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Just fifteen minutes after Celtic issued the announcement of their manager's surprising resignation via a perfunctory short statement, the bombshell arrived, from Dermot Desmond, with clear signs in apparent anger.

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

This individual he convinced to join the team when Rangers were gaining ground in that period and needed putting back in a box. Plus the figure 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 the former boss was practically an secondary note.

Twenty years after his exit from the club, and after a large part of his latter years was given over to an unending circuit of public speaking engagements and the playing of all his past successes at the team, O'Neill is back in the manager's seat.

For now - and maybe for a while. Based on comments he has said lately, O'Neill has been keen to get another job. He'll see this role as the perfect opportunity, a present from the club's legacy, a return to the place where he enjoyed such success and adulation.

Will he give it up easily? You wouldn't have thought so. Celtic could possibly reach out to sound out Postecoglou, but O'Neill will serve as a soothing presence for the moment.

'Full-blooded Attempt at Reputation Destruction'

O'Neill's return - however strange as it may be - can be parked because the biggest shocking development was the harsh manner the shareholder described the former manager.

It was a forceful endeavor at defamation, a branding of him as untrustful, a perpetrator of untruths, a spreader of misinformation; disruptive, misleading and unacceptable. "One individual's desire for self-interest at the cost of everyone else," stated he.

For somebody who prizes decorum and places great store in dealings being conducted with confidentiality, if not complete privacy, this was another illustration of how unusual situations have become at Celtic.

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

He never participate in team AGMs, dispatching his son, his son, instead. He rarely, if ever, gives media talks about the team unless they're hagiographic in nature. And still, he's reluctant to speak out.

There have been instances on an rare moment to defend the organization with confidential messages to news outlets, but nothing is heard in the open.

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

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

If the manager is culpable of all of the things that Desmond is alleging he's guilty of, then it is reasonable to ask why was the coach not dismissed?

He has accused him of spinning information in public that were inconsistent with the facts.

He claims Rodgers' statements "have contributed to a toxic environment around the team and fuelled hostility towards members of the management and the directors. A portion of the criticism aimed at them, and at their families, has been completely unjustified and unacceptable."

Such an remarkable charge, indeed. Lawyers might be preparing as we speak.

'Rodgers' Ambition Conflicted with Celtic's Model Once More'

To return to happier days, they were close, the two men. Rodgers lauded the shareholder at all opportunities, thanked him every chance. Brendan deferred to him and, really, to no one other.

It was the figure who drew the criticism when his returned happened, post-Postecoglou.

It was the most divisive appointment, the reappearance of the prodigal son for a few or, as some other supporters would have put it, the arrival of the shameless one, who departed in the lurch for another club.

Desmond had his support. Gradually, the manager employed the charm, achieved the victories and the trophies, and an uneasy peace with the supporters turned into a affectionate relationship again.

It was inevitable - always - going to be a point when Rodgers' goals clashed with Celtic's operational approach, though.

It happened in his initial tenure and it transpired once more, with added intensity, recently. He spoke openly about the slow process the team went about their transfer business, the interminable waiting for prospects to be secured, then missed, as was frequently the case as far as he was believed.

Repeatedly he stated about the necessity for what he termed "agility" in the market. The fans concurred with him.

Even when the organization spent record amounts of money in a twelve-month period on the expensive Arne Engels, the £9m another player and the £6m Auston Trusty - none of whom have performed well so far, with one since having departed - Rodgers pushed for increased resources and, often, he expressed this in openly.

He planted a controversy about a lack of cohesion inside the club and then walked away. When asked about his remarks at his subsequent media briefing he would typically minimize it and almost contradict what he said.

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

Earlier this year there was a report in a publication that purportedly came from a source close to the club. It said that Rodgers was damaging 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 arranging his way out, this was the tone of the story.

Supporters were angered. They now viewed him as similar to a sacrificial figure who might be removed on his honor because his directors wouldn't back his plans to achieve success.

The leak was poisonous, naturally, and it was intended to harm him, which it accomplished. He called for an investigation and for the guilty person to be removed. If there was a examination then we heard nothing further about it.

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

The frequent {gripes