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Just a quarter of an hour after Celtic released the announcement of Brendan Rodgers' surprising departure via a brief short communication, the bombshell arrived, from the major shareholder, with whiskers twitching in apparent anger.

Through 551-words, major shareholder Desmond savaged his former ally.

This individual he convinced to join the team when Rangers were getting uppity in that period and required being in their place. And the figure he once more relied on after Ange Postecoglou departed to Tottenham in the summer of 2023.

Such was the ferocity of his critique, the jaw-dropping return of Martin O'Neill was almost an secondary note.

Two decades after his departure from the club, and after a large part of his recent life was dedicated to an unending circuit of public speaking engagements and the performance of all his past successes at the team, O'Neill is back in the dugout.

For now - and perhaps for a while. Based on comments he has said lately, he has been keen to secure a new position. He will see this role as the ultimate opportunity, a gift from the club's legacy, a return to the environment where he experienced such success and praise.

Will he relinquish it easily? You wouldn't have thought so. The club could possibly reach out to contact Postecoglou, but O'Neill will act as a balm for the time being.

All-out Effort at Reputation Destruction'

The new manager's return - as surreal as it is - can be parked because the most significant shocking development was the brutal way the shareholder wrote of Rodgers.

It was a forceful endeavor at character assassination, a labeling of him as untrustful, a source of falsehoods, a spreader of misinformation; disruptive, deceptive and unjustifiable. "A single person's wish for self-preservation at the expense of everyone else," wrote he.

For somebody who values propriety and sets high importance in dealings being done with confidentiality, if not complete secrecy, this was a further illustration of how abnormal things have become at the club.

Desmond, the club's most powerful figure, moves in the margins. The absentee totem, the one with the power to take all the important calls he wants without having the responsibility of explaining them in any open setting.

He does not attend club AGMs, dispatching his offspring, Ross, instead. He rarely, if ever, does interviews about Celtic unless they're hagiographic in tone. And even then, he's slow to speak out.

He has been known on an rare moment to defend the organization with confidential messages to media organisations, but nothing is heard in public.

It's exactly how he's wanted it to be. And that's exactly what he went against when going full thermonuclear on Rodgers on that day.

The directive from the club is that Rodgers stepped down, but reviewing his criticism, carefully, you have to wonder why did he permit it to reach this far down the line?

If Rodgers is culpable of all of the things that Desmond is alleging he's guilty of, then it is reasonable to ask why had been the manager not removed?

Desmond has charged him of spinning information in open forums that did not tally with reality.

He says his words "played a part to a hostile atmosphere around the club and encouraged animosity towards individuals of the management and the board. A portion of the abuse aimed at them, and at their loved ones, has been entirely unwarranted and unacceptable."

What an remarkable allegation, that is. Lawyers might be mobilising as we speak.

'Rodgers' Aspirations Conflicted with the Club's Model Once More'

Looking back to better times, they were tight, the two men. Rodgers praised Desmond at every turn, expressed gratitude to him every chance. Brendan respected him and, truly, to no one other.

This was Desmond who drew the heat when Rodgers' returned occurred, post-Postecoglou.

This marked the most divisive appointment, the return of the prodigal son for some supporters or, as some other supporters would have described it, the return of the unapologetic figure, who departed in the lurch for Leicester.

The shareholder had his back. Over time, the manager turned on the persuasion, achieved the wins and the trophies, and an fragile peace with the supporters turned into a affectionate relationship once more.

There was always - always - going to be a moment when his ambition clashed with the club's business model, though.

It happened in his first incarnation and it happened again, with bells on, over the last year. Rodgers publicly commented about the sluggish process Celtic went about their player acquisitions, the endless waiting for prospects to be landed, then not landed, as was frequently the case as far as he was believed.

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

Despite the organization splurged unprecedented sums of money in a calendar year on the £11m Arne Engels, the costly Adam Idah and the significant Auston Trusty - all of whom have performed well so far, with Idah since having left - Rodgers demanded increased resources and, often, he did it in openly.

He planted a controversy about a lack of cohesion within the team and then walked away. Upon questioning about his remarks at his next media briefing he would usually minimize it and almost reverse what he said.

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

Earlier this year there was a story in a publication that purportedly originated from a source close to the organization. It claimed that the manager was harming the team with his public outbursts and that his true aim was orchestrating his exit strategy.

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

Supporters were enraged. They now saw him as akin to a martyr who might be removed on his honor because his directors did not back his vision to achieve triumph.

This disclosure was poisonous, naturally, and it was intended to hurt Rodgers, which it accomplished. He demanded for an investigation and for the responsible individual to be dismissed. Whether there was a probe then we heard no more about it.

At that point it was plain Rodgers was shedding the support of the individuals above him.

The regular {gripes