Martin O'Neill felt Celtic's abandoned annual general meeting was "as sad a morning" he had seen as he bemoaned a lack of unity at the club.
The interim manager received sustained applause and cheers as he was introduced to shareholders but the rest of the meeting was characterised by hostility between directors and fans.
The meeting was temporarily adjourned less than five minutes in amid chants of "sack the board".
And it was ultimately closed early as shareholders reacted to a statement from director Ross Desmond, son of the club's biggest shareholder Dermot, which accused a section of fans of being "bullies".
However, O'Neill is convinced the disconnect can be repaired with the help of a new manager, whose appointment he hinted might not be far off.
The 73-year-old said: "I thought it was a really sad, sad morning, really sad morning. I just wonder what the great Jock Stein would have thought of it all, who preached unity at the football club, said that a club not united would never be successful.
"It's as sad a morning as I've seen. I mean I've been to a few of these AGMs before and I suppose because we've been doing well at the time that it was nice. Not even sure I was ever asked a question in them at the time. But that was rather raucous.
"There were people who would have wanted to ask questions and the board have said that they've made mistakes.
"There's only so many times that you can apologise and then you have to get on with things again. So we'll start again and hopefully that will start when the new manager comes in.
"A united Celtic will be far better equipped to compete and try and win again."
Fans have been campaigning for change following difficulties in the summer transfer window and the failure to qualify for the Champions League.
And the Desmond statement has arguably taken relations to the lowest point since O'Neill's initial arrival in 2000 kicked off a period of sustained success for the club.
But the Northern Irishman believes unity is achievable.
"It shouldn't be impossible, really it should not be impossible," he said. "There's got to be a coming together again from this. There's an obvious disconnect at this minute, but that surely can be rectified.
"You asked me a question, would my interim period fuse things together? I don't think that was ever going to happen.
"But you've got to now realise that that has happened, mistakes have been made, and they can be rectified and hopefully rectified quickly.
"If I'd got an opportunity, I would probably be saying what I'm saying here, so I wish now I had said a few words.
"Listen, my words don't go down all that well in my own household, so I don't think it would really make much difference."
O'Neill and Maloney will take charge of a fifth game when Celtic face St Mirren in Paisley on Saturday despite consistent reports the club are pushing towards the appointment of Columbus Crew manager Wilfried Nancy.
"I’m probably a bit surprised that I am (still here), I thought maybe something might have got sorted out in the international break," O’Neill said.
"But I think that there is definitely progress being made in that field."
Earlier in the day chairman Peter Lawwell called the AGM to a close "because of disruption" as Desmond read out a statement on behalf of himself and his father Dermot, the club's largest shareholder, who was not present.
Desmond began his statement by defending his father, a "lifelong and passionate" Celtic supporter and vowed that the board would not be "bullied by aggressive and irrational" criticism.
The Irishman defended Lawwell and chief executive Michael Nicholson and claimed attempts to "dehumanise and vilify them are shameful".
Desmond went on to criticise a section of fans over a recent incident which led to the Green Brigade being banned and added: "Those people are bullies".
That was as far as he got in his statement as the reaction of the shareholders prompted Lawwell to bring the meeting to a close.
Directors had been met with boos and dozens of red cards from shareholders as they entered the packed Kerrydale Suite at Celtic Park, with other fans watching via video link from another function suite.
Cries of "out, out, out" followed before there were cheers for interim manager Martin O'Neill when he was introduced.
As a season review video began to play on big screens, Celtic Trust vice-chair Jeanette Findlay approached the top table to ask that the meeting move immediately to questions.
As more shouts and chants of "sack the board" came from shareholders, Lawwell said: "This disruptive behaviour is not on. It’s got to stop. We have to have respect for everyone else in the room."
Amid shouts of "you respect us", Lawwell called a 30-minute adjournment.
After the meeting resumed, dozens of fans walked out as a series of videos were played on big screens as Lawwell, Nicholson and chief finance officer Chris McKay defended the board’s record.
They returned after the videos in anticipation of the usual question-and-answer session but Desmond’s statement proved to be the final act.
Meanwhile, Rangers chief financial officer James Taylor is targeting financial sustainability after the Ibrox club declared a loss of close to £15million (€17m) for the year ending June 2025.
A United States consortium of investors led by healthcare tycoon Andrew Cavenagh and the 49ers Enterprises acquired a 51% stake in the William Hill Premiership outfit in May, with Cavenagh becoming chairman and Paraag Marathe vice-chair.
Russell Martin was soon appointed as the new Rangers boss and there was subsequently a £20m net spend to refurbish the squad but his disastrous tenure ended in October and he was replaced by 36-year-old German coach Danny Rohl.
The loss from the year until the end of June was £14.8m while revenue increased from £88.3m to a record £94.1m, an increase of seven per cent which was helped by matchday income of £45m.
Rangers manager Danny Rohl was left counting the cost of the international break as he revealed three first-team regulars could be out for the rest of the year.
John Souttar was injured in the warm-up of Scotland's World Cup qualifier against Denmark at Hampden Park on Tuesday night and missed the 4-2 win which qualified Steve Clarke’s side for next summer’s tournament in North America.
Fellow centre-back Derek Cornelius, on loan from Marseille, had to come off in the first half of Canada’s game against Venezuela after missing the previous game against Ecuador due to a muscle injury, while Tottenham loanee Mikey Moore, 18, also picked up a knock playing for England Under-19s
Youngster Bailey Rice, who has not been part of Rohl’s first team plans, will require surgery while Portugal Under-21 striker Youssef Chermiti and Scotland back-up goalkeeper Liam Kelly also sustained injuries.
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