Dermot Desmond

This is the reason why the club is going backwards and we are in this mess today!

Absolutely * of a man

 

He comes across in a less than favorable manner. But that's OK as well, as long as;

The club is run professionally.
Chaos and disorder is not around the corner.
The club maintains good relations with the fanbase.
The club isn't the laughing stock of western world.

But on the other hand; To sit on your high horse while Rome is burning?

 

Fair enough, but then you ask the question why accept the phonecall in the first place? Plus, he’s not really in a position to be acting all high and mighty. This is the second piece of public communication we’ve had from him this year - in a time where every Celtic fan has called for transparency and inclusion he says “why do I need to talk about Celtic”? It doesn’t seem like his priorities are in the right place to me

 

Desmond is well within his rights not to speak to journalists.

Be nice if he attended a * AGM though, answered some proper probing questions from supporters or - and this is my preferred option - sold his shares to someone who cares and * off somewhere far from Celtic Park.

Arrogant *.

 

I guess when the ‘Sunday Business Post’ call, the last thing you expect it to be about is Celtic. He’s been in the news all week on the back of a €25m capital raise in Datalex. He wasn’t long ending the call when that wasn’t the subject matter.

I struggle to see how you would call this a ‘piece of public communication from him’. Some blokes pulled together a * article, tried to get a few quotes from Desmond for it and he’s told him to get lost.

 

Guys well within his rights not to speak to journos.
But if you actively buy in to something like a football club, you need to be prepared that there are hundreds of thousands of people emotionally invested and financially invested in this club and at times will want answers.

Sitting in his rolls royce beside a golf course refusing to speak to journos isn't exactly an option at all times.

Specially when everything is as * up as it is this season.

The way he spoke though, or at least the way that article is reading, he is an absolute * of a man and can * off as well.


I always had my attention on Lawwell being the ultimate bawbag holding us back - more than one way to skin a cat is what I said the other day. In belief that another CEO may prioritise football success in order to balance the books with a higher revenue.

Alas, you can see from this latest spoilt brat tantrum from a grown man, that he is the one calling the shots and he is a * * of a man.

Get him to * as well.



The entire board to be fair, it is full of tight fisted *, tory *, desmonds puppets and Lawwells * buddies.
Not one of them has proven to be here for the good of the football club.

 

We’ve no real chance of progressing and fulfilling our potential under Desmond if his mindset is always to look back on what we have achieved previously.

If that was his genuine response to the journalist then it contradicts the club’s #FutureIsOurFocus marketing campaign. We should be looking forward to a new era but our major shareholder is happy to sit and count the trophies that are now history as far as I am concerned.

It’s no surprise either that our PR is a disaster. Desmond only happy to speak/leak comments to journalists when he is taking aim at our own supporters.

 

There are reasons to criticise Desmond but the fact he dislikes journalists definitely isnt one of them.

 

Dermot Desmond is taking a hands-on approach in helping Ange Postecoglou to rebuild his Celtic squad.

The majority shareholder has been openly involved in the transfer deals of the Hoops this summer.


Desmond has been dealing directly with a number of top figures in the transfer market and his manager as he looks to strengthen and reshape the Celtic squad.

The Irish billionaire came in for some major criticism from some elements of the Celtic support for not being hands-on last season as the Hoops blew the chance to make it 10-in-a-row, but has been very much active this summer.


It has been a time of change at Celtic with Postecoglou coming in and chief executive Dominic McKay replacing the long-serving Peter Lawwell.

Postecoglou has already brought in Liel Abada, Carl Starfelt, Kyogo Furuhashi and Osaze Urhoghide, while Kristoffer
Ajer has been sold to Brentford in a big-money deal.

 

Don’t care about him being hands on, just want him to stop being a stingey *.

 

He's a * tube..

