🔗 Share this article

Merely fifteen minutes after Celtic issued the announcement of their manager's shock resignation via a perfunctory five-paragraph communication, the howitzer arrived, from the major shareholder, with whiskers twitching in obvious anger.

Through 551-words, major shareholder Dermot Desmond eviscerated his old chum.

The man he persuaded to come to the team when their rivals were gaining ground in 2016 and needed putting in their place. Plus the figure he again turned to after Ange Postecoglou departed to another club in the summer of 2023.

Such was the ferocity of his takedown, the astonishing comeback of the former boss was practically an after-thought.

Two decades after his exit 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, O'Neill is returned in the manager's seat.

For now - and perhaps for a while. Based on things he has said lately, O'Neill has been keen to get another job. He'll view this one as the perfect opportunity, a present from the Celtic Gods, a homecoming to the place where he experienced such success and adulation.

Will he give it up easily? It seems unlikely. The club could possibly make a call to sound out Postecoglou, but the new appointment will act as a balm for the time being.

'Full-blooded Attempt at Reputation Destruction'

O'Neill's return - as surreal as it is - can be set aside because the biggest shocking moment was the harsh way Desmond described the former manager.

It was a full-blooded endeavor at character assassination, a labeling of him as untrustful, a source of untruths, a disseminator of falsehoods; disruptive, misleading and unjustifiable. "One individual's desire for self-preservation at the expense of everyone else," wrote he.

For somebody who prizes decorum and places great store in dealings being done with confidentiality, if not complete privacy, this was another illustration of how abnormal things have become at the club.

Desmond, the organization's dominant presence, moves in the margins. The remote leader, the one with the authority to make all the major calls he pleases without having the obligation of explaining them in any open setting.

He does not attend club annual meetings, sending his offspring, Ross, instead. He rarely, if ever, does media talks about Celtic unless they're glowing in tone. And even then, he's slow to speak out.

He has been known on an rare moment to defend the organization with private missives to news outlets, but nothing is heard in public.

It's exactly how he's preferred it to remain. And it's exactly what he went against when going all-out attack on Rodgers on Monday.

The official line from the team is that Rodgers resigned, but reading his criticism, carefully, you have to wonder why did he allow it to reach this far down the line?

Assuming Rodgers is guilty of all of the things that the shareholder is alleging he's responsible for, then it's fair to inquire why was the manager not dismissed?

Desmond has accused him of spinning things in open forums that did not tally with reality.

He claims his statements "played a part to a hostile atmosphere around the club and encouraged hostility towards members of the executive team and the board. Some of the abuse aimed at them, and at their families, has been completely unjustified and improper."

What an extraordinary allegation, indeed. Legal representatives might be mobilising as we discuss.

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

To return to happier times, they were tight, Dermot and Brendan. Rodgers lauded Desmond at every turn, thanked him every chance. Brendan deferred to him and, truly, to nobody else.

It was the figure who drew the heat when Rodgers' returned occurred, after the previous manager.

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

Desmond had his back. Over time, Rodgers turned on the persuasion, delivered the wins and the trophies, and an fragile truce with the supporters became a affectionate relationship once more.

It was inevitable - consistently - going to be a moment when Rodgers' goals came in contact with Celtic's business model, however.

This occurred in his first incarnation and it happened again, with bells on, over the last year. Rodgers publicly commented about the slow way the team conducted their transfer business, the endless delay for targets to be landed, then not landed, as was too often the situation as far as he was concerned.

Repeatedly he stated about the need for what he termed "flexibility" in the market. The fans concurred with him.

Despite the club spent record amounts of funds in a twelve-month period on the £11m Arne Engels, the £9m Adam Idah and the £6m Auston Trusty - none of whom have performed well to date, with Idah since having departed - Rodgers demanded increased resources and, oftentimes, he did it in openly.

He planted a controversy about a lack of cohesion inside the club and then distanced himself. When asked about his comments at his next news conference he would usually downplay it and almost reverse what he said.

Lack of cohesion? No, no, all are united, he'd claim. It looked like Rodgers was playing a dangerous strategy.

A few months back there was a report in a newspaper that allegedly came from a insider close to the club. It said that Rodgers was harming the team with his open criticisms and that his true aim was managing his departure plan.

He didn't want to be present and he was arranging his way out, this was the implication of the story.

Supporters were angered. They now viewed him as similar to a sacrificial figure who might be carried out on his shield because his directors wouldn't back his plans to achieve success.

This disclosure was damaging, naturally, and it was intended to hurt Rodgers, which it accomplished. He demanded for an investigation and for the responsible individual to be removed. Whether there was a examination then we learned no more about it.

At that point it was clear Rodgers was shedding the backing of the people above him.

The regular {gripes