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Just fifteen minutes after Celtic issued the announcement of Brendan Rodgers' shock resignation via a brief short communication, the howitzer landed, courtesy of Dermot Desmond, with clear signs in apparent fury.

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

The man he convinced to join the team when their rivals were gaining ground in that period and needed putting back in a box. And the man he again relied on after the previous manager departed to another club in the summer of 2023.

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

Two decades after his departure from the club, and after much of his recent life was given over to an continuous series of public speaking engagements and the performance of all his old hits at the team, Martin O'Neill is back in the manager's seat.

Currently - and perhaps for a time. Based on things he has said recently, he has been eager to get another job. He will see this one as the perfect chance, a present from the Celtic Gods, a return to the environment where he enjoyed such success and praise.

Would he give it up easily? You wouldn't have thought so. Celtic might well make a call to contact Postecoglou, but the new appointment will serve as a balm for the time being.

'Full-blooded Attempt at Character Assassination

The new manager's return - as surreal as it is - can be set aside because the most significant shocking moment was the harsh manner the shareholder wrote of Rodgers.

It was a full-blooded endeavor at defamation, a branding of Rodgers as deceitful, a source of untruths, a spreader of falsehoods; divisive, deceptive and unjustifiable. "A single person's desire for self-preservation at the cost of others," wrote he.

For somebody who values decorum and places great store in business being conducted with confidentiality, if not complete secrecy, here was another example of how unusual things have grown at Celtic.

Desmond, the club's dominant presence, operates in the background. The remote leader, the individual with the authority to make all the important decisions he wants without having the obligation of justifying them in any open setting.

He does not attend club AGMs, sending his son, Ross, in his place. He rarely, if ever, gives interviews about the team unless they're glowing in tone. And still, he's slow to speak out.

He has been known on an rare moment to defend the organization with private missives to media organisations, but no statement is heard in public.

It's exactly how he's wanted it to be. And that's just what he went against when going full thermonuclear on the manager on Monday.

The official line from the club is that Rodgers resigned, but reviewing his invective, line by line, you have to wonder why did he permit it to get such a critical point?

Assuming the manager is guilty of every one of the things that Desmond is claiming he's responsible for, then it's fair to ask why was the coach not dismissed?

Desmond has charged him of spinning things in open forums that were inconsistent with reality.

He claims his words "played a part to a hostile atmosphere around the club and fuelled hostility towards individuals of the executive team and the directors. A portion of the criticism directed at them, and at their families, has been completely unjustified and unacceptable."

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

'Rodgers' Ambition Clashed with Celtic's Model Again

To return to happier days, they were tight, the two men. The manager praised the shareholder at all opportunities, thanked him whenever possible. Brendan deferred to him and, really, to nobody else.

It was the figure who drew the heat when Rodgers' comeback occurred, after the previous manager.

It was the most divisive appointment, the reappearance of the returning hero for a few or, as other Celtic fans would have put it, the arrival of the unapologetic figure, who departed in the lurch for Leicester.

The shareholder had his back. Gradually, the manager turned on the charm, achieved the wins and the trophies, and an uneasy truce with the fans turned into a affectionate relationship again.

It was inevitable - always - going to be a point when his ambition came in contact with Celtic's business model, though.

This occurred in his first incarnation and it transpired once more, with bells on, recently. He spoke openly about the slow way Celtic conducted their player acquisitions, the interminable delay for prospects to be secured, then not landed, as was frequently the situation as far as he was believed.

Time and again he stated about the necessity for what he called "flexibility" in the market. The fans agreed with him.

Even when the organization splurged record amounts of funds in a calendar year on the expensive one signing, the £9m Adam Idah and the significant Auston Trusty - none of whom have cut it so far, with Idah since having left - Rodgers demanded more and more and, often, he did it in public.

He planted a bomb about a internal disunity inside the team and then walked away. When asked about his remarks at his subsequent news conference he would typically minimize it and nearly reverse what he stated.

Lack of cohesion? Not at all, everybody is aligned, he'd say. It looked like Rodgers was engaging in a dangerous strategy.

A few months back there was a report in a newspaper that purportedly came from a source close to the club. It claimed that the manager was damaging Celtic with his open criticisms and that his true aim was managing his departure plan.

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

Supporters were enraged. They now saw 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 bring triumph.

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

At that point it was plain Rodgers was losing the support of the people in charge.

The regular {gripes