🔗 Share this article

Merely a quarter of an hour following Celtic issued the news of their manager's shock resignation via a perfunctory five-paragraph communication, the bombshell landed, courtesy of the major shareholder, with whiskers twitching in apparent anger.

Through an extensive statement, major shareholder Desmond savaged his former ally.

The man he convinced to join the team when their rivals were getting uppity in that period and required being in their place. And the man he once more relied on after the previous manager departed to Tottenham in the recent offseason.

Such was the severity of his takedown, the jaw-dropping comeback of the former boss was almost an after-thought.

Two decades after his departure from the club, and after much of his recent life was dedicated to an unending circuit of appearances and the playing of all his past successes at the team, O'Neill is returned in the manager's seat.

For now - and maybe for a time. Considering things he has said lately, he has been keen to get another job. He'll see this role as the ultimate opportunity, a present from the Celtic Gods, a return to the place where he enjoyed such glory and adulation.

Would he give it up easily? It seems unlikely. Celtic could possibly reach out to sound out their ex-manager, but O'Neill will act as a balm for the time being.

All-out Attempt at Character Assassination

The new manager's return - as surreal as it is - can be parked because the most significant shocking development was the brutal manner Desmond wrote of the former manager.

It was a full-blooded endeavor at defamation, a labeling of him as untrustful, a source of untruths, a spreader of misinformation; divisive, deceptive and unjustifiable. "One individual's desire for self-interest at the expense of others," wrote he.

For a person who values propriety and sets high importance in dealings being conducted with discretion, if not complete secrecy, here was another 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 take all the important decisions he pleases without having the obligation of justifying them in any open setting.

He never attend team annual meetings, dispatching his son, Ross, in his place. He rarely, if ever, gives interviews 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 club with confidential missives to news outlets, but no statement is made in the open.

It's exactly how he's wanted it to be. And that's just what he contradicted when launching full thermonuclear on the manager on Monday.

The directive from the club is that Rodgers resigned, but reviewing Desmond's criticism, carefully, one must question why he allow it to reach this far down the line?

If Rodgers is culpable of every one of the accusations that Desmond is claiming he's guilty of, then it is reasonable to ask why had been the manager not dismissed?

Desmond has charged him of distorting things in open forums that were inconsistent with the facts.

He claims his words "played a part to a hostile environment around the club and encouraged hostility towards members of the management and the directors. Some of the criticism directed at them, and at their loved ones, has been completely unjustified and unacceptable."

What an remarkable charge, that is. Legal representatives might be mobilising as we discuss.

His Ambition Conflicted with Celtic's Strategy Once More'

To return to better days, they were close, the two men. The manager lauded the shareholder at all opportunities, thanked him every chance. Rodgers respected Dermot and, truly, to no one other.

It was Desmond who drew the criticism when Rodgers' returned happened, post-Postecoglou.

This marked the most divisive appointment, the reappearance of the returning hero for some supporters or, as some other supporters would have put it, the return of the shameless one, who left them in the lurch for Leicester.

The shareholder had his back. Gradually, Rodgers employed the charm, delivered the wins and the honors, and an uneasy truce with the supporters turned into a affectionate relationship again.

It was inevitable - consistently - going to be a moment when his goals came in contact with the club's operational approach, though.

It happened in his initial tenure and it transpired again, with added intensity, over the last year. Rodgers spoke openly about the sluggish process Celtic conducted their player acquisitions, the endless waiting for targets to be secured, then missed, as was frequently the situation as far as he was concerned.

Time and again he spoke about the need for what he termed "agility" in the market. Supporters concurred with him.

Despite the organization spent unprecedented sums of money in a calendar year on the £11m one signing, the costly Adam Idah and the £6m further acquisition - none of whom have cut it to date, with one since having left - the manager pushed for increased resources and, oftentimes, he did it in public.

He set a bomb about a internal disunity inside the club and then walked away. Upon questioning about his remarks at his next media briefing he would typically minimize it and nearly reverse what he stated.

Internal issues? Not at all, all are united, he'd say. It appeared like he was engaging in a dangerous game.

A few months back there was a report in a newspaper that allegedly came from a insider close to the organization. It claimed that the manager 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 exit, this was the implication of the story.

The fans were angered. They then saw him as akin to a martyr who might be carried out on his shield because his board members did not support his plans to bring success.

The leak was damaging, naturally, and it was intended to harm Rodgers, which it accomplished. He demanded for an investigation and for the responsible individual to be removed. If there was a probe then we learned nothing further about it.

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

The regular {gripes