Soccer Football - Scottish Premiership - Celtic v Falkirk - Celtic Park, Glasgow, Scotland, Britain - October 29, 2025 Celtic non-executive chairman Peter Lawwell, non-executive director Dermot F. Desmond, chief financial officer Christopher McKay and chief executive Michael Nicholson in the stands during the match REUTERS/Russell Cheyne
Susan Whelan was among the guests in the Celtic Directors Box for the 4-0 win over Falkirk.
That wasn’t the only surprise in store, Peter Lawwell and Dermot Desmond both managed to put in an appearance.
BIG HITTERS
Both of them were too busy to attend last week’s Europa League tie at home to Sturm Graz but a midweek SPFL match against newly promoted Falkirk brought out the big hitters.
It is unlikely that they were in Glasgow to witness the emotional return of Scott Bain.
Whelan’s appearance will cause most interest, rumours suggest that she is a future CEO.
A goldfish or a traffic cone would provide better communication and leadership that Michael Nicholson, after 10 years as CEO at Leicester Whelan is streetwise to the modern ways of football.
She has even taken communications beyond emails and the Post-It notes favoured by Celtic’s ‘leading sports lawyer’. Whelan stepped down as Leicester City CEO at the start of this month.
It’s a bit like when the government have a cabinet reshuffle they are still working for the same master nothing changes
— ?JP?67 (@JP6795800296) October 30, 2025
Rumours of change, with Willie Haughey replacing Chairman Lawwell are always a good deflection tactic in times of trouble.
COLLECTIVE MOMENTUM
Since a public meeting on September 13 and being named on September 20 the Celtic Fans Collective have made incredible progress. Setting the agenda at a panic stricken club that has grown fat on complacency and contempt.
That cocktail has served the current regime well but under the gentlest of scrutiny Nicholson, Lawwell and McKay have been caught short.
Record turnover and profits might earn you the praise of legacy media outlets but the pesky customers measure success on the pitch.
Dominating Scotland means getting the better of a 13-year-old basket case with three trophies to their name.
Being competent in Europe requires a bit of effort and joined up thinking. Not the sort of qualities you associate with Brian Wilson and Tom Allison.
Competing with Club Brugge, Copenhagen, Benfica and Ajax is the target of many Celtic fans. It isn’t an unrealistic target.
If Pafos, Bodo Glimt and Kairat Almaty can move in that direction there are no excuses for Celtic going backwards in Europe.
Dermot Desmond looked happy …selling your joint UK Healthcare Business for £5.2 Billion pounds happy ….. perfectly timed to coincide with a character assassination rant on Brendan Rodgers ? There are definitely no flies on Mr D …ever !
Good work if you can get it Vdm! But DD will only pocket about a third of that according to Google. He has got two partners in on that one!
What the timing has to do with his interests in Celtic, I am not so sure?!
That would be money from a different venture.
You got that?
What you have to realise is that if Jock Stein had been the manager last season and not Brendan, we would have won the UCL!
Desmond needs to piss off. Anything less is just window dressing.
Sack the board!
Hi Joe , can you clarify something, if change at boardroom is coming don’t you have to tell the Stock Exchange first & if so will we learn off this at the AGM , maybe Nicholson & Lawwell have been told to stay quiet until then , to be honest that’s pretty much the norm anyway, HH
Editor: Yes, you are supposed to inform the Stock Market but as we saw on Monday Celtic published the resignation of their manager nine hours ahead of informing the Stick Market. They use rules and regulations to suit their needs.
The more you think about it, the more bizarre the DD statement was?
A curious O.G.
All he has done is very clearly – and publicly – confirm that it doesn’t matter who
is on the Board – he calls the shots.
Any CEO worth their salt would / should have serious reservations that the
absent shareholder will be unable to stop meddling in operational matters.
And, whilst we still don’t know the details around his exit,
the promising Dom McKay appointment didn’t last very long…
Get dermot Desmond to fuck..anything less won’t do
Celtic as a football club plying its trade in the SPL should be so far out of sight, the rest of the league would need the Hubble telescope to see us.
To me, that’s damning enough of DD/MN & PL when they can’t even get a certainty to work correctly.
But of course, what we don’t know are the under the table deals that have been done since 2012 & the 5WA.
We probably aren’t allowed to leave Sevco in our wake or TV deals disappear, plus Sevco themselves will use any leverage necessary to stay relevant.
It isn’t just Celtic that needs a root n branch clear out, it’s the SPL as well.
The whole of Scottish football is having its bollocks squeezed by a 13yr old club that knows they can behave as they please cos nobody wants outed over the 5WA.
It would be the best thing to happen to football in this country if even just one person had the minerals to grasp the nettle and force change.
Have you got that?
Great post Bhoy4life – Again !
Maybe just as well Brendan is gone as…
What if he called that potential CEO “Good Girl” !
Did BR speak ill of the board or of any board member? Did he speak publicly on the record against any employee of the club?
What would happen if you did that in your place of work?
We need better people behind the scenes at the top of the football side of the club no need to throw the baby out with the bathwater
They know the money side as they should a strong football side to the club would know its budget well in advance and could/should be able to spend it each year
No more yes men for us. It’s yes woman now. We’ve came a along way.