The Way Irretrievable Collapse Resulted in a Savage Separation for Brendan Rodgers & Celtic FC

Just fifteen minutes following Celtic issued the announcement of Brendan Rodgers' shock resignation via a perfunctory short statement, the bombshell landed, courtesy of the major shareholder, with clear signs in apparent anger.

In 551-words, key investor Desmond savaged his former ally.

This individual he persuaded to join the club when their rivals were getting uppity in 2016 and needed putting back in a box. And the figure he again turned to after Ange Postecoglou departed to another club in the summer of 2023.

Such was the severity of Desmond's takedown, the astonishing return of the former boss was practically an secondary note.

Two decades after his departure from the organization, and after much of his latter years was given over to an continuous circuit of public speaking engagements and the playing of all his old hits at Celtic, Martin O'Neill is back in the dugout.

Currently - and perhaps for a while. Considering comments he has expressed lately, he has been keen to secure a new position. He'll view this one as the perfect opportunity, a gift from the club's legacy, a return to the environment where he experienced such success and praise.

Would he give it up easily? You wouldn't have thought so. The club might well make a call to contact Postecoglou, but the new appointment will serve as a balm for the moment.

All-out Attempt at Character Assassination

O'Neill's return - however strange as it is - can be parked because the biggest shocking development was the harsh manner Desmond described the former manager.

This constituted a forceful endeavor at character assassination, a branding of Rodgers as untrustful, a source of untruths, a disseminator of falsehoods; disruptive, deceptive and unacceptable. "A single person's wish for self-preservation at the expense of others," stated Desmond.

For somebody who values propriety and sets high importance in dealings being conducted with discretion, if not outright secrecy, this was a further example of how abnormal situations have grown at Celtic.

The major figure, the club's most powerful presence, moves in the margins. The absentee totem, the individual with the authority to take all the important calls he pleases without having the obligation of justifying them in any open setting.

He never participate in club annual meetings, sending his offspring, his son, instead. He seldom, if ever, does interviews about the team unless they're glowing in nature. And still, he's reluctant to communicate.

There have been instances on an rare moment to support the club with private messages to media organisations, but nothing is heard in public.

This is precisely how he's wanted it to be. And it's just what he went against when launching full thermonuclear on the manager on that day.

The directive from the team is that he resigned, but reading Desmond's invective, line by line, one must question why did he permit it to reach such a critical point?

If the manager is guilty of every one of the things that Desmond is claiming he's responsible for, then it's fair to ask why had been the coach not removed?

Desmond has accused him of distorting things in public that were inconsistent with the facts.

He claims his statements "played a part to a toxic environment around the team and fuelled animosity towards individuals of the management and the board. A portion of the criticism directed at them, and at their loved ones, has been completely unwarranted and improper."

What an extraordinary allegation, that is. Lawyers might be mobilising as we speak.

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

Looking back to happier days, they were tight, the two men. The manager praised the shareholder at all opportunities, thanked him every chance. Brendan deferred to him and, really, to nobody else.

It was Desmond who took the criticism when his returned occurred, post-Postecoglou.

It was the most controversial appointment, the return of the prodigal son for a few or, as some other supporters would have put it, the return of the shameless one, who departed in the difficulty for another club.

Desmond had Rodgers' back. Over time, Rodgers employed the charm, achieved the victories and the trophies, and an uneasy peace with the fans became a love-in again.

There was always - always - going to be a point when his goals clashed with the club's business model, though.

This occurred in his first incarnation and it transpired again, with bells on, over the last year. He spoke openly about the sluggish way the team conducted their transfer business, the endless delay for prospects to be secured, then missed, as was too often the situation as far as he was concerned.

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

Even when the organization splurged record amounts of money in a calendar year on the £11m one signing, the £9m another player and the £6m Auston Trusty - all of whom have performed well so far, with Idah since having departed - Rodgers demanded increased resources and, oftentimes, he expressed this in openly.

He set a controversy about a lack of cohesion within the team and then distanced himself. Upon questioning about his remarks at his next news conference he would typically minimize it and almost reverse what he said.

Internal issues? No, no, everybody is aligned, he'd say. It looked like he was engaging in a risky game.

A few months back there was a story in a publication that purportedly came from a insider close to the organization. It said 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 engineering his way out, this was the implication 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 board members wouldn't support his plans to bring success.

This disclosure was poisonous, naturally, and it was intended to hurt him, which it accomplished. He called for an inquiry and for the responsible individual to be dismissed. Whether there was a probe then we learned no more about it.

By then it was clear Rodgers was shedding the backing of the individuals above him.

The frequent {gripes