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Merely fifteen minutes after the club issued the news of Brendan Rodgers' surprising departure via a perfunctory five-paragraph statement, the bombshell arrived, from Dermot Desmond, with whiskers twitching in obvious anger.

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

The man he persuaded to come to the team when their rivals were gaining ground 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 severity of his critique, the astonishing comeback of Martin O'Neill was almost an secondary note.

Twenty years after his exit from the organization, and after much of his recent life was dedicated to an continuous circuit of appearances and the playing of all his old hits at the team, Martin 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 view this role as the ultimate chance, a gift from the Celtic Gods, a return to the environment where he experienced such glory and praise.

Will he give it up readily? It seems unlikely. Celtic might well make a call to contact Postecoglou, but the new appointment will act as a balm for the moment.

'Full-blooded Attempt at Reputation Destruction'

O'Neill's reappearance - as surreal as it is - can be parked because the biggest shocking development was the harsh manner Desmond described the former manager.

This constituted a forceful endeavor at defamation, a labeling of Rodgers as deceitful, a perpetrator of untruths, a spreader of falsehoods; divisive, deceptive and unacceptable. "A single person's wish for self-interest at the cost of everyone else," wrote Desmond.

For somebody who prizes decorum and sets high importance in dealings being conducted with discretion, if not outright secrecy, here was a further illustration of how unusual things have become at the club.

The major figure, the organization's most powerful figure, operates in the margins. The absentee totem, the one with the power to make all the important decisions he pleases without having the responsibility of explaining them in any open setting.

He does not attend team annual meetings, sending his offspring, his son, in his place. He rarely, if ever, gives interviews about the team unless they're glowing in tone. And even then, he's slow to speak out.

There have been instances on an rare moment to defend the club with confidential missives to news outlets, but nothing is heard in public.

This is precisely how he's wanted it to be. And it's just what he contradicted when launching full thermonuclear on Rodgers on that day.

The directive from the team is that Rodgers stepped down, but reading Desmond's criticism, line by line, you have to wonder why did he permit it to get such a critical point?

Assuming Rodgers is guilty of every one of the things that Desmond is claiming he's responsible for, then it's fair to inquire why had been the manager not dismissed?

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

He says his words "played a part to a toxic environment around the club and encouraged hostility towards members of the executive team and the directors. A portion of the abuse directed at them, and at their loved ones, has been completely unjustified and improper."

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

'Rodgers' Ambition Conflicted with the Club's Strategy Once More'

Looking back to happier days, they were tight, the two men. Rodgers praised the shareholder at all opportunities, expressed gratitude to him whenever possible. Brendan deferred to him and, really, to no one other.

This was Desmond who drew the heat when his returned happened, post-Postecoglou.

This marked the most divisive appointment, the reappearance of the prodigal son for some supporters or, as other supporters would have put it, the arrival of the shameless one, who left them in the lurch for Leicester.

The shareholder had Rodgers' support. Gradually, Rodgers employed the charm, achieved the victories and the honors, and an fragile peace with the supporters became a affectionate relationship once more.

It was inevitable - always - going to be a moment when his goals clashed with Celtic's business model, though.

It happened in his first incarnation and it happened again, with added intensity, recently. He spoke openly about the sluggish process the team conducted their transfer business, the endless delay for prospects to be secured, then missed, as was too often the case as far as he was concerned.

Time and again he spoke about the need for what he called "flexibility" in the market. The fans concurred with him.

Despite the organization spent record amounts of funds in a twelve-month period on the expensive one signing, the costly Adam Idah and the £6m further acquisition - none of whom have performed well so far, with Idah already having left - Rodgers demanded more and more and, oftentimes, he expressed this in openly.

He set a controversy about a internal disunity within the team and then walked away. Upon questioning about his comments at his next media briefing he would typically downplay it and nearly reverse what he said.

Lack of cohesion? No, no, everybody is aligned, he'd claim. It looked like he was playing a dangerous strategy.

Earlier this year there was a report in a publication that purportedly originated from a insider associated with the organization. It claimed that the manager was damaging the team with his public outbursts and that his true aim was managing his departure plan.

He desired not to be there and he was arranging his exit, 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 directors did not back his vision to bring triumph.

This disclosure was damaging, of course, and it was intended to harm Rodgers, which it accomplished. He demanded for an investigation and for the responsible individual to be removed. If there was a probe then we learned nothing further about it.

At that point it was clear Rodgers was losing the support of the individuals above him.

The frequent {gripes