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Merely fifteen minutes following the club issued the news of Brendan Rodgers' shock departure via a brief short statement, the howitzer arrived, courtesy of the major shareholder, with clear signs in obvious anger.

Through an extensive statement, major shareholder Desmond eviscerated his old chum.

This individual he convinced to join the team when their rivals were gaining ground in 2016 and needed putting back in a box. Plus the figure he once more relied on after Ange Postecoglou departed to another club in the recent offseason.

So intense was the severity of his takedown, the jaw-dropping return of the former boss was almost an after-thought.

Two decades after his departure from the organization, and after much of his latter years was dedicated to an unending circuit of public speaking engagements and the playing of all his old hits at the team, O'Neill is back in the dugout.

Currently - and perhaps for a time. Based on comments he has expressed lately, O'Neill has been eager to secure another job. He will view this role as the perfect chance, a gift from the Celtic Gods, a homecoming to the place where he experienced such glory and praise.

Would he relinquish it easily? It seems unlikely. Celtic could possibly reach out to contact their ex-manager, but O'Neill will act as a balm for the moment.

All-out Effort at Character Assassination

O'Neill's reappearance - as surreal as it may be - can be set aside because the biggest shocking moment was the harsh manner the shareholder described Rodgers.

This constituted a full-blooded endeavor at defamation, a labeling of him as deceitful, a source of falsehoods, a spreader of falsehoods; disruptive, deceptive and unjustifiable. "A single person's wish for self-interest at the expense of everyone else," stated he.

For somebody who prizes decorum and places great store in dealings being done with discretion, if not complete secrecy, this was another example of how abnormal situations have grown at Celtic.

Desmond, the club's most powerful figure, operates in the margins. The remote leader, the individual with the power to make all the major calls he pleases without having the obligation of explaining them in any open setting.

He does not attend club AGMs, sending his offspring, his son, instead. He seldom, if ever, gives media talks about Celtic unless they're glowing in tone. And even then, he's slow to communicate.

He has been known on an occasion or two to defend the organization with confidential messages to news outlets, but no statement is heard in public.

It's exactly how he's preferred it to be. And that's just what he went against when going all-out attack on Rodgers on Monday.

The directive from the team is that Rodgers resigned, but reviewing his criticism, line by line, you have to wonder why he allow it to reach such a critical point?

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

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

He claims Rodgers' statements "played a part to a toxic environment around the club and fuelled hostility towards members of the management and the directors. A portion of the criticism aimed at them, and at their loved ones, has been completely unjustified and unacceptable."

Such an extraordinary allegation, indeed. Lawyers might be mobilising as we discuss.

'Rodgers' Ambition Clashed with Celtic's Model Again

To return to happier days, they were close, the two men. The manager lauded Desmond at all opportunities, thanked him whenever possible. Brendan deferred to Dermot and, truly, to no one other.

This was Desmond who took the heat when his returned occurred, post-Postecoglou.

It was the most controversial appointment, the reappearance of the returning hero for some supporters or, as some other supporters would have put it, the arrival of the unapologetic figure, who departed in the difficulty for Leicester.

The shareholder had his back. Gradually, the manager turned on the persuasion, delivered the victories and the trophies, and an fragile peace with the supporters became a affectionate relationship once more.

There was always - always - going to be a moment when Rodgers' ambition clashed with the club's operational approach, though.

It happened in his first incarnation and it transpired once more, with bells on, recently. Rodgers publicly commented about the slow process the team conducted their player acquisitions, the endless waiting for targets to be secured, then missed, as was frequently the case as far as he was believed.

Time and again he spoke about the need for what he termed "agility" in the market. Supporters concurred with him.

Even when the organization spent unprecedented sums of money in a calendar year on the expensive one signing, the £9m Adam Idah and the significant further acquisition - all of whom have performed well to date, with one since having left - Rodgers pushed for more and more and, often, he did it in public.

He set a controversy about a internal disunity inside the team and then walked away. Upon questioning about his remarks at his subsequent news conference he would typically minimize it and nearly contradict what he said.

Lack of cohesion? Not at all, everybody is aligned, he'd claim. It looked like he was playing a risky game.

Earlier this year there was a story in a newspaper that allegedly originated from a insider associated with the organization. It said that Rodgers was damaging the team with his public outbursts and that his real motivation was managing his exit strategy.

He desired not to be there and he was arranging his way out, that was the implication of the story.

The fans were enraged. They then saw him as akin to a martyr who might be removed on his shield because his board members did not support his vision to bring success.

The leak was damaging, of course, and it was meant to harm him, which it did. He demanded for an inquiry and for the guilty person to be dismissed. If there was a examination then we learned nothing further about it.

By then it was plain Rodgers was losing the support of the individuals in charge.

The regular {gripes