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Merely a quarter of an hour following the club issued the news of their manager's shock departure via a brief short communication, the howitzer arrived, courtesy of the major shareholder, with whiskers twitching in apparent anger.

In an extensive statement, key investor Desmond eviscerated his old chum.

This individual he convinced to come to the team when their rivals were getting uppity in 2016 and required being back in a box. And the man he once more turned to after Ange Postecoglou left for Tottenham in the recent offseason.

So intense was the ferocity of Desmond's takedown, the astonishing return of Martin O'Neill was practically an after-thought.

Two decades after his departure from the organization, and after a large part of his latter years was dedicated to an unending series of appearances and the performance of all his old hits at the team, O'Neill is returned in the manager's seat.

Currently - and perhaps for a time. Considering things he has expressed recently, O'Neill has been keen to get a new position. He'll see this role as the perfect chance, a present from the club's legacy, a homecoming to the environment where he enjoyed such glory and praise.

Will he give it up readily? It seems unlikely. The club might well reach out to contact their ex-manager, but O'Neill will act as a balm for the time being.

All-out Attempt at Reputation Destruction'

O'Neill's return - as surreal as it is - can be set aside because the biggest 'wow!' development was the harsh manner Desmond described Rodgers.

It was a forceful attempt at defamation, a branding of him as untrustful, a perpetrator of untruths, a disseminator of falsehoods; divisive, misleading and unacceptable. "One individual's wish for self-interest at the expense of others," wrote Desmond.

For a person who prizes propriety and places great store in dealings being done with confidentiality, if not complete privacy, here was a further example of how abnormal situations have grown at the club.

Desmond, the organization's most powerful presence, operates in the background. The remote leader, the one with the authority to take all the major calls he wants without having the obligation of justifying them in any open setting.

He does not attend team annual meetings, sending his son, his son, instead. He rarely, if ever, gives interviews about Celtic unless they're hagiographic in tone. And still, he's slow to communicate.

He has been known on an occasion or two to defend the organization with private messages to media organisations, but nothing is made in public.

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

The official line from the team is that he stepped down, but reading his invective, line by line, you have to wonder why did he permit it to reach such a critical point?

Assuming the manager is guilty of all of the accusations that the shareholder is claiming he's guilty of, then it's fair to inquire why had been the manager not dismissed?

Desmond has charged him of spinning information in public that were inconsistent with the facts.

He says Rodgers' statements "have contributed to a hostile environment around the club and encouraged animosity towards individuals of the management and the board. Some of the abuse directed at them, and at their families, has been entirely unjustified and unacceptable."

What an extraordinary charge, indeed. Lawyers might be preparing as we discuss.

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

Looking back to better times, they were tight, the two men. Rodgers lauded the shareholder at every turn, thanked him whenever possible. Rodgers deferred to Dermot and, truly, to no one other.

It was Desmond who drew the heat when his comeback occurred, after the previous manager.

It was the most controversial appointment, the reappearance of the prodigal son for some supporters or, as some other Celtic fans would have described it, the return of the shameless one, who left them in the lurch for another club.

The shareholder had Rodgers' support. Over time, Rodgers turned on the charm, achieved the victories and the honors, and an uneasy truce with the supporters became a affectionate relationship once more.

It was inevitable - consistently - going to be a point when his ambition clashed with the club's operational approach, though.

This occurred in his initial tenure and it transpired again, with bells on, over the last year. He spoke openly about the sluggish way Celtic went about their player acquisitions, the endless delay for targets to be secured, then not landed, as was too often the situation as far as he was believed.

Time and again he spoke about the necessity for what he termed "agility" in the market. The fans agreed with him.

Despite the organization splurged record amounts of funds in a twelve-month period on the expensive Arne Engels, the £9m Adam Idah and the significant further acquisition - all of whom have performed well so far, with one since having departed - the manager demanded more and more and, often, he expressed this in openly.

He set a bomb about a lack of cohesion within the team and then walked away. When asked about his remarks at his next news conference he would typically downplay it and almost reverse what he said.

Lack of cohesion? No, no, all are united, he'd say. It appeared like he was playing a risky game.

A few months back there was a story in a publication that purportedly originated from a insider close to the organization. It claimed that Rodgers was harming the team with his public outbursts and that his real motivation was orchestrating his departure plan.

He didn't want to be there and he was arranging his exit, this was the implication of the article.

Supporters were angered. They then saw him as similar to a martyr who might be carried out on his shield because his directors did not back his vision to bring success.

This disclosure was poisonous, of course, and it was meant to hurt Rodgers, which it did. He called for an investigation and for the guilty person to be removed. Whether there was a examination then we learned no more about it.

By then it was clear the manager was shedding the support of the people above him.

The regular {gripes