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

Merely fifteen minutes after Celtic released the news of Brendan Rodgers' surprising resignation via a perfunctory short communication, the bombshell arrived, from the major shareholder, with clear signs in obvious fury.

Through 551-words, major shareholder Desmond savaged his former ally.

This individual he persuaded to join the club when their rivals were getting uppity in that period and required being in their place. And the figure he once more relied on after the previous manager departed to Tottenham in the summer of 2023.

So intense was the ferocity of Desmond's critique, the astonishing comeback of the former boss was practically an after-thought.

Two decades after his exit from the organization, and after a large part of his latter years was given over to an unending circuit of appearances and the performance of all his old hits at the team, O'Neill is back in the manager's seat.

For now - and maybe for a while. Based on comments he has expressed recently, he has been eager to get another job. He'll see this role as the perfect chance, a present from the club's legacy, a homecoming to the place where he enjoyed such success and praise.

Would he relinquish it easily? You wouldn't have thought so. The club could possibly reach out to sound out Postecoglou, but O'Neill will act as a balm for the time being.

All-out Attempt at Reputation Destruction'

O'Neill's return - as surreal as it may be - can be parked because the most significant 'wow!' development was the harsh manner the shareholder described the former manager.

It was a forceful attempt at character assassination, a labeling of Rodgers as deceitful, a source of untruths, a disseminator of misinformation; divisive, deceptive and unacceptable. "A single person's wish for self-preservation at the cost of everyone else," stated he.

For a person who values propriety and sets high importance in business being conducted with discretion, if not outright privacy, here was another example of how unusual situations have become at Celtic.

Desmond, the club's dominant presence, moves in the margins. The remote leader, the individual with the power to take all the major decisions he pleases without having the obligation of explaining them in any public forum.

He does not participate in club annual meetings, sending his son, Ross, in his place. He seldom, if ever, does interviews about Celtic unless they're hagiographic in tone. And still, he's reluctant to speak out.

He has been known on an rare moment to support the organization with confidential messages to news outlets, but nothing is heard in the open.

This is precisely how he's preferred it to be. And that's just what he contradicted when launching full thermonuclear on Rodgers on that day.

The official line from the team is that Rodgers stepped down, but reviewing his invective, carefully, one must question why did he permit it to reach this far down the line?

Assuming Rodgers is culpable of every one of the accusations that the shareholder is alleging he's guilty of, then it's fair to ask why was the manager not removed?

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

He claims his words "played a part to a toxic atmosphere around the team and fuelled hostility towards members of the management and the board. A portion of the criticism directed at them, and at their families, has been entirely unjustified and improper."

What an remarkable charge, indeed. Legal representatives might be mobilising as we speak.

His Aspirations Conflicted with the Club's Model Once More'

Looking back to better days, they were tight, the two men. The manager praised Desmond at all opportunities, expressed gratitude to him every chance. Brendan respected Dermot and, really, to no one other.

This was Desmond who took the criticism when his comeback occurred, after the previous manager.

This marked the most divisive appointment, the return of the prodigal son for a few or, as some other Celtic fans would have described it, the return of the shameless one, who left them in the lurch for Leicester.

Desmond had Rodgers' back. Over time, Rodgers employed the charm, delivered the victories and the honors, and an uneasy peace with the fans became a affectionate relationship once more.

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

This occurred in his initial tenure and it happened once more, with added intensity, over the last year. Rodgers spoke openly about the slow process Celtic went about their transfer business, the endless delay for prospects to be landed, then missed, as was too often the case as far as he was believed.

Repeatedly he spoke about the need for what he called "agility" in the transfer window. Supporters agreed with him.

Even when the club spent unprecedented sums of funds in a twelve-month period on the expensive one signing, the costly another player and the significant further acquisition - all of whom have performed well to date, with one since having left - the manager demanded more and more and, often, he did it in public.

He planted a bomb about a lack of cohesion inside the team and then distanced himself. Upon questioning about his comments at his subsequent news conference he would usually minimize it and almost reverse what he stated.

Lack of cohesion? Not at all, all are united, he'd say. It appeared like he was engaging in a dangerous game.

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

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

Supporters were enraged. They then viewed him as akin to a sacrificial figure who might be removed on his shield because his board members did not back his plans to achieve success.

This disclosure was damaging, of course, and it was meant to hurt Rodgers, which it accomplished. He demanded for an inquiry and for the guilty person to be removed. If there was a probe then we heard no more about it.

At that point it was plain the manager was shedding the backing of the individuals in charge.

The frequent {gripes