The Way Irretrievable Collapse Led to a Savage Separation for Brendan Rodgers & Celtic FC

Just a quarter of an hour following Celtic issued the news of Brendan Rodgers' shock departure via a brief short communication, the bombshell arrived, courtesy of Dermot Desmond, with clear signs in apparent fury.

In 551-words, key investor Dermot Desmond savaged his old chum.

This individual he convinced to join the club when their rivals were gaining ground in 2016 and needed putting in their place. Plus the figure he again relied on after Ange Postecoglou departed to Tottenham in the summer of 2023.

Such was the severity of Desmond's critique, the jaw-dropping comeback of the former boss was almost an after-thought.

Twenty years after his exit from the organization, and after a large part of his latter years was dedicated to an unending circuit of appearances and the playing of all his past successes at the team, O'Neill is back in the dugout.

Currently - and perhaps for a time. Based on things he has expressed lately, he has been eager to get a new position. He will see this role as the ultimate chance, a present from the Celtic Gods, a homecoming to the environment where he experienced such glory and praise.

Will he relinquish it readily? It seems unlikely. The club could possibly reach out to contact their ex-manager, but O'Neill will act as a balm for the moment.

All-out Effort at Character Assassination

O'Neill's reappearance - however strange as it may be - can be parked because the biggest shocking moment was the brutal manner Desmond wrote of the former manager.

This constituted a forceful attempt at character assassination, a branding of Rodgers as deceitful, a source of untruths, a disseminator of falsehoods; disruptive, deceptive and unjustifiable. "One individual's desire for self-preservation at the cost of others," wrote Desmond.

For a person who values decorum and sets high importance in dealings being done with discretion, if not outright secrecy, here was a further illustration of how abnormal things have grown at Celtic.

The major figure, the club's most powerful figure, operates in the margins. The remote leader, the one with the authority to take all the major calls he pleases without having the obligation of justifying them in any public forum.

He never attend team annual meetings, dispatching his offspring, Ross, in his place. He seldom, if ever, gives media talks about the team unless they're hagiographic in nature. And still, he's reluctant to speak out.

There have been instances on an occasion or two to defend the organization with confidential messages to media organisations, but nothing is made in public.

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

The directive from the team is that Rodgers resigned, but reviewing his criticism, carefully, you have to wonder why did he allow it to get such a critical point?

Assuming Rodgers is culpable of all of the accusations that Desmond is claiming he's guilty of, then it's fair to inquire why was the manager not dismissed?

He has charged him of distorting things in open forums that were inconsistent with the facts.

He says his statements "have contributed to a hostile atmosphere around the club and encouraged animosity towards individuals of the executive team and the directors. Some of the criticism aimed at them, and at their families, has been completely unjustified and unacceptable."

What an remarkable allegation, indeed. Legal representatives might be preparing as we speak.

'Rodgers' Aspirations Conflicted with Celtic's Strategy Again

Looking back to better times, they were tight, Dermot and Brendan. Rodgers lauded Desmond at all opportunities, thanked him whenever possible. Rodgers deferred to him and, truly, to no one other.

It was Desmond who took the criticism when Rodgers' comeback happened, post-Postecoglou.

This marked the most divisive appointment, the reappearance of the returning hero for a few or, as some other Celtic fans would have put it, the arrival of the shameless one, who departed in the lurch for Leicester.

The shareholder had his back. Gradually, Rodgers turned on the charm, delivered the victories and the honors, and an fragile truce with the fans turned into a love-in again.

There was always - always - going to be a moment when his goals came in contact with the club's operational approach, however.

This occurred in his initial tenure and it happened once more, with added intensity, recently. He spoke openly about the slow process Celtic went about their transfer business, the interminable delay for targets to be landed, then missed, as was frequently the case as far as he was believed.

Repeatedly he stated about the necessity for what he termed "flexibility" in the transfer window. The fans concurred with him.

Even when the club splurged record amounts of money in a twelve-month period on the expensive Arne Engels, the costly Adam Idah and the £6m further acquisition - none of whom have performed well so far, with one already having left - Rodgers demanded increased resources and, oftentimes, he expressed this in openly.

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

Internal issues? Not at all, everybody is aligned, he'd claim. It appeared like he was playing a risky game.

A few months back there was a story in a newspaper that purportedly came from a insider associated with the club. It claimed that the manager was harming the team with his open criticisms and that his real motivation was managing his exit strategy.

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

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

This disclosure was damaging, naturally, and it was intended to harm Rodgers, which it did. He called for an inquiry and for the responsible individual to be removed. If there was a probe then we heard nothing further about it.

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

The frequent {gripes