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Just fifteen minutes after Celtic released the announcement of Brendan Rodgers' surprising departure via a perfunctory five-paragraph statement, the howitzer arrived, courtesy of the major shareholder, with whiskers twitching in obvious fury.

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

The man he convinced to join the club when Rangers were gaining ground in that period and required being back in a box. And the man he again relied on after the previous manager departed to another club in the recent offseason.

So intense was the severity of Desmond's takedown, the astonishing comeback of Martin O'Neill was almost an after-thought.

Twenty years after his departure from the club, and after much of his recent life was dedicated to an continuous circuit of public speaking engagements and the playing of all his past successes at Celtic, O'Neill is returned in the dugout.

Currently - and maybe for a while. Based on comments he has said lately, he has been keen to secure another job. He'll view this role as the ultimate chance, a present from the club's legacy, a homecoming to the environment where he experienced such success and adulation.

Would he relinquish it easily? You wouldn't have thought so. The club might well make a call to contact their ex-manager, but the new appointment will act as a soothing presence for the moment.

'Full-blooded Effort at Reputation Destruction'

The new manager's reappearance - as surreal as it is - can be set aside because the most significant shocking moment was the brutal manner Desmond wrote of Rodgers.

This constituted a forceful attempt at character assassination, a labeling of Rodgers as untrustful, a perpetrator of untruths, a spreader of misinformation; divisive, deceptive and unjustifiable. "One individual's desire for self-preservation at the cost of others," wrote Desmond.

For a person who values decorum and places great store in dealings being conducted with confidentiality, if not outright secrecy, here was a further illustration of how abnormal things have become at Celtic.

Desmond, the organization's dominant presence, operates in the margins. The absentee totem, the individual with the power to take all the important decisions he wants without having the responsibility of explaining them in any public forum.

He does not attend club AGMs, sending his son, Ross, instead. He seldom, if ever, gives interviews about Celtic unless they're hagiographic in tone. And still, he's slow to communicate.

There have been instances on an rare moment to defend the organization with private messages to news outlets, but no statement is made in public.

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

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

Assuming Rodgers is culpable of every one of the accusations that the shareholder is alleging he's responsible for, then it's fair to inquire why had been the manager not removed?

Desmond has accused him of spinning things in open forums that were inconsistent with the facts.

He claims Rodgers' words "played a part to a toxic atmosphere around the team and encouraged animosity towards members of the executive team and the directors. A portion of the abuse directed at them, and at their loved ones, has been completely unjustified and improper."

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

His Ambition Conflicted with Celtic's Model Again

To return to better times, they were close, Dermot and Brendan. The manager lauded Desmond at every turn, expressed gratitude to him whenever possible. Brendan deferred to him and, truly, to no one other.

This was Desmond who took the heat when his comeback happened, after the previous manager.

It was the most controversial hiring, the reappearance of the returning hero for a few or, as other Celtic fans would have put it, the arrival of the shameless one, who departed in the difficulty for Leicester.

Desmond had Rodgers' support. Over time, the manager turned on the charm, achieved the victories and the honors, and an fragile truce with the supporters became a affectionate relationship again.

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

It happened in his initial tenure and it happened once more, with added intensity, recently. He publicly commented about the slow way Celtic went about their player acquisitions, the interminable delay for prospects to be landed, then not landed, as was frequently the situation as far as he was concerned.

Time and again he stated about the necessity for what he termed "agility" in the transfer window. The fans agreed with him.

Despite the club spent record amounts of money in a calendar year on the £11m Arne Engels, the £9m another player and the significant further acquisition - none of whom have performed well to date, with one already having left - the manager demanded more and more and, often, he expressed this in openly.

He planted a controversy about a internal disunity within the team and then distanced himself. When asked about his remarks at his next news conference he would usually downplay it and almost contradict what he said.

Lack of cohesion? No, no, all are united, he'd say. It appeared like he was playing a dangerous game.

Earlier this year there was a report in a newspaper that allegedly came from a insider close to the club. It claimed that Rodgers was harming Celtic with his open criticisms and that his true aim was orchestrating his departure plan.

He desired not to be there and he was arranging his way out, that was the tone of the story.

The fans were angered. They then viewed him as akin to a martyr who might be removed on his shield because his board members 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 inquiry and for the responsible individual to be removed. If there was a probe then we heard nothing further about it.

At that point it was plain the manager was shedding the backing of the people above him.

The regular {gripes