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Merely fifteen minutes after Celtic issued the announcement of Brendan Rodgers' shock resignation via a brief short communication, the bombshell arrived, from Dermot Desmond, with clear signs in apparent fury.

Through an extensive statement, key investor Dermot Desmond eviscerated his former ally.

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

Such was the severity of Desmond's takedown, the jaw-dropping comeback of Martin O'Neill was almost an secondary note.

Twenty years after his exit from the club, and after a large part of his recent life was given over to an unending series of appearances and the performance of all his past successes at the team, Martin O'Neill is back 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 will see this role as the ultimate opportunity, a present from the Celtic Gods, a homecoming to the environment where he enjoyed such glory and adulation.

Will he relinquish it readily? You wouldn't have thought so. Celtic could possibly reach out to sound out their ex-manager, but the new appointment will serve as a soothing presence for the time being.

'Full-blooded Effort at Character Assassination

The new manager's reappearance - as surreal as it may be - can be set aside because the most significant 'wow!' moment was the brutal way Desmond wrote of Rodgers.

This constituted a full-blooded endeavor at defamation, a labeling of Rodgers as deceitful, a perpetrator of falsehoods, a disseminator of misinformation; disruptive, misleading and unacceptable. "One individual's wish for self-interest at the expense of others," stated he.

For somebody who values propriety and places great store in dealings being done with discretion, if not complete privacy, here was another illustration of how abnormal situations have grown at the club.

Desmond, the club's most powerful figure, moves in the background. The remote leader, the individual with the power to take all the major calls he wants without having the responsibility of justifying them in any open setting.

He never attend club annual meetings, sending his offspring, Ross, instead. He seldom, if ever, does media talks about Celtic unless they're hagiographic in nature. And even then, he's slow to communicate.

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

This is precisely how he's preferred it to remain. And that's just what he went against when going all-out attack on Rodgers on Monday.

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

Assuming the manager is guilty of all of the accusations that the shareholder is alleging he's responsible for, then it is reasonable to inquire why had been the coach not dismissed?

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

He claims his words "have contributed to a hostile atmosphere around the team and encouraged animosity towards members of the executive team and the directors. A portion of the criticism aimed at them, and at their loved ones, has been completely unwarranted and unacceptable."

Such an extraordinary allegation, that is. Legal representatives might be preparing as we discuss.

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

To return to happier times, they were tight, Dermot and Brendan. Rodgers lauded Desmond at every turn, expressed gratitude to him every chance. Brendan respected him and, really, to no one other.

This was the figure who took the criticism when his comeback occurred, post-Postecoglou.

It was the most divisive hiring, the reappearance of the returning hero for some supporters or, as some other Celtic fans would have described it, the return of the unapologetic figure, who left them in the difficulty for Leicester.

The shareholder had his support. Over time, the manager turned on the persuasion, delivered the wins and the honors, and an uneasy peace with the fans became a love-in again.

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

This occurred in his first incarnation and it transpired once more, with added intensity, recently. He publicly commented about the sluggish process Celtic conducted their transfer business, the endless delay for prospects to be secured, then not landed, as was frequently the case as far as he was believed.

Time and again he stated about the necessity for what he called "agility" in the market. Supporters concurred with him.

Despite the club splurged record amounts of money in a calendar year on the £11m Arne Engels, the costly another player and the £6m further acquisition - none of whom have cut it so far, with Idah since having departed - Rodgers demanded increased resources and, oftentimes, he expressed this in public.

He planted a bomb about a lack of cohesion within the club and then distanced himself. Upon questioning about his remarks at his next news conference he would usually downplay it and nearly contradict what he said.

Internal issues? No, no, everybody is aligned, he'd say. It appeared like Rodgers was playing a dangerous strategy.

Earlier this year there was a story in a publication that purportedly came from a insider close to the organization. It claimed that Rodgers was damaging Celtic 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 exit, this was the implication of the story.

Supporters were angered. They now saw him as similar to a sacrificial figure who might be removed on his shield because his directors did not support his vision to achieve success.

This disclosure was poisonous, of course, and it was meant to hurt Rodgers, which it did. He demanded for an investigation and for the guilty person to be dismissed. If there was a examination then we heard nothing further about it.

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

The regular {gripes