SUNDAY'S defeat in the Scottish capital left many disillusioned and fearing that Celtic could genuinely be at risk of throwing away what should only ever be considered an inevitability in Glasgow: the league title.
The lacklustre performance followed the usual bookend pattern of Celtic when they compete in Europe's second tier on Thursday evenings. A turgid Sunday performance slogging it out with Dundee a week prior only to be well beaten by two goals with a rather toothless attack. But this time the writing was on the wall for the manager.
The home game with Sturm Graz was viewed with an increased dose of the anxiety that that has replaced anticipation on European nights at Celtic Park
Tomi Horvat's 15th minute wonder strike numbed the Celtic Park faithful numb and it looked to be a case of the same old story for the men in green and white.
But the pace of the game improved and Rodgers' side would recuperate to strike twice quickly, firstly when Liam Scales struck a great effort beyond Austrian shot-stopper Mark Bignetti after Arne Engels' quickly-taken corner found Colby Donovan in space who threaded a pass into the path of the Irish centre half who flashed his shot into the net for the equaliser.
EYE ON THE BALL: Dermot Desmond spotted golfing with Rory McIlroy on deadline day
Two minutes later Benjamin Nygren planted a header into the net as Celtic Park erupted and the Hoops took a 2-1 lead. And that's where it finished – a victory in Europe against strong opposition.
The downfall for Brendan Rodgers began after Thursday's victory, which was won at a savage cost – Cameron Carter-Vickers, Kelechi Iheanacho and the finally returning Alistair Johnston were all forced off through injury.
Fast-forward three days and Celtic headed to Edinburgh in unusual territory, five points behind league leaders Hearts who smelt blood in the water given the bare and thin squad Celtic brought to Tynecastle.
A surprising start was handed to Dane Murray alongside Scales, whilst Austin Trusty remained sidelined following his return to the squad after three months on the sidelines. Johnny Kenny led the line and Celtic's squad looked stretched as they went toe to toe with the league leaders in the biggest game of the campaign so far. And boy did it show.
Under the cosh early on, Murray found the back of his own net in the most bizarre fashion. The 22-year old's attempted clearance – if you could be so bold to call it that – sliced into the roof of the net as the Jambos took an early lead eight minutes in.
Celtic began to exert some control and they used the left hand side well as Kieran Tierney and SebastianTounekti linked up smartly to find captain Callum McGregor who stormed into the box to sweep in the equaliser.
The big momentum swinger came when Benjamin Nygren chose the cute dink approach from five yards out rather than thumping his effort into the net. It was the beginning of the end for Celtic
It was a day to forget for poor Murray. Alexandros Kyziridis cracked an effort from range which nestled in the net via Kasper Schmeichel's near post. Murray's decision to withdraw a blocking leg was another calamity for the young centre-half.
Moments later Claudio Braga played Murray like a fiddle and the floundering Celt dangled out a leg for a stonewall penalty. As any self-respecting Celtic fan knew, the chances of Kasper Schmeichel in his current form saving the penalty were slim to none. Lawrence Shankland duly dispatched the kick and Hearts ran out worthy 3-1 winners.
Brendan Rodgers was pelted with justified criticism after Sunday's defeat. He didn't help his cause when he explained the mystifying decision to substitute Tounekti, Celtic's only bright spark, for the serially unimpressive Michel-Ange Balikwisha. Rodgers said his decision to hook the ever-lively Tunisian was a "tactical switch".
So the Hoops woke up on Monday morning eight points off the pace with a Falkirk home league game and a Glasgow derby semi-final in the coming seven days. Something needed to be put right.
At 10pm on Monday evening Celtic Football Club released an official statement confirming that Brendan Rodgers had left the football club after offering his resignation, with Martin O'Neill and Shaun Maloney coming in on the interim basis.
Dermot Desmond, Celtic's majority shareholder, followed the club statement with an extraordinarily personal one of his own, accusing Rodgers of causing a "divide in the support".
In case Mr Desmond has been living under a rock, or simply playing golf as usual with some of Hollywood's elite, the toxic atmosphere that hangs around the club like a garden infested with blight did not start and end with the man in the dugout.
Rodgers has been critiqued for his style of play, and rightly so. This season Celtic have been a far cry from the side which just seven months ago were 30 seconds away from knocking European royalty, Bayern Munich, out of the Champions League on the Germans' own patch.
The team were eliminated from Europe's golden circle by minnows Kairat Almaty, huffed and puffed against an appalling Rangers team in the worst Glasgow derby in recent memory, and been thoroughly walloped by the new dog at the pinnacle of Scottish football.
"Celtic is greater than any one person," said Desmond at the end of his statement. "Our focus now is on restoring harmony, strengthening the squad, and continuing to build a club worthy of its values, traditions, and supporters."
Benjamin Nygren scored the winner against Sturm Graz last Thursday
This from a man best known for dining at the billionaires club; a man who appointed men to the board with zero accountability for the multiple failings that have brought the club to this low point; a man who was silent and invisible during Celtic's recent transfer window debacle and who remained silent and invisible while the inevitable result of that debacle played out on the pitch.
Desmond claims that Rodgers refused to talk about a contract. Can you really blame him when the urgent cry was for a centre forward only for an unfit, unwanted and now injured striker to be crowned the saviour Celtic needed?
The 'Fenian Time Capsule', as one fan put it, is back. 73-year-old Martin O'Neill and Shaun Maloney are now in temporary situ to restore the harmony that Desmond so greatly craves.
Yes, O'Neill is a club legend who did great things and wrote himself into the history books with that glorious near miss of 2003. But what some may forget is that Chris Sutton, John Hartson, Johan Mjällby, Neil Lennon and the King of Kings Henrik Larsson are not going to be on the training pitch when the Kilrea man reports for duty.
So what is it Desmond really wants? Success? I think that is relative. Calm? Most likely a period of will stability will go a long way to make fans feel better about their club. But it is a fool's errand to think this Celtic Board are fit to appoint the next man in the dug-out.
Managers come and go, that is the nature of the beast, that is football. But Celtic's board have been rooted to the same hyper-cautious domestic model, the same template of European failure, for the past 22 years. At what point does the finger of blame start to point inwards?
Desmond does not want a board hungry for advancement and ready to make brave moves. He wants yes men, and yes men only. Desmond wants fans to continue to pay their hard-earned cash to for on-pitch dross, for seven jerseys a season and for the Henrik Larsson Collection.
A club that prides itself on the heroes of the past continues to coin it in on the back of the Billy McNeills, the Paul McStays and the Henrik Larssons. But heaven forbid a Celtic fan believes that those days can be possible once again.
What is next then for Celtic? A feel good factor? Is that the height of ambition for a club which almost found itself in the last 16 of Europe's elite just half a year ago? Only time will tell, and with Falkirk and Rangers on the immediate horizon, O'Neill and Maloney must hit the ground running.