 

For someone who obviously has great wealth and has been successful in his business life he sure as * has been baffling to have as an owner !!
Surely after a few years in charge you would think something would twig about the direction the club is heading on the pitch ?
Despite being able to win nearly every trophy domestically our stock has hardly been lower outside Scotland , where once sides were * themselves to come to Celtic Park now every mediocre side in Europe are licking their chops !!
How can a team who were as dominant domestically as we were be so far away time and again when it comes to European football ?
The fact he has paid millions for someone to oversee this shitshow for as long ( PL) tells me he hasnt got the acumen or desire to be in charge of our club ....Failing to prepare , you are preparing to fail is definitely lost on DD !!

 

Desmond taking a hands on approach to transfers

 

He's not interested in us I think he's made that blatantly obvious and by us I mean the fans. The disconnect between these guys and the fanbase has never been greater. You get the distinct impression he looks down on us. We are an annoyance for him. Just * off DD and sell your shares to someone who actually cares or at least has a plan to take us forward. We've had enough of you sitting on your hands doing * all.

 

He gets one last chance from me now that Lawwell is out the picture , its obvious we are in a real mess and falling further behind the huns makes it hit home even more !!
Lets see if he reacts like an owner who is hurt and cares about whats happening and actually invests some hard cash for some more decent players not just youths with some potential and loans from other clubs that very rarely benefit us , and hopefully a proper structure is put in place as well instead of the same pish year after year when the qualifications come round .
It should be the least he does either that sell up and * off !!

 

Desmond is not the owner of Celtic.

He is the majority shareholder, with 34.7% which also means that he does not have a controlling interest (which would require 50.1%).

Obviously, given the size of his stake when he picks up the phone it gets answered, but that does not mean that the club are exclusively bound to him alone.

Indeed, the only 2 times I can recall him genuinelly dipping into his own pocket was to secure the short term loan of Robbie Keane in 2010 (for which he personally funded to the tune of £1m), and the only other time I can recall was after that Scottish Cup SF penalty shootout loss in 2015, when the Sevco board members wre giving him the big one in the executive suites of Hampden, which sparked Desmond to support and fund the recruitment of Rodgers.

If anyone can think of any others, by all means, feel free to correct me.

There may be other occasions, but as far as I am aware that has been the extent of his largesse. Celtic is a self sufficiantly run club, meaning that that in terms of finances, our spend does not exceed the income, and have a half decent cash reserve in the bank. That is beyond dispute. Every set of accounts bears that out.

What can be argued is that the choices about what and how that money has been spent. Did Lawwell really deserve the massive bonuses he was being payed, year in and year out? Did we really need the super duper lights, when that money could've helped us get McGinn at a critical time?

I don't know if that would've helped secure victory over AEK Athens and get us to the Champions League that season.

What I do know if that the disco lights have never scored, hasn't helped save any, hasn't been credited with a single assist and not created a single goal scoring opportunity.

Somehow Celtic fans managed to survive the half time break for 130-odd years without needing the disco lights and lasers.

Let alone the money that had we qualified for the CL would've helped secure. The lights haven't helped one iota with that either.

Not to mention that had we signed McGinn, perhaps Rodgers would not have felt that he was being ignored/taken for granted, when he expressed his desire regarding signing targets. Perhaps this contributed to his discontent and eventual departure. Obviously there was more to it than that, but things like this could have contributed to that. It certainly didn't help.

To get back to the point though, Desmond is under no obligation to dig into his pocket.

He is not the sugar daddy type, just like Fergue McCann before him, it is an investment and there is that security that if the fit well and truly hits the shan that Desmond is a phonecall away to help in a tight spot or perhaps with an eye to the future plans. Whatever it is, DD is no fool to be parted with his money easily nor recklessly.

Rather than the likes of Minty Moonbeams playing sugar daddy, and we all know how that ended up. Or down south where if any of the various shieks and oligarchs decide to pull the pin on their respective clubs, those self same clubs are going to be is serious trouble, considering the debts that they are having underwritten by these and if they walk away, they are screwed. That the huge EPL wealth is also a ticking timebomb. The more money, the more pressure on those clubs to spend money beyond what they have.

