The Way Irretrievable Breakdown Led to a Brutal Parting for Brendan Rodgers & Celtic

Merely fifteen minutes after Celtic issued the announcement of their manager's surprising departure via a brief five-paragraph statement, the bombshell landed, from the major shareholder, with whiskers twitching in apparent fury.

Through 551-words, key investor Desmond eviscerated his old chum.

The man he convinced to come to the club when Rangers were gaining ground in 2016 and needed putting back in a box. Plus the figure he once more turned to after Ange Postecoglou departed to another club in the summer of 2023.

Such was the ferocity of his critique, the jaw-dropping comeback of the former boss was practically an after-thought.

Twenty years after his departure from the club, and after much 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 back in the manager's seat.

Currently - and perhaps for a time. Based on comments he has expressed recently, he has been keen to secure another job. He'll view this one as the ultimate opportunity, a gift from the Celtic Gods, a return to the place where he enjoyed such glory and praise.

Would he give it up readily? It seems unlikely. The club could possibly make a call to sound out Postecoglou, but O'Neill will act as a soothing presence for the time being.

All-out Attempt at Character Assassination

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

It was a forceful attempt at defamation, a branding of him as untrustful, a source of untruths, a disseminator of misinformation; divisive, misleading and unacceptable. "A single person's wish for self-interest at the cost of others," stated he.

For a person who prizes decorum and sets high importance in business being conducted with discretion, if not complete secrecy, here was a further example of how abnormal things have become at Celtic.

The major figure, the club's dominant figure, operates in the margins. The absentee totem, the one with the authority to take all the important decisions he pleases without having the responsibility of justifying them in any public forum.

He does not attend club AGMs, sending his offspring, Ross, in his place. He seldom, if ever, does interviews about the team unless they're hagiographic in nature. And still, he's slow to speak out.

He has been known on an rare moment to defend the club with confidential missives to media organisations, but nothing is heard in public.

This is precisely how he's preferred it to be. And that's just what he contradicted when launching all-out attack on the manager on Monday.

The official line from the club is that he stepped down, but reading Desmond's criticism, carefully, one must question why he allow it to get such a critical point?

If Rodgers is guilty of every one of the accusations that Desmond is alleging he's guilty of, then it's fair to inquire why had been the manager not removed?

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

He says his words "played a part to a toxic environment around the team and encouraged animosity towards members of the management and the directors. Some of the criticism aimed at them, and at their loved ones, has been completely unwarranted and unacceptable."

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

'Rodgers' Aspirations Conflicted with the Club's Model Again

To return to happier days, they were close, the two men. Rodgers praised Desmond at every turn, expressed gratitude to him whenever possible. Rodgers respected him and, really, to no one other.

It was the figure who drew the heat when Rodgers' comeback occurred, post-Postecoglou.

It was the most controversial hiring, the reappearance of the returning hero for some supporters or, as other supporters would have described it, the return of the shameless one, who left them in the lurch for another club.

Desmond had Rodgers' back. Gradually, Rodgers employed the persuasion, delivered the victories and the trophies, and an fragile peace with the fans became a affectionate relationship again.

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

It happened in his first incarnation and it transpired once more, with bells on, recently. Rodgers spoke openly about the slow way the team went about their transfer business, the endless delay for prospects to be secured, then missed, as was frequently the case as far as he was concerned.

Repeatedly he spoke about the necessity for what he termed "agility" in the market. Supporters agreed with him.

Despite the club spent record amounts of money in a twelve-month period on the expensive one signing, the costly another player and the significant further acquisition - none of whom have performed well so far, with one already having left - the manager pushed for increased resources and, often, he did it in openly.

He set a controversy about a internal disunity within the team and then distanced himself. When asked about his remarks at his next media briefing he would typically minimize it and nearly contradict what he said.

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

A few months back there was a report in a publication that purportedly came from a insider close to the club. It said that the manager was harming Celtic with his public outbursts and that his real motivation was orchestrating his exit strategy.

He didn't want to be present and he was engineering his exit, that was the tone of the story.

Supporters were angered. They now saw him as akin to a martyr who might be carried out on his shield because his board members wouldn't support his vision to bring success.

This disclosure was damaging, naturally, and it was meant to harm Rodgers, which it accomplished. He called for an inquiry and for the guilty person to be removed. If there was a probe then we heard nothing further about it.

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

The frequent {gripes