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Just fifteen minutes following the club released the news of Brendan Rodgers' shock resignation via a perfunctory short statement, the howitzer landed, from Dermot Desmond, with whiskers twitching in obvious fury.

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

The man he persuaded to come to the team when their rivals were getting uppity in that period and required being back in a box. Plus the man he again relied on after the previous manager left for another club in the recent offseason.

Such was the severity of Desmond's critique, the astonishing comeback of the former boss was almost an secondary note.

Twenty years after his exit from the organization, and after much of his latter years was dedicated to an unending series of public speaking engagements and the performance of all his old hits at the team, Martin O'Neill is returned in the dugout.

For now - and perhaps for a time. Considering comments he has expressed lately, O'Neill has been keen to get a new position. He'll view this role as the perfect chance, a present from the Celtic Gods, a return to the place where he experienced such success and praise.

Will he relinquish it easily? You wouldn't have thought so. The club might well reach out to sound out Postecoglou, but the new appointment will act as a soothing presence for the time being.

'Full-blooded Effort at Character Assassination

O'Neill's return - as surreal as it may be - can be set aside because the biggest 'wow!' development was the harsh way the shareholder wrote of the former manager.

It was a forceful attempt at character assassination, a labeling of Rodgers as untrustful, a source of untruths, a spreader of misinformation; divisive, deceptive and unjustifiable. "One individual's wish for self-preservation at the cost of everyone else," wrote Desmond.

For a person who values decorum and places great store in dealings being conducted with discretion, if not outright secrecy, here was another example of how unusual things have become at Celtic.

Desmond, the club's dominant presence, operates in the background. The remote leader, the individual with the authority to take all the important calls he wants without having the responsibility of explaining them in any public forum.

He never participate in club annual meetings, dispatching his son, Ross, in his place. He seldom, if ever, gives interviews about the team unless they're glowing in tone. And even then, he's slow to speak out.

There have been instances on an occasion or two to support the organization with confidential messages to news outlets, but no statement is made in public.

This is precisely how he's preferred it to be. And that's just what he contradicted when launching all-out attack on Rodgers on that day.

The official line from the team is that Rodgers resigned, but reviewing his criticism, line by line, you have to wonder why he allow it to get such a critical point?

If Rodgers is culpable of all of the things that the shareholder is alleging he's responsible for, then it is reasonable to ask why was the manager not dismissed?

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

He claims Rodgers' statements "played a part to a hostile atmosphere around the team and fuelled animosity towards members of the management and the directors. A portion of the abuse directed at them, and at their loved ones, has been completely unjustified and unacceptable."

Such an extraordinary charge, that is. Lawyers might be mobilising as we speak.

His Ambition Conflicted with Celtic's Model Again

Looking back to better times, they were close, Dermot and Brendan. Rodgers lauded Desmond at all opportunities, expressed gratitude to him every chance. Brendan respected him and, really, to nobody else.

It was the figure who took the heat when Rodgers' returned happened, after the previous manager.

It was the most divisive appointment, the return of the prodigal son for a few or, as some other supporters would have described it, the return of the shameless one, who departed in the difficulty for another club.

Desmond had his support. Gradually, the manager employed the persuasion, delivered the victories and the honors, and an fragile peace with the fans became a love-in again.

It was inevitable - always - going to be a moment when his ambition came in contact with the club's business model, however.

It happened in his first incarnation and it happened once more, with added intensity, over the last year. He spoke openly about the slow way the team went about their player acquisitions, the interminable delay for prospects to be secured, then missed, as was too often the situation as far as he was concerned.

Repeatedly he spoke about the need for what he termed "agility" in the transfer window. The fans agreed with him.

Despite the club spent record amounts of funds in a twelve-month period on the expensive Arne Engels, the £9m Adam Idah and the £6m Auston Trusty - none of whom have performed well so far, with one since having departed - the manager pushed for increased resources and, oftentimes, he expressed this in openly.

He planted a controversy about a internal disunity within the club and then walked away. Upon questioning about his remarks at his subsequent media briefing he would typically downplay it and almost contradict what he stated.

Internal issues? No, no, all are united, he'd say. It appeared like Rodgers was playing a dangerous game.

Earlier this year there was a report in a publication that allegedly came from a insider close to the club. It claimed that the manager was harming the team with his public outbursts and that his real motivation was managing his exit strategy.

He didn't want 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 sacrificial figure who might be carried out on his honor because his board members wouldn't back his plans to achieve triumph.

This disclosure was poisonous, of course, and it was meant to harm Rodgers, which it accomplished. He called for an inquiry and for the guilty person to be removed. If there was a examination then we learned nothing further about it.

At that point it was clear the manager was shedding the backing of the individuals above him.

The frequent {gripes