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Just fifteen minutes following Celtic released the announcement of Brendan Rodgers' surprising resignation via a perfunctory short statement, the bombshell landed, courtesy of Dermot Desmond, with whiskers twitching in obvious anger.

Through 551-words, major shareholder Desmond savaged his old chum.

This individual he persuaded to join the club when their rivals were gaining ground in that period and needed putting back in a box. And the figure he once more turned to after the previous manager left for another club in the recent offseason.

So intense was the ferocity of his critique, the jaw-dropping comeback of the former boss was almost an after-thought.

Twenty years after his exit from the club, and after much of his latter years was dedicated to an unending circuit of public speaking engagements and the performance of all his past successes at the team, Martin O'Neill is returned in the manager's seat.

For now - and perhaps for a time. Considering things he has said lately, he has been eager to get another job. He'll see this one as the perfect chance, a present from the club's legacy, a return to the place where he enjoyed such glory and praise.

Will he relinquish it readily? You wouldn't have thought so. The club could possibly make a call to contact their ex-manager, but the new appointment will serve as a soothing presence for the moment.

'Full-blooded Attempt at Reputation Destruction'

O'Neill's reappearance - as surreal as it may be - can be parked because the most significant 'wow!' moment was the brutal manner Desmond described the former manager.

This constituted a full-blooded attempt at character assassination, a branding of him as untrustful, a source of untruths, a disseminator of falsehoods; disruptive, misleading and unacceptable. "A single person's desire for self-interest at the expense of others," stated he.

For somebody who values propriety and sets high importance in business being conducted with confidentiality, if not outright privacy, this was a further example of how unusual situations have become at the club.

The major figure, the club's dominant figure, moves in the background. The absentee totem, the individual with the authority to take all the major decisions he pleases without having the responsibility of explaining them in any open setting.

He never participate in club AGMs, sending his son, Ross, instead. He seldom, if ever, does media talks about Celtic unless they're glowing in tone. And even then, he's reluctant to speak out.

There have been instances on an rare moment to defend the club with private messages to media organisations, but nothing is heard in public.

This is precisely how he's wanted it to be. And it's just what he went against when launching full thermonuclear on Rodgers on Monday.

The official line from the team is that Rodgers stepped down, but reading Desmond's invective, line by line, one must question why he permit it to get such a critical point?

If the manager is culpable of all of the things that Desmond is claiming he's responsible for, then it is reasonable to inquire why was the manager not removed?

Desmond has accused him of distorting information in open forums that were inconsistent with the facts.

He says Rodgers' words "have contributed to a toxic atmosphere around the club and encouraged animosity towards members of the management and the board. Some of the criticism directed at them, and at their loved ones, has been entirely unwarranted and unacceptable."

What an extraordinary allegation, indeed. Lawyers might be mobilising as we speak.

His Ambition Conflicted with the Club's Model Once More'

Looking back to better times, they were close, the two men. Rodgers lauded the shareholder at all opportunities, expressed gratitude to him whenever possible. Rodgers respected him and, really, to no one other.

It was the figure who took the heat when Rodgers' returned happened, post-Postecoglou.

This marked the most divisive hiring, the reappearance of the prodigal son for some supporters or, as some other supporters would have described it, the arrival of the unapologetic figure, who left them in the difficulty for another club.

The shareholder had his support. Over time, Rodgers employed the persuasion, achieved the victories and the honors, and an fragile peace with the fans became a love-in again.

There was always - consistently - going to be a moment when Rodgers' ambition came in contact with the club's operational approach, however.

This occurred in his initial tenure and it transpired once more, with added intensity, recently. Rodgers spoke openly about the slow way the team went about their player acquisitions, the interminable waiting for targets to be landed, then missed, as was frequently the situation as far as he was concerned.

Time and again he spoke about the necessity for what he called "agility" in the transfer window. The fans concurred with him.

Despite the club splurged record amounts of funds in a twelve-month period on the expensive Arne Engels, the £9m Adam Idah and the significant Auston Trusty - none of whom have performed well so far, with Idah since having left - Rodgers pushed for increased resources and, often, he expressed this in public.

He planted a bomb about a internal disunity within the team and then distanced himself. When asked about his comments at his next media briefing he would usually minimize it and almost contradict what he said.

Internal issues? Not at all, all are united, he'd claim. It appeared like he was engaging in a dangerous strategy.

Earlier this year there was a story in a newspaper that purportedly came from a source associated with the club. It claimed that the manager was damaging the team with his open criticisms and that his true aim was orchestrating his exit strategy.

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

The fans were angered. They now viewed him as similar to a martyr who might be removed on his honor 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 did. He demanded for an inquiry and for the guilty person to be removed. Whether there was a examination then we heard nothing further about it.

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

The regular {gripes