations, but no statement is made in the open.

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

The official line from the team is that he stepped down, but reviewing his invective, line by line, you have to wonder why he permit it to reach this far down the line?

Assuming the manager is guilty of all of the accusations that the shareholder is alleging he's guilty of, then it is reasonable to inquire why was the manager not dismissed?

He has accused him of spinning things in public that were inconsistent with the facts.

He says his words "have contributed to a hostile environment around the team and fuelled hostility towards members of the executive team and the directors. Some of the abuse aimed at them, and at their families, has been completely unwarranted and unacceptable."

What an extraordinary charge, that is. Legal representatives might be preparing as we speak.

'Rodgers' Ambition Clashed with the Club's Strategy Again

To return to better times, they were tight, the two men. Rodgers lauded Desmond at all opportunities, thanked him whenever possible. Rodgers deferred to him and, really, to no one other.

It was Desmond who drew the criticism when Rodgers' returned occurred, post-Postecoglou.

This marked the most controversial appointment, the return of the returning hero for a few or, as some other supporters would have put it, the arrival of the shameless one, who left them in the difficulty for Leicester.

The shareholder had his support. Gradually, the manager turned on the persuasion, delivered the victories and the honors, and an fragile peace with the supporters turned into a affectionate relationship again.

It was inevitable - consistently - going to be a point when Rodgers' ambition came in contact with the club's business model, though.

This occurred in his first incarnation and it happened again, with added intensity, recently. Rodgers spoke openly about the sluggish way Celtic went about their player acquisitions, the endless waiting for targets to be secured, then not landed, as was frequently the case as far as he was concerned.

Time and again he spoke about the need for what he called "agility" in the transfer window. The fans agreed with him.

Despite the organization spent unprecedented sums of money in a calendar year on the £11m Arne Engels, the £9m another player and the significant further acquisition - all of whom have cut it so far, with one already having departed - Rodgers demanded increased resources and, often, he expressed this in openly.

He planted a bomb about a lack of cohesion inside the team and then walked away. When asked about his comments at his subsequent news conference he would usually minimize it and almost contradict what he said.

Lack of cohesion? Not at all, everybody is aligned, he'd claim. It appeared like Rodgers was engaging in a dangerous strategy.

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

He didn't want to be there and he was engineering his way out, this was the tone of the story.

Supporters were angered. They then saw him as similar to a sacrificial figure who might be carried out on his shield because his board members did not back his vision to achieve success.

This disclosure was poisonous, of course, and it was meant to harm him, which it accomplished. He called for an inquiry and for the guilty person to be removed. Whether there was a probe then we learned no more about it.

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

The frequent {gripes