🔗 Share this article

Merely a quarter of an hour following Celtic released the news of Brendan Rodgers' surprising resignation via a perfunctory short communication, the bombshell landed, courtesy of Dermot Desmond, with clear signs in apparent fury.

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

This individual he persuaded to come to the club when their rivals were gaining ground in 2016 and needed putting in their place. Plus the man he once more turned to after Ange Postecoglou left for another club in the summer of 2023.

So intense was the ferocity of Desmond's takedown, the astonishing return of Martin O'Neill was almost an secondary note.

Two decades after his exit from the club, and after a large part of his recent life was dedicated to an continuous circuit of appearances and the playing of all his past successes at the team, Martin O'Neill is returned in the manager's seat.

For now - and maybe for a time. Considering comments he has said lately, O'Neill has been keen to get another job. He will view this one as the ultimate chance, a present from the club's legacy, a homecoming to the environment where he enjoyed such success and adulation.

Will he give it up easily? It seems unlikely. Celtic might well make a call to sound out Postecoglou, but the new appointment will act as a soothing presence for the moment.

'Full-blooded Attempt at Reputation Destruction'

The new manager's reappearance - as surreal as it may be - can be parked because the biggest 'wow!' development was the brutal manner Desmond described the former manager.

This constituted a full-blooded attempt at defamation, a branding of Rodgers as untrustful, a perpetrator of untruths, a spreader of misinformation; disruptive, deceptive and unjustifiable. "A single person's wish for self-preservation at the cost of everyone else," wrote Desmond.

For somebody who values propriety and places great store in dealings being conducted with discretion, if not complete privacy, this was another illustration of how unusual situations have grown at Celtic.

The major figure, the organization's most powerful figure, moves in the margins. The remote leader, the individual with the power to take all the major calls he pleases without having the responsibility of explaining them in any open setting.

He does not participate in club AGMs, sending his son, Ross, in his place. He seldom, if ever, does interviews about the team unless they're hagiographic in tone. And still, he's reluctant to communicate.

He has been known on an rare moment to defend the club with confidential messages to media organisations, but no statement is heard in the open.

It's exactly how he's wanted it to remain. And it's exactly what he contradicted when launching all-out attack on Rodgers on Monday.

The official line from the club is that he stepped down, but reviewing his criticism, line by line, you have to wonder why did he allow it to reach such a critical point?

If the manager is culpable of all of the things that the shareholder is claiming he's guilty of, then it is reasonable to inquire why was the coach not removed?

Desmond has accused him of spinning information in open forums that did not tally with the facts.

He claims Rodgers' words "have contributed to a toxic atmosphere around the club and fuelled animosity towards members of the executive team and the directors. Some of the criticism directed at them, and at their families, has been completely unwarranted and improper."

Such an extraordinary allegation, that is. Lawyers might be preparing as we discuss.

His Aspirations Clashed with Celtic's Strategy Again

Looking back to better days, they were tight, the two men. Rodgers lauded the shareholder at all opportunities, expressed gratitude to him whenever possible. Rodgers respected him and, really, to nobody else.

It was Desmond who drew the heat when Rodgers' comeback happened, after the previous manager.

This marked the most controversial appointment, the reappearance of the returning hero for some supporters or, as some other supporters would have described it, the return of the shameless one, who left them in the difficulty for another club.

Desmond had his back. Gradually, Rodgers employed the charm, delivered the victories and the honors, and an uneasy truce with the supporters turned into a love-in once more.

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

It happened in his initial tenure and it transpired once more, with bells on, recently. He spoke openly about the slow process Celtic went about their transfer business, the interminable delay for targets to be secured, then not landed, as was frequently the case as far as he was concerned.

Repeatedly he stated about the need for what he termed "flexibility" in the transfer window. Supporters agreed with him.

Even when the organization splurged record amounts of funds in a twelve-month period on the £11m Arne Engels, the costly another player and the £6m Auston Trusty - none of whom have cut it so far, with Idah already having departed - the manager pushed for more and more and, often, he did it in openly.

He planted a bomb about a lack of cohesion inside the team and then walked away. Upon questioning about his remarks at his next news conference he would usually minimize it and almost reverse what he stated.

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

Earlier this year there was a story in a publication that purportedly originated from a insider associated with the club. It claimed that the manager was harming Celtic with his open criticisms and that his true aim was managing his departure plan.

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

The fans were angered. They now saw him as similar to a sacrificial figure who might be carried out on his honor because his board members wouldn't support his plans to achieve success.

The leak was damaging, naturally, and it was intended to hurt him, which it did. He demanded for an investigation and for the guilty person to be dismissed. Whether there was a examination then we learned no more about it.

At that point it was clear Rodgers was losing the backing of the individuals above him.

The frequent {gripes