Again - and different set of circumstances obviously, but look at Barcelona's current plight. Or that of the entire French Ligue 1, since the TV deal went * up. Being self sufficiant means it is safequarded against that sort of thing, and living within our means is the prudent and pragmatic long term approach. Of this I am entirely in favour.

What I am not in favour of is some of the choices about how those means have been utilized.

 

Whenever he opens his mouth it's as if he's doing us a favour being around. It shouldn't be a chore to have bags of cash and be the majority shareholder of the club you support. DD we would love it if you threw some money at us. Even looking interested would be a start.

 

Great post m8 , it just baffles me how as a supposed successful businessman he sees this as a prudent way to run the club ? You say hes no fool and wont part with his money recklessly but yet he has done nothing else but do that with the way the club has been run !!
If the club had a proper structure in place his investment would be a * of a lot healthier as would our club .

 

Out of interest and just to note, besides Desmond, the other parties with significant shareholdings include:

• Michael Lindsell & Nick Train (who also have shareholdings in Man U & Juventus among other global sporting brands & technologies)
  
• Chris Trainer (former owner of Forrest Media & Advertizing before selling for roughly £30m in 2018)
  
• James Mark Keane (who is a big noise in the wool trade and industry)
  
• Thomas Eardley Allison (who is involved in shipbuilding and marine technologies).
• John J Fisher (who owns the Oakland A's in the MLB & whose family founded The Gap & H&M etc)

Thise are the top 6 in terms of shareholdings, if I am not mistaken. Of these, only Desmond and Allison are members of the Board of Celtic - both in non-executive roles. Which means that while they are part of the long term policy making for the club (like a trustee, so to speak), however they are not involved in the actual executive decision making and operation of the club.

If anyone has an issue with that, become a shareholder and attend the AGM. Make your voice heard and challenge them to get involved as part of the executive, or ask them to step down from the board. Neither is likely to happen with the support that they've held and continue to do so - let alone run the risk of trying to marginalize someone with the clout of Desmond. If he was shouted down and voted off of the board, how favourable do you honestly think he would be to those who did the shouting? Or to the club and it's supporters in general? Nevermind whether there is enough support to have this happen or not in the first palce, is another matter entirely.

But it is worth the enquiry none the less, to appeal to Desmond etc to get more involved, take on an executive role. Whether he does or acted through a proxy, I'm not sure that there would be a seismic shift in direction or not. We do have a new Chief Executive, so it's probably too soon for any of that anyhow, as to see how Dom McKay tackles the problems that currently engulf the club, and get us moving again.

Clearly we all want to see more activity on the transfer front, but there is so much more that needs attending to also, and let's face it, the last 5-6 months has been stagnating, treading water aimlessly, and really that should not have been allowed to simply happen.

 

When I see a headline saying Desmond is taking a "hands on" approach to whatever the * he's rumoured to be doing on our behalf,

I simply imagine the smug faced * on one of those disaster emergency specials, sitting with the rest of the board, phoning up fans and season ticket holders begging for "support", whilst Gerry McCullough tells reads off a teleprompter telling us how Celtic have been hit the hardest by Covid and the club needs our support.

Then a wee segment, designed to tug at the heart strings...

SOMBER MUSIC INTRO-Sarah Mcglaughlin
-FADE IN- dark clouds over Celtic park.
-CUT TO- empty seats in the north stand.
-SLOW MO CLOSE UP- Lonesome seagull on the semi circle with its head stuck in an empty packet of walkers.
-CUT TO- Some wean standing in the Celtic Walk, in a four year old Celtic strip, staring at the ground where he dropped his * poke.
-CUT TO- PAN IN- on Strachan, teary eyed, turns to the camera and shows his laptop is in recovery mode.
-CUT TO- John Kennedy trapped by nets and cones in a storage cupboard, struggling to get free.
-FADE TO BLACK-.
-TITLES- "A Club Like No Other".

Desmond can ram his hands on approach up his * jacksie.

If he wants to help, sell yer shares and * away aff.