Brendan Rodgers and Celtic were heading for divorce but acrimony was avoidable

The lack of squad investment had clearly frustrated a habitually successful manager yet he was minded to see out his final season – before things got personal.

SO LONG: Brendan Rodgers has waved goodbye to Celtic. Pic: Jane Barlow/PA Wire.

Presumably Martin O’Neill had no inkling of what the coming hours would bring when he used a Monday radio appearance to talk up Hearts’ prospects of winning the Scottish title for the first time since 1960. “This is the time for Hearts,” O’Neill said.

The scale of reverberation around Brendan Rodgers’s resignation is such that even the return of O’Neill to the Celtic dugout is not the most dramatic element. Instead, the lesser‑spotted Dermot Desmond broke cover to lacerate Rodgers. The attack felt personal and spiteful.