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There are certain things which unite Dermot Desmond and Donald Trump. First of all, they are both billionaire businessmen who share a mutual love of golf.
Whatever free time they have is often spent traversing the fairways. Their paths may even cross at times, with both men in attendance at the Ryder Cup in New York last month.
They are both figureheads. One is the President of the United States of America and the leader of the free world, while the other is the head of state at Celtic Football Club.
However, despite the commonalities that exist in their business backgrounds, vast personal wealth, and hobbies, both men could scarcely be any different in their style of governance.
Where Trump’s is based around very loud and brash public proclamations, Desmond has always tended to prefer a quieter, more reserved approach which sees him operate in the shadows.
That was until he broke cover late on Monday night with what surely ranks as the most remarkable public evisceration of a manager ever witnessed in Scottish football.
Rodgers speaks to the press as Celtic boss for the last time after defeat to Hearts
Dermot Desmond launched a fierce attack on Rodgers in a statement released after the manager's resignation
A brief club statement from Celtic shortly before 10pm announced that Brendan Rodgers had resigned from his position, but that wasn’t even the half of it.
When Desmond then released his own personal statement on the matter before anyone even had a chance to digest the initial bombshell, he pressed the big red button and went nuclear.
This was a complete disembowelling of a man with whom he had once shared a close personal friendship. Rodgers’ claims about transfer failings and players being sold without his consent? Fake news!
A manager who had helped bring incredible levels of success across two spells at the football club was slaughtered like some sort of conniving and deceitful political opponent.
When so many people across the country were glued to the BBC’s series of Celebrity Traitors, Desmond clearly felt that he had a Machiavellian mastermind living under his own roof. The betrayal was too much to stomach.
Desmond accused Rodgers of a breach of trust, of being dishonest and disingenuous. ‘Divisive, misleading and self-serving’ were among the more eye-catching and inflammatory words used.
It was a character assassination, one which felt like it belonged more in Trump’s political playbook than in the repertoire of a professional football club.
Desmond used Celtic’s official club media channels and website to hammer the manager and turn the whole thing cataclysmic.
Rodgers has departed the Parkhead club along with his assistant John Kennedy, above right
The Northern Irishman has now quit Celtic for the second time in his two spells there
It is worth nothing that Desmond does not own Celtic. He is the major shareholder with 34.7 per cent of shares, but he is not the owner.
He is a non-executive director, yet he holds complete power and authority, and now has the ability to use official club channels to air his grievances.
In what other line of business would that be tolerated? What the statement proved beyond all doubt is that Desmond has an unhealthy level of influence and control over the entire football club.
It also made Rodgers a martyr. Despite under-performing for months and failing to get the best out of the players at his disposal, he would now be carried on the shoulders of fans like a fallen king on the battlefield.
Given his immense ego and the way he was keen to avoid becoming persona non grata again after his exit to Leicester City in 2019, there will be part of Rodgers that enjoys such status being afforded to him.
It secures his legacy in the eyes of supporters. For many of them, he departs a hero who was undermined by those above him.
That is at least partly correct. But there are two sides to this story. Rodgers is not blameless in all of this. Some of his conduct and public utterances have undoubtedly been self-serving.
The recruitment was poor in the summer and Celtic have not adequately replaced the likes of Nicolas Kuhn and Kyogo Furuhashi in a front three that has steadily decayed.
They failed to build on last season’s Champions League run to the knockout rounds which saw them push Bayern Munich all the way at the Allianz Arena.
Rodgers was not blameless but neither were the club hierarchy including, from left, Peter Lawwell, Dermot Desmond and Michael Nicholson
The Celtic board were unhappy with Rodgers' public proclamations during the season
They regressed and that is a failure on the board and recruitment. But the argument that Rodgers wasn’t backed is, largely, one of convenience to suit his own narrative.
Last summer, a record transfer outlay saw Arne Engels signed for £11million, Adam Idah for £9m, and Auston Trusty for £6m.
That’s £26m on three players, with Idah having already been moved on after it became apparent that he really wasn’t very good. As for Engels and Trusty? Neither gets a regular game.
When Rodgers splurged that kind of money on three average players, perhaps the board decided that he really shouldn’t be trusted with any more significant investment.
Especially not since his own contract situation rumbled on in the background, with Desmond claiming that a new deal had been offered to him in the summer, only for Rodgers to stall on signing it.
With that in mind, why would Celtic throw money at a manager who would clearly be working his ticket over the next 12 months?
A manager who hasn’t really won a big match of any significance since the Champions League victory over RB Leipzig last November.
A manager whose team choked in the Scottish Cup final against Aberdeen and who lost to Rangers teams managed by Barry Ferguson and Philippe Clement, before drawing with one led by Russell Martin.
Arne Engels cost Celtic a record £11million but has failed to justify that price tag
Defender Auston Trusty was signed for £6m but he has rarely featured in first team
A manager who couldn’t find a way of coaching his team to score a single goal across almost four hours of football against a bang-average Kairat Almaty team, thereby squandering the riches of the Champions League.
A manager who publicly humiliated his own players with his Honda Civic analogy, all while he was driving the club off a cliff as results nosedived.
All of these things can be true at the same time. It is natural that fans will position themselves in one camp or the other, but things are not always so polarised.
Celtic’s recruitment has been poor over the past year or so, while Rodgers was also performing poorly as manager. Those two things are not mutually exclusive.
Rodgers is unlikely to go quietly, not when Desmond accused him of fuelling the toxicity around the club and the abuse aimed at club officials.
That was an astonishing allegation, one which you would imagine could yet prompt some sort of response from Rodgers’ lawyers.
To reiterate, Desmond does not own Celtic. Rodgers would owe him no personal vow of silence, especially when his name has been dragged through the mud with this pre-emptive strike.
Celtic signed Adam Idah for £9m from Norwich City but he has since been sold on
There were other aspects of Desmond’s statement which came across as tone deaf, such as the defence of the club’s structure behind the scenes and how it has served them so well for over two decades.
This speaks of a wider sense of complacency which continues to cripple the club and prevents them from moving forward with a more modern structure that aligns the football, coaching, and recruitment departments.
In choosing to air the club’s dirty laundry in public while slaughtering the manager, Desmond has shown a lack of class. For any prospective new manager, this whole episode looks terrible.
Never mind the fan protests and sly digs in the media from Rodgers, the statement from Desmond is by far and away the most toxic thing to come out of the club over recent months.
Nobody comes out of this with any credit or looking particularly clever. Whatever your politics, this is a mortifying episode on every front.
