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Merely a quarter of an hour following the club released the announcement of their manager's surprising departure via a perfunctory five-paragraph communication, the bombshell landed, courtesy of Dermot Desmond, with whiskers twitching in apparent anger.

Through 551-words, key investor Dermot Desmond eviscerated his old chum.

The man he persuaded to join the club when Rangers were gaining ground in that period and required being back in a box. And the figure he again turned to after the previous manager left for another club in the recent offseason.

So intense was the severity of his takedown, the astonishing return of Martin O'Neill was practically an after-thought.

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

For now - and perhaps for a while. Based on things he has expressed lately, he has been eager to secure another job. He will view this one as the ultimate opportunity, a gift from the club's legacy, a homecoming to the environment where he experienced such glory and praise.

Will he give it up readily? It seems unlikely. Celtic might well reach out to sound out their ex-manager, but the new appointment will act as a soothing presence for the time being.

'Full-blooded Effort at Character Assassination

The new manager's return - however strange as it is - can be parked because the most significant 'wow!' development was the brutal way the shareholder described Rodgers.

It was a forceful endeavor at character assassination, a branding of him as untrustful, a perpetrator of falsehoods, a spreader of misinformation; disruptive, deceptive and unacceptable. "One individual's desire for self-preservation at the cost of others," stated Desmond.

For a person who values propriety and places great store in dealings being done with confidentiality, if not outright secrecy, here was another illustration of how abnormal things have grown at Celtic.

The major figure, the club's most powerful presence, operates in the background. The absentee totem, the individual with the power to make all the important decisions he wants without having the responsibility of justifying them in any open setting.

He never participate in club annual meetings, sending his offspring, Ross, in his place. He rarely, if ever, does media talks about the team unless they're hagiographic in tone. And still, he's slow to speak out.

He has been known on an occasion or two to defend the organization with private messages to media organisations, but no statement is made in the open.

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

The directive from the club is that he resigned, but reviewing his criticism, line by line, one must question why did he permit it to reach such a critical point?

Assuming the manager is culpable of all of the things that Desmond is alleging he's guilty of, then it is reasonable to inquire why was the coach not dismissed?

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

He claims Rodgers' statements "have contributed to a hostile atmosphere around the team and encouraged animosity towards members of the executive team and the board. A portion of the abuse aimed at them, and at their families, has been completely unwarranted and improper."

What an remarkable charge, that is. Lawyers might be preparing as we speak.

'Rodgers' Aspirations Clashed with the Club's Model Again

To return to better times, they were close, Dermot and Brendan. Rodgers lauded Desmond at all opportunities, expressed gratitude to him whenever possible. Brendan respected him and, truly, to no one other.

This was the figure who drew the heat when Rodgers' comeback happened, after the previous manager.

It was the most divisive appointment, the reappearance of the returning hero for a few or, as other supporters would have described it, the arrival of the shameless one, who departed in the lurch for another club.

The shareholder had Rodgers' back. Over time, Rodgers turned on the charm, delivered the victories and the honors, and an fragile truce with the supporters became a affectionate relationship again.

It was inevitable - consistently - going to be a moment when Rodgers' ambition 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 spoke openly about the sluggish process Celtic conducted their transfer business, the endless delay for targets to be secured, then not landed, as was too often the situation as far as he was believed.

Repeatedly he stated about the need for what he called "flexibility" in the transfer window. Supporters agreed with him.

Despite the organization splurged record amounts of money in a twelve-month period on the expensive one signing, the £9m Adam Idah and the £6m further acquisition - none of whom have performed well so far, with one since having departed - Rodgers pushed for increased resources and, often, he did it in public.

He set a bomb about a internal disunity inside the team and then distanced himself. When asked about his comments at his next news conference he would typically minimize it and nearly contradict what he stated.

Internal issues? No, no, everybody is aligned, he'd say. It looked like Rodgers was engaging in a dangerous strategy.

A few months back there was a story in a publication that allegedly came from a insider associated with the club. It claimed that Rodgers was damaging the team with his open criticisms and that his true aim was orchestrating his departure plan.

He didn't want to be present and he was arranging his exit, that was the tone of the story.

Supporters were enraged. They then saw him as akin to a sacrificial figure who might be carried out on his honor because his board members wouldn't back his vision to achieve success.

The leak was damaging, naturally, and it was meant to harm Rodgers, which it accomplished. He demanded for an inquiry and for the responsible individual to be dismissed. Whether there was a examination then we heard nothing further about it.

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

The regular {gripes