How Irretrievable Collapse Led to a Brutal Separation for Brendan Rodgers & Celtic FC

Merely fifteen minutes following the club released the announcement of Brendan Rodgers' surprising resignation via a brief five-paragraph communication, the howitzer landed, from the major shareholder, with clear signs in obvious fury.

In an extensive statement, key investor Dermot Desmond savaged his old chum.

The man he persuaded to join the club when their rivals were gaining ground in 2016 and required being back in a box. And the man he once more turned to after the previous manager left for another club in the recent offseason.

Such was the severity of his critique, the astonishing comeback of the former boss was almost an secondary note.

Two decades after his departure from the club, and after a large part of his recent life was given over to an continuous circuit of public speaking engagements and the performance of all his past successes at the team, O'Neill is back in the dugout.

Currently - and maybe for a time. Considering comments he has expressed lately, he has been keen to secure a new position. He will view this role as the perfect chance, a present from the Celtic Gods, a return to the place where he enjoyed such success and praise.

Would he give it up readily? You wouldn't have thought so. Celtic could possibly make a call to contact their ex-manager, but O'Neill will act as a soothing presence for the time being.

All-out Attempt at Reputation Destruction'

The new manager's return - however strange as it may be - can be set aside because the biggest shocking moment was the brutal way Desmond described the former manager.

This constituted a full-blooded attempt at character assassination, a labeling of Rodgers as deceitful, a source of falsehoods, a disseminator of falsehoods; disruptive, deceptive and unacceptable. "One individual's wish for self-preservation at the expense of others," stated he.

For a person who prizes propriety and places great store in dealings being conducted with discretion, if not outright secrecy, here was another illustration of how unusual things have become at Celtic.

Desmond, the club's dominant figure, moves in the margins. The remote leader, the individual with the power to make all the major calls he wants without having the responsibility of explaining them in any open setting.

He does not attend team annual meetings, sending his son, his son, in his place. He seldom, if ever, does media talks about Celtic unless they're glowing in nature. And still, he's reluctant to speak out.

He has been known on an rare moment to defend the organization with confidential messages to media organisations, but nothing is heard in the open.

It's exactly how he's wanted it to remain. And it's just what he contradicted when going full thermonuclear on the manager on that day.

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

If the manager is guilty of all of the accusations that Desmond is claiming he's responsible for, then it is reasonable to ask why was the manager not removed?

Desmond has charged him of distorting things in public that did not tally with the facts.

He claims Rodgers' words "have contributed to a hostile environment around the club and encouraged hostility towards members of the management and the board. Some of the abuse aimed at them, and at their families, has been entirely unwarranted and unacceptable."

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

His Aspirations Clashed with Celtic's Model Again

Looking back to better times, they were close, Dermot and Brendan. The manager praised the shareholder at every turn, expressed gratitude to him every chance. Brendan deferred to Dermot and, truly, to no one other.

It was Desmond who took the criticism when his returned occurred, after the previous manager.

This marked the most divisive appointment, the return of the prodigal son for a few or, as other Celtic fans would have described it, the arrival of the unapologetic figure, who departed in the lurch for Leicester.

The shareholder had Rodgers' support. Over time, Rodgers turned on the charm, delivered the victories and the trophies, and an fragile truce with the fans turned into a love-in again.

It was inevitable - consistently - going to be a moment when his goals clashed with the club's business model, however.

It happened in his initial tenure and it happened once more, with bells on, recently. Rodgers publicly commented about the sluggish process Celtic conducted their player acquisitions, the endless delay for prospects to be secured, then not landed, as was frequently the situation as far as he was concerned.

Time and again he stated about the need for what he termed "flexibility" in the transfer window. Supporters concurred with him.

Despite the organization spent unprecedented sums of money in a calendar year on the expensive one signing, the £9m Adam Idah and the £6m Auston Trusty - all of whom have performed well so far, with Idah already having left - the manager demanded more and more and, often, he expressed this in openly.

He planted a controversy about a lack of cohesion within the club and then distanced himself. When asked about his comments at his next media briefing he would typically minimize it and almost contradict what he stated.

Internal issues? No, no, all are united, he'd claim. It looked like he was engaging in a dangerous game.

A few months back there was a story in a newspaper that purportedly originated from a insider close to the organization. It claimed that the manager was harming Celtic with his public outbursts and that his true aim was managing his exit strategy.

He desired not to be present and he was arranging his exit, that was the tone of the article.

Supporters were enraged. They then saw him as akin to a martyr who might be carried out on his honor because his directors wouldn't back his plans to bring triumph.

This disclosure was damaging, of course, and it was intended to hurt 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 shedding the backing of the individuals above him.

The frequent {gripes