Has Dermot Desmond given up?
Normally when you do a piece asking any sort of questions of Celtic you always get a few people spitting the dummy and at least one Celtic employee trying to deflect.
Not so with my last piece.
As well as my biggest numbers ever on here, I got constant praise and several Celtic employees nodding in agreement.
Uncharted territory for me I can tell you!
A bit more digging and it’s clear there’s been a breakdown at Celtic.
My understanding is there are six players lined up but Dermot Desmond has refused to sanction any of them. As I’ve said in a few articles, I’ve been told time and again that Desmond has already stood down Peter Lawwell and, by some accounts, the PR Department (I say department; there’s two of them) and therefore no briefing is going on at all.
One of my many bug bears regarding Desmond is the way he acts like he owns the club. He doesn’t. In fact, if he he bought 100% of the shares then he could do what he wanted, whether we liked it or not but he hasn’t so he can’t.
Where this leaves the future of Michael Nicholson and Chris McKay I don’t know. Their stand off attitude with fans and seeming unwillingness to stand up to Desmond has already alienates a lot of the support(for all Lawwell’s faults, he could and did stand up to Desmond)
Then there is the manager. I believe if he hadn’t committed to three years then he would be gone by now. (Listen, the guy is loaded, relatively young and doesn’t need the hassle of trying to manage with two hands tied behind his back)
Which all leads to Celtic entering a season much weaker than last. This is all opinion and you’ll have noticed, like me, the reluctance from anyone at Celtic TV, the View and so on to ask the manager anything about new signings, but I think we need a goalkeeper, left back, centre half, centre mid, winger and striker.
Which leads me back to Desmond.What is he playing at? Because right now it seems like Golf and funny buggers.
If Lawell is toast it can only be good news. Find it difficult to stomach that Celtic is run by people that hold a large section of supporters with utter contempt. Desmond lives in a world so far removed from the supporters it's no great surprise he's bemused by it all. The board is in direct need of a clear out. Seems to be stuffed with people whose sole purpose is self preservation. How did we get here? Fergus left us with the club at least 50% in the hands of supporters and it's slipped away.
Why is Desmond allowed to run the club like he owns it? He's a shareholder and not on the board so how can he have so much control? I genuinely want to know because I don't understand it.