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Merely fifteen minutes after the club issued the news of Brendan Rodgers' shock resignation via a perfunctory five-paragraph communication, the howitzer landed, courtesy of the major shareholder, with whiskers twitching in obvious fury.

Through an extensive statement, major shareholder Dermot Desmond eviscerated his old chum.

The man he persuaded to join the club when Rangers were gaining ground in 2016 and needed putting back in a box. Plus the man he once more relied on after the previous manager left for Tottenham in the summer of 2023.

So intense was the severity of Desmond's critique, the jaw-dropping return of the former boss was almost an after-thought.

Two decades after his exit from the organization, and after a large part of his recent life was given over to an continuous circuit of public speaking engagements and the playing of all his old hits at the team, Martin O'Neill is returned in the dugout.

Currently - and maybe for a time. Based on things he has expressed lately, he has been keen to secure a new position. He'll see this role as the ultimate chance, a gift from the club's legacy, a return to the place where he experienced such glory and adulation.

Will he relinquish it easily? You wouldn't have thought so. The club might well reach out to sound out Postecoglou, but O'Neill will serve as a soothing presence for the time being.

All-out Effort at Reputation Destruction'

The new manager's reappearance - however strange as it is - can be set aside because the biggest 'wow!' development was the harsh manner Desmond described Rodgers.

This constituted a forceful endeavor at defamation, a labeling of him as deceitful, a source of falsehoods, a spreader of falsehoods; disruptive, deceptive and unjustifiable. "One individual's wish for self-preservation at the expense of everyone else," stated Desmond.

For a person who prizes decorum and places great store in dealings being done with confidentiality, if not complete secrecy, this was a further illustration of how unusual things have become at the club.

The major figure, the club's dominant presence, moves in the background. The absentee totem, the one with the authority to take all the major calls he pleases without having the obligation of explaining them in any public forum.

He never participate in team annual meetings, sending his offspring, Ross, instead. He rarely, if ever, does media talks about the team unless they're glowing in tone. And even then, he's slow to communicate.

There have been instances on an occasion or two to defend the club with confidential messages to media organisations, but nothing is heard in the open.

It's exactly how he's preferred it to be. And that's just what he contradicted when going all-out attack on Rodgers on that day.

The official line from the club is that Rodgers stepped down, but reviewing Desmond's criticism, line by line, you have to wonder why he permit it to get such a critical point?

If the manager is culpable of every one of the things that Desmond is alleging he's responsible for, then it is reasonable to inquire why had been the coach not dismissed?

Desmond has charged him of spinning information in open forums that were inconsistent with reality.

He claims his words "have contributed to a hostile environment around the team and fuelled hostility towards individuals of the management and the directors. A portion of the abuse aimed at them, and at their families, has been completely unwarranted and improper."

What an extraordinary charge, indeed. Legal representatives might be mobilising as we discuss.

His Aspirations Clashed with Celtic's Model Once More'

Looking back to happier days, they were tight, the two men. Rodgers praised the shareholder at every turn, thanked him whenever possible. Rodgers respected him and, truly, to nobody else.

It was the figure who drew the criticism when his comeback occurred, post-Postecoglou.

It was the most divisive appointment, the return of the returning hero for a few or, as some other supporters would have described it, the arrival of the unapologetic figure, who left them in the difficulty for another club.

Desmond had Rodgers' support. Gradually, the manager employed the charm, delivered the wins and the honors, and an fragile peace with the supporters turned into a love-in again.

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

It happened in his initial tenure and it transpired once more, with bells on, recently. Rodgers publicly commented about the slow process Celtic conducted their player acquisitions, the interminable waiting for prospects to be secured, then missed, as was frequently the case as far as he was concerned.

Repeatedly he spoke about the need for what he called "agility" in the market. The fans concurred with him.

Despite the organization spent unprecedented sums of funds in a twelve-month period on the £11m Arne Engels, the £9m Adam Idah and the significant further acquisition - none of whom have performed well to date, with Idah already having left - the manager demanded increased resources and, oftentimes, he expressed this in public.

He set a bomb about a internal disunity inside the team and then distanced himself. When asked about his comments at his next media briefing he would typically downplay it and nearly reverse what he stated.

Lack of cohesion? Not at all, all are united, he'd claim. It appeared like he was engaging in a risky strategy.

Earlier this year there was a story in a newspaper that purportedly originated from a source associated with the organization. It claimed that the manager was damaging the team with his public outbursts and that his true aim was orchestrating his departure plan.

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 sacrificial figure who might be carried out on his shield because his directors wouldn't support his plans to achieve triumph.

This disclosure was poisonous, naturally, and it was intended to harm Rodgers, which it accomplished. He demanded for an investigation and for the responsible individual to be removed. If there was a examination then we heard no more about it.

At that point it was clear the manager was losing the backing of the people in charge.

The regular {gripes