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Just a quarter of an hour following Celtic released the announcement of their manager's surprising resignation via a brief five-paragraph communication, the bombshell arrived, courtesy of the major shareholder, with whiskers twitching in apparent anger.

In 551-words, key investor Dermot Desmond savaged his former ally.

This individual he persuaded to come to the team when Rangers were gaining ground in that period and required being back in a box. And the man he once more turned to after the previous manager left for another club in the recent offseason.

So intense was the ferocity of his takedown, the jaw-dropping return of Martin O'Neill was almost an secondary note.

Twenty years after his departure from the club, and after a large part of his recent life was given over to an continuous series of appearances and the playing of all his old hits at the team, Martin O'Neill is back in the dugout.

For now - and maybe for a while. Considering comments he has expressed lately, O'Neill has been eager to secure a new position. He'll view this role as the ultimate opportunity, a gift from the Celtic Gods, a return to the place where he enjoyed such glory and praise.

Will he relinquish it easily? It seems unlikely. The club could possibly reach out to contact their ex-manager, but O'Neill will act as a soothing presence for the time being.

'Full-blooded Attempt at Character Assassination

O'Neill's return - however strange as it is - can be parked because the most significant 'wow!' moment was the harsh manner the shareholder wrote of Rodgers.

It was a forceful attempt at defamation, a labeling of him as untrustful, a perpetrator of untruths, a disseminator of misinformation; divisive, misleading and unjustifiable. "A single person's wish for self-preservation at the expense of everyone else," stated Desmond.

For a person who prizes decorum and sets high importance in business being done with confidentiality, if not outright privacy, this was another example of how abnormal situations have grown at Celtic.

The major figure, the organization's most powerful figure, moves in the margins. The absentee totem, the one with the power to take all the major calls he pleases without having the obligation of explaining them in any public forum.

He never participate in club AGMs, sending his offspring, Ross, instead. He seldom, if ever, gives media talks about Celtic unless they're hagiographic in tone. And even then, he's reluctant to speak out.

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

It's exactly how he's wanted it to be. And it's just what he went against when launching all-out attack on the manager on Monday.

The directive from the club is that Rodgers stepped down, but reviewing his invective, line by line, one must question why did he permit it to get this far down the line?

Assuming Rodgers is culpable of every one of the things that Desmond is claiming he's responsible for, then it's fair to inquire why was the manager not dismissed?

He has accused him of spinning things in public that did not tally with the facts.

He says Rodgers' words "have contributed to a toxic environment around the club and fuelled animosity towards individuals of the management and the board. A portion of the abuse directed at them, and at their loved ones, has been entirely unwarranted and improper."

What an remarkable allegation, that is. Legal representatives might be preparing as we discuss.

His Ambition Clashed with the Club's Strategy Once More'

To return to happier days, they were tight, the two men. The manager praised the shareholder at every turn, thanked him every chance. Rodgers deferred to him and, really, to nobody else.

It was Desmond who took the criticism when Rodgers' comeback occurred, after the previous manager.

It was the most controversial hiring, the return of the prodigal son for a few or, as other supporters would have described it, the arrival of the shameless one, who left them in the difficulty for Leicester.

Desmond had his support. Gradually, the manager employed the charm, delivered the victories and the honors, and an fragile truce with the fans turned into a affectionate relationship again.

There was always - always - going to be a moment when Rodgers' ambition came in contact with Celtic's operational approach, however.

It happened in his initial tenure and it happened again, with added intensity, over the last year. He spoke openly about the slow process Celtic conducted their transfer business, the interminable waiting for prospects to be secured, then missed, as was too often the situation as far as he was believed.

Time and again he spoke about the necessity for what he called "flexibility" in the market. Supporters agreed with him.

Even when the organization spent unprecedented sums of money in a calendar year on the expensive Arne Engels, the £9m Adam Idah and the £6m further acquisition - none of whom have cut it to date, with one already having departed - the manager pushed for increased resources and, often, he did it in openly.

He planted a controversy about a internal disunity within the team and then distanced himself. When asked about his comments at his next media briefing he would typically minimize it and almost contradict what he stated.

Internal issues? Not at all, everybody is aligned, he'd claim. It looked like he was engaging in a dangerous strategy.

A few months back there was a report in a newspaper that purportedly originated from a source close to the organization. It said that Rodgers was damaging the team with his public outbursts and that his true aim was orchestrating his departure plan.

He didn't want to be there and he was engineering his way out, that was the implication of the story.

The fans were angered. They now viewed him as similar to a martyr who might be removed on his shield because his board members did not support his vision to achieve success.

The leak was poisonous, of course, and it was intended to harm him, which it accomplished. He called for an inquiry and for the guilty person to be removed. Whether there was a probe then we learned nothing further about it.

By then it was plain Rodgers was shedding the support of the people in charge.

The frequent {gripes