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Just fifteen minutes following the club released the news of their manager's surprising resignation via a brief five-paragraph communication, the howitzer arrived, from the major shareholder, with clear signs in apparent fury.

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

This individual he convinced to join the club when their rivals were getting uppity in 2016 and required being in their place. Plus the figure he once more relied on after Ange Postecoglou departed to another club in the recent offseason.

Such was the severity of his critique, the jaw-dropping return of the former boss was practically an after-thought.

Twenty years after his departure from the organization, and after a large part of his latter years was dedicated to an unending circuit of appearances and the playing of all his old hits at the team, Martin O'Neill is back in the dugout.

Currently - and perhaps for a time. Considering comments he has said recently, O'Neill has been keen to secure another job. He'll see this role as the ultimate chance, a present from the Celtic Gods, a return to the place where he enjoyed such success and praise.

Will he relinquish it easily? It seems unlikely. Celtic could possibly make a call to contact their ex-manager, but the new appointment will serve as a soothing presence for the time being.

'Full-blooded Effort at Reputation Destruction'

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

This constituted a full-blooded attempt at character assassination, a labeling of Rodgers as untrustful, a perpetrator of falsehoods, a spreader of misinformation; disruptive, deceptive and unjustifiable. "A single person's desire for self-preservation at the expense of others," stated he.

For somebody who values decorum and places great store in business being conducted with discretion, if not complete privacy, here was another illustration of how abnormal things have become at Celtic.

The major figure, the organization's most powerful figure, operates in the margins. The absentee totem, the individual with the power to make all the important decisions he wants without having the obligation of explaining them in any open setting.

He never participate in club annual meetings, dispatching his son, Ross, in his place. He seldom, if ever, gives interviews about Celtic unless they're glowing in nature. And still, he's reluctant to communicate.

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

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

The official line from the team is that Rodgers resigned, but reading his criticism, carefully, one must question why he allow it to get this far down the line?

Assuming Rodgers is guilty of all of the things that the shareholder is claiming he's guilty of, then it's fair to ask why was the coach not dismissed?

He has accused him of distorting things in public that were inconsistent with reality.

He says Rodgers' statements "played a part to a toxic atmosphere around the team and fuelled animosity towards individuals of the management and the board. Some of the criticism aimed at them, and at their families, has been completely unwarranted and improper."

Such an remarkable charge, that is. Lawyers might be preparing as we speak.

'Rodgers' Ambition Conflicted with Celtic's Model Once More'

To return to better times, they were close, the two men. Rodgers praised the shareholder at every turn, expressed gratitude to him whenever possible. Brendan deferred to him and, really, to no one other.

It was Desmond who took the heat when Rodgers' returned happened, after the previous manager.

It was the most controversial hiring, the reappearance 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 lurch for Leicester.

Desmond had his support. Gradually, Rodgers employed the charm, delivered the victories and the honors, and an uneasy peace with the supporters turned into a love-in again.

There was always - always - going to be a moment when his goals clashed with Celtic's business model, however.

This occurred in his first incarnation and it happened once more, with bells on, over the last year. He spoke openly about the slow way Celtic conducted their player acquisitions, the interminable delay for targets to be landed, then missed, as was frequently the situation as far as he was concerned.

Time and again he spoke about the need for what he called "flexibility" in the transfer window. The fans agreed with him.

Even when the organization spent record amounts of funds in a calendar year on the expensive Arne Engels, the £9m another player and the £6m further acquisition - all of whom have performed well to date, with one already having left - Rodgers demanded increased resources and, oftentimes, he did it in public.

He planted a controversy about a lack of cohesion inside the club and then walked away. When asked about his remarks at his next media briefing he would typically minimize it and nearly contradict what he said.

Lack of cohesion? Not at all, everybody is aligned, he'd claim. It looked like he was engaging in a risky game.

Earlier this year there was a story in a publication that purportedly originated from a source associated with the club. It claimed that the manager was harming Celtic with his public outbursts and that his real motivation was orchestrating his exit strategy.

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 saw him as akin to a martyr who might be removed on his shield because his directors did not back his plans to bring success.

This disclosure was damaging, of course, and it was intended to harm Rodgers, which it did. He demanded for an investigation and for the responsible individual to be dismissed. Whether there was a probe then we learned no more about it.

At that point it was plain Rodgers was losing the backing of the people above him.

The frequent {gripes