No-one knows for sure how relations stretched to breaking point with Neil Lennon and Hibs but there is little ambiguity about just how irreparable the damage is.

Legal teams will take charge of the formal and bitter fallout but it was an emotional bursting of the dam that sealed Lennon’s fate at Hibs this week. As the divorce between the 47-year-old and the Easter Road club awaits confirmation the love seemed to have been lost between the duo long before the explosive events that took place on Friday afternoon.

With the players given Thursday off, Lennon called a summit for Friday with the full squad asked to attend in the aftermath of the midweek defeat to Motherwell. It is also believed that several members of the coaching staff were also there – Lee Makel, Eddie May, Grant Murray and Alan Combe are all thought to have been present.

What followed was a robust and frank exchange as the coaches were vocal in their criticism of performances and players with the contribution of certain individuals questioned. Swiss striker Florian Kamberi reacted furiously to the criticism, believing it to be aggressive and over the top with the forward threatening to quit the club in the aftermath of the meeting.

When the coaching staff left the meeting it is believed that the players themselves continued the debate.

Lennon then went into his scheduled meeting with Dempster but rather than discussing transfers, they immediately began arguing over the first meeting of the day. It is thought that there was an allegation made that both Lennon and his assistant Garry Parker had used foul and aggressive language with Kamberi's situation at the core of the dispute between the chief executive and Lennon.

It is understood that Lennon furiously denied the charge and maintained his innocence of the accusations, leading to a heated and angry debate between him and Dempster. Key to Lennon's frustration was the belief that Dempster had taken second-hand information from others over his own word. Both Lennon and Parker were then informed that they had been suspended with immediate effect as the club launched a probe into the incident.

As the heat simmers now, there remains a feeling that the boiling over has seemed inevitable. The catalyst may have been an angry and forthright meeting but even in recent weeks there has been a frustration on Lennon’s part that he needed players coming into the club and a mini clear out of others. The Easter Road club have maintained that they have made every effort to accommodate the requests of the manager.

At the end of last season as Hibs were chasing second spot a defeat to Hearts in the Tynecastle derby prompted suggestions that he was ready to call time on the arrangement between himself and Hibs after branding his own players unprofessional. Results this season have been underwhelming with a recent slump taking Hibs to eighth in the table, with Lennon unwilling to hide his frustrations at both player performances and his feeling that he was not allowed to adequately replace the likes of Dylan McGeouch and John McGinn who left the club in the summer transfer window.

Kamberi was publicly criticised by Lennon just before Christmas for “a lack of hunger” and it was the 1-0 midweek defeat to Motherwell that prompted the furious squad meeting early afternoon on Friday at the club’s East Mains training ground.

The manner of the parting will now be in the hands of the lawyers. Lennon, contracted to Hibs until 2020, is not expected to take charge of another Hibs game and it will be interesting to see what kind of reaction there is this afternoon against St Mirren.

One of the first to voice his support of Lennon last night was Hearts manager Craig Levein. The Tynecastle manager, no stranger himself to be at the heart of an argument, said: “I don’t know what’s happened in all honesty although I hope he’s okay as I actually really like Lenny.

“We’ve been on opposite sides of the city, we both want the same things for our clubs and we’ve had our moments but I have a huge amount of time for him.

“I like him as a guy and I hope he’s all right but really I’m speaking blind and I don’t know what’s gone on.”