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Just fifteen minutes following the club released the announcement of their manager's surprising resignation via a perfunctory five-paragraph statement, the bombshell arrived, from the major shareholder, with whiskers twitching in apparent fury.

Through an extensive statement, major shareholder Desmond eviscerated his old chum.

This individual he convinced to join the team when their rivals were getting uppity in 2016 and needed putting back in a box. And the figure he once more relied on after Ange Postecoglou departed to another club in the recent offseason.

Such was the ferocity of his critique, the jaw-dropping comeback of the former boss was almost an secondary note.

Two decades after his exit from the organization, and after much of his recent life was dedicated to an continuous series of public speaking engagements and the performance of all his old hits at Celtic, Martin O'Neill is back in the dugout.

For now - and maybe for a time. Considering things he has expressed recently, he has been eager to secure another job. He will view this role as the perfect opportunity, a present from the club's legacy, a homecoming to the place where he enjoyed such glory and praise.

Would he relinquish it readily? It seems unlikely. The club might well reach out to contact their ex-manager, but O'Neill will serve as a balm for the time being.

'Full-blooded Effort at Reputation Destruction'

O'Neill's reappearance - as surreal as it is - can be set aside because the biggest shocking development was the harsh manner the shareholder described the former manager.

This constituted a forceful attempt at defamation, a branding of Rodgers as untrustful, a source of falsehoods, a spreader of falsehoods; divisive, misleading and unjustifiable. "A single person's wish for self-interest at the cost of others," stated Desmond.

For somebody who prizes propriety and sets high importance in business being conducted with discretion, if not outright secrecy, here was another illustration of how abnormal situations have grown at Celtic.

The major figure, the club's dominant presence, moves in the margins. The absentee totem, the individual with the authority to make all the major calls he pleases without having the obligation of justifying them in any open setting.

He never participate in club AGMs, dispatching his son, Ross, in his place. He rarely, if ever, gives media talks about Celtic unless they're glowing in tone. And even then, he's slow to speak out.

There have been instances on an rare moment to support the club with private missives to media organisations, but nothing is made in public.

This is precisely how he's wanted it to remain. And it's exactly what he went against when going full thermonuclear on Rodgers on that day.

The directive from the club is that Rodgers resigned, but reviewing his criticism, carefully, you have to wonder why did he permit it to get this far down the line?

Assuming Rodgers is culpable of every one of the accusations that Desmond is alleging he's guilty of, then it's fair to ask why was the manager not dismissed?

He has accused him of distorting things in open forums that did not tally with the facts.

He claims his words "have contributed to a hostile environment around the team and encouraged animosity towards members of the executive team and the board. Some of the criticism directed at them, and at their loved ones, has been completely unwarranted and unacceptable."

What an extraordinary charge, indeed. Legal representatives might be preparing as we discuss.

'Rodgers' Ambition Clashed with the Club's Model Again

Looking back to happier days, they were tight, Dermot and Brendan. The manager lauded Desmond at all opportunities, thanked him whenever possible. Brendan deferred to Dermot and, really, to no one other.

It was the figure who drew the heat when his returned happened, after the previous manager.

It was the most divisive appointment, the return of the prodigal son for a few or, as other supporters would have described it, the arrival of the unapologetic figure, who departed in the difficulty for Leicester.

The shareholder had Rodgers' back. Over time, the manager turned on the charm, delivered the wins and the trophies, and an fragile truce with the fans became a love-in again.

It was inevitable - always - going to be a point when his ambition clashed with the club's operational approach, however.

It happened in his initial tenure and it happened once more, with bells on, recently. He spoke openly about the slow way the team conducted their transfer business, the endless delay for targets to be landed, then not landed, as was frequently the situation as far as he was believed.

Repeatedly he spoke about the need for what he called "flexibility" in the market. Supporters agreed with him.

Despite the club splurged record amounts of funds in a twelve-month period on the £11m one signing, the £9m another player and the significant further acquisition - none of whom have performed well so far, with one since having departed - Rodgers pushed for more and more and, often, he expressed this in openly.

He planted a bomb about a internal disunity within the team and then walked away. When asked about his comments at his next news conference he would usually downplay it and nearly reverse what he said.

Lack of cohesion? No, no, everybody is aligned, he'd say. It looked like he was playing a dangerous game.

Earlier this year there was a report in a publication that allegedly came 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 managing his exit strategy.

He desired not to be present and he was arranging his exit, that was the tone of the story.

The fans were enraged. They then saw him as similar to a martyr who might be carried out on his honor because his board members wouldn't back his plans to bring success.

This disclosure was poisonous, naturally, and it was intended to hurt him, which it accomplished. He called for an investigation and for the guilty person to be dismissed. If there was a examination then we learned nothing further about it.

At that point it was plain the manager was shedding the support of the individuals in charge.

The regular {gripes