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Just fifteen minutes following the club issued the news of their manager's shock resignation via a perfunctory five-paragraph statement, the bombshell landed, from the major shareholder, with clear signs in obvious fury.

In an extensive statement, major shareholder Desmond savaged his old chum.

The man he persuaded to come to the team when Rangers were getting uppity in 2016 and needed putting in their place. Plus the man he once more turned to after Ange Postecoglou departed to Tottenham in the recent offseason.

So intense was the severity of Desmond's critique, the jaw-dropping return of Martin O'Neill was practically an after-thought.

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

For now - and perhaps for a time. Based on things he has expressed lately, he has been keen to secure a new position. He'll view this role as the ultimate opportunity, a present from the club's legacy, a return to the environment where he enjoyed such glory and praise.

Will he give it up easily? You wouldn't have thought so. The club might well reach out to sound out their ex-manager, but O'Neill will serve as a balm for the time being.

All-out Attempt at Character Assassination

O'Neill's return - however strange as it is - can be parked because the biggest shocking moment was the harsh way Desmond wrote of the former manager.

It was a forceful endeavor at character assassination, a labeling of him as deceitful, a source of falsehoods, a disseminator of falsehoods; disruptive, misleading and unacceptable. "A single person's wish for self-preservation at the cost of others," wrote he.

For somebody who prizes decorum and sets high importance in business being done with confidentiality, if not outright secrecy, this was a further example of how abnormal things have grown at Celtic.

Desmond, the club's dominant figure, moves in the margins. The remote leader, the one with the power to make all the important decisions he wants without having the responsibility of explaining them in any public forum.

He never participate in club AGMs, sending his son, his son, in his place. He rarely, if ever, gives media talks about the team unless they're hagiographic in tone. And still, he's slow to communicate.

He has been known on an occasion or two to defend the club with private messages to news outlets, but nothing is made in the open.

This is precisely how he's preferred it to remain. And it's just what he contradicted when going all-out attack on the manager on that day.

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

Assuming Rodgers is culpable of all of the things that the shareholder is claiming he's responsible for, then it is reasonable to inquire why was the coach not removed?

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

He says Rodgers' statements "played a part to a toxic environment around the team and encouraged animosity towards members of the executive team and the board. Some of the abuse directed at them, and at their loved ones, has been entirely unwarranted and improper."

What an extraordinary allegation, that is. Legal representatives might be preparing as we speak.

His Ambition Conflicted with the Club's Model Again

Looking back to better days, they were tight, the two men. The manager lauded Desmond at all opportunities, expressed gratitude to him every chance. Rodgers deferred to Dermot and, truly, to no one other.

This was the figure who took the heat when his comeback happened, post-Postecoglou.

It was the most controversial hiring, the return of the returning hero for some supporters or, as other supporters would have described it, the arrival of the shameless one, who left them in the lurch for Leicester.

The shareholder had Rodgers' support. Gradually, the manager turned on the charm, achieved the wins and the honors, and an uneasy peace with the supporters became a affectionate relationship once more.

It was inevitable - always - going to be a moment when his ambition clashed with the club's business model, however.

This occurred in his initial tenure and it happened once more, with added intensity, recently. He spoke openly about the sluggish way the team conducted their transfer business, the endless delay for prospects to be secured, then missed, as was too often the case as far as he was concerned.

Repeatedly he spoke about the necessity for what he called "flexibility" in the transfer window. The fans agreed with him.

Even when the organization splurged record amounts of money in a calendar year on the £11m one signing, the costly Adam Idah and the £6m Auston Trusty - none of whom have performed well to date, with Idah since having left - Rodgers pushed for more and more and, oftentimes, he did it in public.

He planted a controversy about a internal disunity within the team and then distanced himself. When asked about his comments at his subsequent media briefing he would usually minimize it and nearly reverse what he stated.

Lack of cohesion? Not at all, everybody is aligned, he'd say. It looked like he was playing a dangerous game.

A few months back there was a report in a publication that purportedly originated from a source associated with the club. It said that Rodgers was damaging Celtic with his open criticisms and that his real motivation was orchestrating his exit strategy.

He didn't want to be present and he was engineering his way out, this was the implication of the article.

The fans were angered. They now saw him as similar to a sacrificial figure who might be removed on his shield because his directors did not back his vision to bring triumph.

The leak was poisonous, naturally, and it was intended to hurt him, which it accomplished. He demanded for an investigation and for the responsible individual to be removed. Whether there was a examination then we heard nothing further about it.

By then it was clear Rodgers was shedding the support of the individuals above him.

The regular {gripes