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Just a quarter of an hour after the club released the news of their manager's surprising resignation via a brief short statement, the howitzer arrived, courtesy of Dermot Desmond, with clear signs in obvious fury.

In 551-words, key investor Desmond savaged his former ally.

This individual he convinced to come to the team when Rangers were gaining ground in 2016 and required being in their place. Plus the figure he once more relied on after the previous manager departed to Tottenham in the recent offseason.

So intense was the severity of Desmond's critique, the astonishing comeback of the former boss was practically an secondary note.

Two decades after his departure from the club, and after much of his latter years was dedicated to an continuous series of public speaking engagements and the playing of all his old hits at Celtic, Martin O'Neill is back in the dugout.

Currently - and perhaps for a time. Based on comments he has said recently, O'Neill has been eager to secure another job. He'll view this one as the ultimate chance, a present from the club's legacy, a homecoming to the place where he experienced such glory and praise.

Would he relinquish it readily? It seems unlikely. Celtic could possibly reach out to contact Postecoglou, but O'Neill will act as a balm for the time being.

All-out Effort at Character Assassination

O'Neill's reappearance - however strange as it may be - can be set aside because the most significant shocking development was the harsh way the shareholder described Rodgers.

This constituted a forceful attempt at character assassination, a branding of Rodgers as deceitful, a perpetrator of untruths, a spreader of misinformation; divisive, misleading and unacceptable. "One individual's desire for self-preservation at the expense of everyone else," wrote he.

For somebody who prizes propriety and sets high importance in dealings being conducted with confidentiality, if not complete secrecy, this was a further illustration of how unusual things have become at the club.

The major figure, the club's most powerful presence, moves in the background. The absentee totem, the one with the authority to make all the major decisions he pleases without having the obligation of explaining them in any open setting.

He never attend team annual meetings, dispatching his son, his son, instead. He rarely, if ever, gives interviews about the team unless they're glowing in nature. And even then, he's reluctant to speak out.

There have been instances on an occasion or two to support the organization with confidential messages to media organisations, but nothing is made in the open.

It's exactly how he's preferred it to be. And it's exactly what he contradicted when going full thermonuclear on Rodgers on Monday.

The directive from the team is that Rodgers resigned, but reviewing Desmond's criticism, line by line, you have to wonder why did he permit it to get this far down the line?

Assuming Rodgers is guilty of all of the accusations that Desmond is alleging he's responsible for, then it's fair to inquire why had been the manager not removed?

He has accused him of distorting information in open forums that did not tally with reality.

He says Rodgers' words "have contributed to a toxic atmosphere around the team and fuelled animosity towards individuals of the management and the directors. Some of the abuse directed at them, and at their families, has been entirely unwarranted and improper."

What an remarkable charge, that is. Lawyers might be preparing as we discuss.

His Aspirations Conflicted with Celtic's Strategy Again

Looking back to better times, they were tight, Dermot and Brendan. Rodgers praised the shareholder at all opportunities, expressed gratitude to him every chance. Rodgers respected Dermot and, truly, to no one other.

This was the figure who drew the heat when Rodgers' returned occurred, after the previous manager.

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

Desmond had his support. Over time, Rodgers turned on the charm, achieved the victories and the trophies, and an fragile peace with the supporters turned into a love-in again.

It was inevitable - always - going to be a point when Rodgers' goals came in contact with the club's operational approach, though.

This occurred in his first incarnation and it transpired once more, with added intensity, recently. Rodgers spoke openly about the slow process Celtic went about their transfer business, the endless waiting for targets to be landed, then not landed, as was too often the case as far as he was concerned.

Repeatedly he spoke about the necessity for what he termed "agility" in the transfer window. Supporters concurred with him.

Despite the club splurged unprecedented sums of money in a calendar year on the £11m Arne Engels, the costly another player and the £6m further acquisition - none of whom have performed well so far, with one already having departed - Rodgers demanded increased resources and, oftentimes, he expressed this in public.

He set a bomb about a lack of cohesion within the team and then walked away. When asked about his remarks at his subsequent media briefing he would usually downplay it and almost reverse what he said.

Internal issues? No, no, everybody is aligned, he'd claim. It appeared like he was engaging in a risky strategy.

A few months back there was a report in a publication that purportedly originated from a insider associated with the club. It said that the manager was harming the team with his public outbursts and that his real motivation was orchestrating his exit strategy.

He didn't want to be there and he was arranging his way out, that was the implication of the article.

The fans were enraged. They then viewed him as akin to a sacrificial figure who might be carried out on his honor because his directors did not support his vision to bring success.

This disclosure was damaging, of course, and it was intended to hurt him, which it accomplished. He called for an investigation and for the guilty person to be dismissed. Whether there was a probe then we learned nothing further about it.

By then it was clear Rodgers was losing the backing of the people above him.

The frequent {gripes