The Way Unrecoverable Breakdown Resulted in a Brutal Parting for Rodgers & Celtic

Merely a quarter of an hour following the club issued the news of Brendan Rodgers' shock departure via a brief short communication, the howitzer landed, courtesy of Dermot Desmond, with clear signs in apparent fury.

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

This individual he persuaded to come to the club when their rivals were gaining ground in that period and required being back in a box. Plus the figure he again turned to after the previous manager departed to another club in the summer of 2023.

So intense was the severity of Desmond's takedown, the jaw-dropping return of the former boss was almost an after-thought.

Twenty years after his exit from the club, and after much of his latter years was dedicated to an unending circuit of appearances and the performance of all his past successes at Celtic, O'Neill is returned in the manager's seat.

For now - and perhaps for a time. Considering comments he has expressed recently, O'Neill has been eager to secure a new position. He'll see this role as the perfect chance, a gift from the Celtic Gods, a return to the environment where he experienced such success and praise.

Will he give it up easily? It seems unlikely. The club could possibly make a call to contact their ex-manager, but O'Neill will serve as a soothing presence for the moment.

'Full-blooded Effort at Reputation Destruction'

O'Neill's reappearance - as surreal as it may be - can be set aside because the biggest shocking development was the brutal way the shareholder described the former manager.

This constituted a full-blooded endeavor at character assassination, a branding of Rodgers as untrustful, a perpetrator of untruths, a disseminator of misinformation; disruptive, deceptive and unjustifiable. "One individual's desire for self-interest at the expense of others," wrote he.

For somebody who values propriety and sets high importance in business being conducted with confidentiality, if not complete privacy, this was another example of how abnormal situations have become at the club.

Desmond, the organization's dominant figure, operates in the margins. The remote leader, the individual with the power to make all the important decisions he pleases without having the responsibility of explaining them in any public forum.

He never participate in club AGMs, dispatching his offspring, Ross, in his place. He seldom, if ever, gives interviews about Celtic unless they're glowing in nature. And even then, he's slow to speak out.

He has been known on an occasion or two to support the organization with confidential messages to news outlets, but no statement is made in the open.

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

The official line from the club is that he resigned, but reviewing his invective, line by line, one must question why did he allow it to get this far down the line?

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

Desmond has accused him of spinning information in public that did not tally with reality.

He says Rodgers' statements "played a part to a hostile environment around the team and fuelled animosity towards members of the management and the directors. A portion of the criticism aimed at them, and at their families, has been completely unwarranted and improper."

Such an remarkable allegation, indeed. Lawyers might be mobilising as we speak.

His Ambition Clashed with Celtic's Model Again

Looking back to better times, they were tight, the two men. The manager praised the shareholder at all opportunities, expressed gratitude to him whenever possible. Rodgers respected him and, truly, to no one other.

It was the figure who drew the criticism when Rodgers' returned happened, post-Postecoglou.

This marked the most divisive appointment, the reappearance of the returning hero for a few or, as other supporters would have put it, the arrival of the shameless one, who departed in the difficulty for another club.

Desmond had Rodgers' back. Gradually, Rodgers turned on the charm, delivered the victories and the trophies, and an uneasy truce with the supporters became a love-in once more.

It was inevitable - always - going to be a moment when Rodgers' ambition came in contact with the club's operational approach, however.

This occurred in his initial tenure and it transpired again, with added intensity, recently. He spoke openly about the sluggish way the team conducted their transfer business, the interminable delay for prospects to be secured, then not landed, as was frequently the case as far as he was concerned.

Repeatedly he spoke about the need for what he termed "agility" in the transfer window. The fans agreed with him.

Despite the club splurged record amounts of funds in a calendar year on the £11m one signing, the £9m another player and the significant Auston Trusty - all of whom have cut it to date, with one already having departed - the manager pushed for more and more and, often, he did it in openly.

He planted a bomb about a internal disunity inside the team and then walked away. Upon questioning about his remarks at his next media briefing he would usually downplay it and almost contradict what he said.

Lack of cohesion? Not at all, all are united, he'd claim. It looked like he was playing a dangerous strategy.

Earlier this year there was a report in a publication that allegedly originated from a source close to the club. It said that Rodgers was harming Celtic with his open criticisms and that his true aim was managing his exit strategy.

He didn't want to be there and he was arranging his exit, that was the implication of the article.

Supporters were enraged. They then saw him as similar to a sacrificial figure who might be carried out on his honor because his directors wouldn't back his plans to bring success.

The leak was poisonous, of course, and it was intended to hurt Rodgers, which it did. He demanded for an inquiry and for the responsible individual to be removed. If there was a examination then we heard nothing further about it.

By then it was clear Rodgers was losing the backing of the individuals in charge.

The regular {gripes