How Irretrievable Breakdown Led to a Brutal Parting for Rodgers & Celtic FC

Merely fifteen minutes after Celtic released the announcement of their manager's surprising resignation via a brief short communication, the bombshell arrived, from Dermot Desmond, with whiskers twitching in obvious fury.

In an extensive statement, major shareholder Dermot Desmond eviscerated his former ally.

This individual he persuaded to join the club when their rivals were gaining ground in 2016 and required being in their place. And the figure he once more relied on after Ange Postecoglou departed to Tottenham in the summer of 2023.

So intense was the severity of Desmond's takedown, the astonishing comeback of the former boss was almost an after-thought.

Twenty years after his exit from the club, and after a large part of his recent life was given over to an continuous circuit of appearances and the playing of all his past successes at Celtic, O'Neill is back in the manager's seat.

Currently - and perhaps for a time. Considering things he has said lately, he has been keen to get another job. He'll see this one as the perfect opportunity, a gift from the club's legacy, a homecoming to the place where he experienced such success and adulation.

Would he relinquish it easily? You wouldn't have thought so. The club could possibly reach out to contact their ex-manager, but O'Neill will serve as a soothing presence for the moment.

All-out Effort at Character Assassination

O'Neill's reappearance - as surreal as it is - can be parked because the biggest shocking development was the harsh way the shareholder described Rodgers.

It was a forceful endeavor at character assassination, a branding of Rodgers as untrustful, a source of untruths, a spreader of falsehoods; disruptive, deceptive and unjustifiable. "One individual's wish for self-preservation at the cost of others," wrote Desmond.

For somebody who prizes decorum and places great store in business being conducted with confidentiality, if not complete privacy, here was another example of how unusual situations have become at Celtic.

Desmond, the organization's dominant presence, operates in the background. The absentee totem, the individual with the power to make all the important calls he pleases without having the responsibility of explaining them in any public forum.

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

He has been known on an occasion or two to support the organization with confidential missives to news outlets, but nothing is heard in public.

It's exactly how he's wanted it to remain. And that's just what he went against when going all-out attack on the manager on Monday.

The official line from the team is that he resigned, but reviewing his criticism, line by line, you have to wonder why he permit it to get this far down the line?

Assuming the manager is guilty of every one of the things that the shareholder is alleging he's guilty of, then it's fair to ask why had been the coach not dismissed?

He has charged him of distorting information in open forums that did not tally with reality.

He claims his words "played a part to a toxic atmosphere around the team and encouraged hostility towards individuals of the management and the directors. Some of the criticism aimed at them, and at their families, has been entirely unjustified and improper."

Such an remarkable allegation, indeed. Legal representatives might be preparing as we discuss.

His Ambition Clashed with Celtic's Strategy Once More'

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

This was the figure who took the heat when Rodgers' comeback occurred, post-Postecoglou.

This marked the most divisive hiring, the return of the returning hero for a few or, as some other supporters would have put it, the return of the shameless one, who left them in the lurch for another club.

Desmond had his support. Over time, the manager employed the charm, delivered the victories and the trophies, and an uneasy peace with the fans became a love-in again.

It was inevitable - always - going to be a point when Rodgers' goals clashed with Celtic's operational approach, though.

This occurred in his initial tenure and it transpired again, with added intensity, recently. He spoke openly about the sluggish way Celtic conducted their player acquisitions, the interminable delay for prospects to be secured, then missed, as was too often the case as far as he was concerned.

Time and again he spoke about the need for what he called "agility" in the market. Supporters agreed with him.

Despite the organization spent record amounts of funds in a calendar year on the £11m one signing, the costly another player and the £6m Auston Trusty - all of whom have performed well to date, with Idah since having departed - the manager demanded more and more and, oftentimes, he did it in public.

He set a bomb about a internal disunity inside the club and then distanced himself. When asked about his remarks at his next news conference he would usually minimize it and nearly reverse what he said.

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

Earlier this year there was a story in a publication that allegedly came from a source close to the organization. It claimed that Rodgers was damaging Celtic with his open criticisms and that his true aim was managing his exit strategy.

He desired not to be present and he was engineering his way out, this was the tone of the story.

Supporters were angered. They then saw him as similar to a martyr who might be removed on his honor because his directors did not support his plans to bring success.

The leak was poisonous, naturally, and it was meant to harm Rodgers, which it did. He called for an investigation and for the responsible individual to be removed. Whether there was a examination then we learned no more about it.

By then it was plain Rodgers was losing the support of the individuals in charge.

The frequent {gripes