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Just fifteen minutes following Celtic released the news of Brendan Rodgers' shock resignation via a brief short statement, the bombshell landed, courtesy of Dermot Desmond, with clear signs in apparent anger.

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

The man he persuaded to join the team when Rangers were getting uppity in 2016 and required being back in a box. Plus the figure he again turned to after Ange Postecoglou departed to another club in the recent offseason.

So intense was the ferocity of his critique, the jaw-dropping return of Martin O'Neill was almost an secondary note.

Twenty years after his departure from the club, and after much of his recent life was given over to an continuous series of appearances and the performance of all his old hits at the team, O'Neill is back in the manager's seat.

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

Would he relinquish it easily? You wouldn't have thought so. Celtic could possibly make a call to contact their ex-manager, but the new appointment will act as a balm for the time being.

All-out Attempt at Character Assassination

O'Neill's return - as surreal as it is - can be set aside because the biggest shocking moment was the brutal manner Desmond wrote of the former manager.

It was a full-blooded endeavor at character assassination, a labeling of Rodgers as deceitful, a perpetrator of untruths, a disseminator of falsehoods; divisive, misleading and unjustifiable. "One individual's wish for self-preservation at the expense of others," stated he.

For somebody who values decorum and places great store in business being conducted with discretion, if not complete secrecy, here was a further example of how abnormal situations have become at Celtic.

The major figure, the organization's dominant figure, operates in the background. The remote leader, the individual with the power to make all the important calls he wants without having the responsibility of explaining them in any open setting.

He does not attend club AGMs, dispatching his offspring, his son, instead. He seldom, if ever, does media talks about the team unless they're glowing in nature. And even then, he's reluctant to communicate.

There have been instances on an occasion or two to defend the club with private missives to media organisations, but no statement is made in the open.

It's exactly how he's wanted it to remain. And that's exactly what he went against when going full thermonuclear on Rodgers on Monday.

The official line from the club is that Rodgers resigned, but reviewing Desmond's criticism, carefully, you have to wonder why did he permit it to reach such a critical point?

If Rodgers is guilty of all of the things that the shareholder is claiming he's guilty of, then it is reasonable to inquire why had been the coach not dismissed?

He has accused him of distorting things in open forums that were inconsistent with the facts.

He says his statements "played a part to a hostile environment around the club and encouraged animosity towards members of the executive team and the directors. Some of the criticism aimed at them, and at their families, has been entirely unwarranted and improper."

What an extraordinary allegation, indeed. Lawyers might be preparing as we discuss.

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

To return to better times, they were close, the two men. Rodgers praised the shareholder at every turn, thanked him every chance. Brendan respected Dermot and, truly, to nobody else.

This was the figure who drew the criticism when his comeback occurred, after the previous manager.

This marked the most controversial appointment, the reappearance of the prodigal son for a few or, as other supporters would have put it, the arrival of the shameless one, who left them in the lurch for another club.

Desmond had his back. Gradually, Rodgers employed the charm, achieved the wins and the trophies, and an uneasy peace with the fans turned into a love-in again.

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

It happened in his initial tenure and it happened once more, with added intensity, over the last year. Rodgers publicly commented about the sluggish process the team conducted their transfer business, the endless delay for targets to be landed, then missed, as was too often the case as far as he was believed.

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

Despite the organization splurged record amounts of funds in a twelve-month period on the expensive Arne Engels, the £9m Adam Idah and the significant further acquisition - none of whom have cut it to date, with one already having left - Rodgers pushed for increased resources and, often, he expressed this in openly.

He set a controversy about a internal disunity within the team and then walked away. When asked about his comments at his next media briefing he would usually minimize it and nearly contradict what he stated.

Internal issues? No, no, all are united, he'd say. It appeared like he was playing a dangerous game.

Earlier this year there was a report in a publication that allegedly came from a source close to the organization. It said that Rodgers was harming Celtic with his public outbursts and that his true aim was managing his departure plan.

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

The fans were angered. They then saw him as akin to a sacrificial figure who might be removed on his shield because his directors wouldn't back his plans to achieve success.

The leak was poisonous, naturally, and it was meant to hurt Rodgers, which it did. He called for an investigation and for the responsible individual to be removed. Whether there was a probe then we heard no more about it.

At that point it was clear Rodgers was shedding the backing of the people in charge.

The regular {gripes