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Just fifteen minutes following the club released the announcement of their manager's surprising departure via a brief short communication, the bombshell arrived, from Dermot Desmond, with whiskers twitching in apparent fury.

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

The man he convinced to join the club when their rivals were gaining ground in that period and needed putting in their place. Plus the figure he again turned to after the previous manager departed to another club in the recent offseason.

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

Two decades after his exit from the organization, and after much of his recent life was dedicated to an unending series of appearances and the performance of all his past successes at the team, Martin O'Neill is back in the manager's seat.

For now - and perhaps for a while. Based on comments he has said lately, he has been keen to get a new position. He will see this role as the perfect opportunity, a present from the Celtic Gods, a return to the place where he experienced such glory and praise.

Would he relinquish it easily? It seems unlikely. Celtic could possibly make a call to sound out their ex-manager, but the new appointment will serve as a balm for the time being.

'Full-blooded Effort at Reputation Destruction'

The new manager's return - however strange as it is - can be set aside because the biggest shocking moment was the harsh manner Desmond wrote of the former manager.

It was a forceful attempt at character assassination, a branding of Rodgers as deceitful, a perpetrator of untruths, a spreader of falsehoods; disruptive, deceptive and unjustifiable. "One individual's desire for self-preservation at the cost of everyone else," wrote Desmond.

For a person who prizes propriety and places great store in dealings being done with discretion, if not complete privacy, here was a further illustration of how unusual things have grown at Celtic.

Desmond, the club's most powerful presence, moves in the background. The absentee totem, the one with the power to make all the major calls he wants without having the obligation of explaining them in any public forum.

He does not attend club annual meetings, sending his offspring, Ross, in his place. He seldom, if ever, does media talks about Celtic unless they're glowing in nature. And still, he's reluctant to communicate.

He has been known on an rare moment to support the organization with private missives to news outlets, but no statement is made in the open.

It's exactly how he's wanted it to remain. And that's exactly what he contradicted when launching all-out attack on Rodgers on Monday.

The directive from the team is that Rodgers resigned, but reading Desmond's invective, line by line, one must question why he permit it to reach this far down the line?

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

He has charged him of spinning information in open forums that were inconsistent with the facts.

He claims Rodgers' statements "played a part to a toxic atmosphere around the team and fuelled hostility towards members of the management and the board. Some of the criticism directed at them, and at their loved ones, has been completely unjustified and improper."

What an remarkable allegation, that is. Legal representatives might be preparing as we discuss.

His Ambition Clashed with the Club's Strategy Again

Looking back to happier days, they were tight, Dermot and Brendan. The manager lauded the shareholder at every turn, thanked him whenever possible. Rodgers deferred to Dermot and, really, to nobody else.

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

This marked the most controversial appointment, the reappearance of the prodigal son for a few or, as other supporters would have put it, the return of the unapologetic figure, who departed in the lurch for Leicester.

Desmond had Rodgers' back. Gradually, the manager employed the charm, achieved the wins and the honors, and an fragile truce with the fans turned into a love-in once more.

It was inevitable - always - going to be a point when his ambition came in contact with the club's operational approach, though.

This occurred in his first incarnation and it transpired again, with bells on, over the last year. Rodgers publicly commented about the sluggish way the team conducted their player acquisitions, the interminable delay for targets to be landed, then missed, as was frequently the case as far as he was concerned.

Repeatedly he stated about the need for what he termed "flexibility" in the transfer window. The fans concurred with him.

Even when the club spent record amounts of money in a calendar year on the expensive Arne Engels, the £9m another player and the £6m Auston Trusty - all of whom have cut it to date, with one already having departed - Rodgers demanded increased resources and, oftentimes, he did it in openly.

He planted a controversy about a lack of cohesion inside the team and then walked away. When asked about his remarks at his subsequent media briefing he would typically minimize it and nearly reverse what he said.

Internal issues? Not at all, all are united, he'd say. It appeared like Rodgers was playing a risky game.

A few months back there was a story in a publication that purportedly came from a source associated with the organization. It claimed that Rodgers was damaging the team with his open criticisms and that his real motivation was managing his departure plan.

He didn't want to be present and he was engineering his exit, this was the tone of the article.

Supporters were angered. They then saw him as similar to a sacrificial figure who might be carried out on his honor because his directors did not back his plans to bring success.

This disclosure was poisonous, naturally, and it was meant to hurt him, which it did. He demanded for an investigation and for the guilty person to be dismissed. Whether there was a probe then we heard nothing further about it.

At that point it was plain Rodgers was losing the backing of the individuals in charge.

The regular {gripes