GLASGOW, SCOTLAND - MAY 17: Celtic Chairman Peter Lawwell, Majority Shareholder Dermot Desmond, and Chief Executive Officer Michael Nicholson (L-R) during a William Hill Premiership match between Celtic and St Mirren at Celtic Park, on May 17, 2025, in Glasgow, Scotland. (Photo by Alan Harvey/SNS Group via Getty Images)
It only took one statement from Dermot Desmond to undermine and trash his 30 year involvement with Celtic.
Twenty minutes after Celtic announced the resignation of Brendan Rodgers one of their non-executive Directors pressed the PUBLISH button and turned the course of history.
Any favourable legacy was trashed.
And multiplied with every passing day, week, defeat and humiliation.
DESMOND BUNKERED BY HIS OWN DELUSION
Who wants to be knocking around the most exclusive golf clubs in the world and being identified as the guy that owns the third best team in Scotland?
Of having the strategy to dismantle a club that had a one horse race all to themselves but opened the door so wide that not one but two clubs overtook them going into the home straight.
And that is Desmond’s legacy.
These comments aren’t hearsay, their not lost in translation. They are straight from Desmond’s laptop. Delivered with clarity on the official Celtic website.
Now we know why he has avoided media attention throughout his involvement with Celtic. A couple of interviews have been granted to in-house ‘reporters’ that would make James ‘succulent’ Traynor blush.
What has failed recently was not due to our structure or model, but to one individual’s desire for self-preservation at the expense of others. pic.twitter.com/W57T2Lde1S
— Albufeira Celt (@Naka1888c) March 23, 2026
That epic statement will form the history of this season for Celtic.
The architect of the managed decline carried out through his proxies Peter Lawwell and Michael Nicholson.
That duo confirm all you’ve ever suspected about accountants and lawyers.
Neither has an ounce of insight, ambition or ability for running a company. Let alone a football club that was once ground-breaking in a positive sense.
Celtic started this century with a stadium capacity that was short of only Old Trafford.
Despite constant years of profit, a captive audience of over 50,000 Season Ticket holders nothing has changed at Celtic Park since 1998.
There is no hot water anywhere in the stadium outside of hospitality areas.
CLICK HERE for the Desmond statement in full.
The parasites must be removed ASAP
“…The architect of the managed decline carried out through his proxies Peter Lawwell and Michael Nicholson.
That duo confirm all you’ve ever suspected about accountants and lawyers…”
That’s a sweeping statement about accountants and lawyers.
You don’t have to be either to clearly see that the club – and brand – have been seriously under developed during DD’s period of control.
Making ‘regular / reasonable’ progress in Europe should be an inherent business target for the club,
and which would underpin further growth on and off the pitch.
Lawwell and Nicholson are examples of compliant, self-serving, plc directors whose behaviour would not have been tolerated in most ‘normal’ plc’s.
They have been happy to do DD’s bidding without question, and happy to reap the substantial rewards.
As long as he controls the club, DD will always be able to find pliable individuals who will not rock the boat – and who will continue to thwart the potential of our club.
Until / unless DD and his family leave Celtic, it will only ever be ‘window dressing’, effectively…?
🙁
why the fk is hot water so important ,,,,seriously of all the shitstorm our clubs in at every level for some unknown reason hot water seems to be top of everyones list
Editor: It is one of dozens of issues. Listing them all would be a bit tedious, just a symptom of a club that couldn’t care less for anything other than self preservation.
Joe.. Desmond’s Legacy and reputation are long trashed here in Ireland, a country he can’t call his own, a tax dodger who can only visit for a set number of days per year and it was always known he was never involved in Celtic to invest only to fill his bulging tax dodging pockets and his silver spoon son, sooner that fake cunt to run out of the club the better and he can take Nicholson, Wilson and the rest of the blood suckers with him
The only way that things will change at Celtic is if we get rid of Desmond and his lap dogs.He is quite happy with the board and Nicholson he isnt paying any of them out of his own pocket.Its us the fans that are doing that for him.
He hasnt invested a penny in Celtic since he bought his shares and he runs the club as his own,no matter what anybody says he will do what ever he likes let that be media/fans/manager.etc Its his club and he will do what ever he or his family want.
This is the way it is and he is certainly quite happy with the board that are in place.They take the flack and the money.He is becoming more unpopular here in Ireland and its heading that way in Scotland and with Celtic fans world wide.
Only a complete clear out of those sitting in power and offering NOTHING can give us a glimmer of hope. Even Despot can’t say the structure of the club has not hindered the team overall.
The lack of true quality in specific areas has clearly come back to bite us. MON was left with ZERO transfer data / targets and scratching around for Freebies while we sit on record breaking sums in the bank.
We SHOULD be 10-15 points clear of 2 very basic teams, but due to the ineptitude of our board sees us throwing a title away, which was near impossible.
We are, and forever will be, inexorably linked to Sevco and it’s fate.
As long as we play football in the same league as the establishment club, we are bound and measured by their success and failure.
Strip it all back, it’s the only thing that makes any sense.
Sevco are our achilles heel, they are our millstone, our ball & chain.
We can only be as successful as we are allowed to be without making them an irrelevance.
Everything we see around us, the media, pundits, the SPL governance, refs, tv deals, our own suits, the anomaly of the 10IAR season….all on the side of the OF brand.
Time to face the facts, we are only ever gonna be as good as Sevco and the 5WA lets us be.
Some excellent comments above and Desmond is almost certainly the main problem.
Lawwell was placed by Desmond to run things to suit only Desmond and I hope some Celtic-leaning ‘rebels’ in his birth-country let him know when he’s in Eire he’s NOT welcome and anywhere he plays golf likewise. Lawwell’s job was not a difficult one and if he has ANY supporters left they couldn’t add 2 + 2 and get ther correct answer. Celtic’s a huge football club with world-wide supporters but it is only a small company otherwise Lawwell would’ve been found out decades ago. A big fish in a tiny pool, a shark, a leech but nothing more than that.
Desmond owns around 35% of Celtic shares yet was never forced to make an offer for the whole company. Why, when he exceeded 30% did this not apply? IMHO if he owned the whole plc he’d actually be easier to get rid of but I’m speculating.
Turning to the 5 WA. I’ve got a copy of it and the email it was attached to and I think in part it’s damning. Nicholson has admitted seeing it and that’s on record from an AGM although he didn’t see any problem with it. I beg to differ but we NEED to get it out in the open. Anyone involved with the Celtic Fans Collective, Celtic Supporters Limited, The Celtic Trust and any other Tim organisations should collectively call it out. In simple terms, the 5 WA was created by Scottish football ‘authorities’ to allow Sevco Scotland Limited (later to be re-named The Rangers Football Club Limited) to enter Scottish Professional Football for the very 1st time prior to playing Brechin on 29th July 2012. I believe it to be illegal and could be the instrument to force a clear-out at CP. Lawwell said he’d never seen it but didn’t deny its existence. Nicholson has admitted seeing it so hence he knows it definitely exists. It was sent to two Directors of Celtic PLC, Peter Lawwell and Eric Riley. Given Desmond’s influence at CP it’s beyond credible that he was not made aware of it and hence must be deemed to have agreed to it. A lot of other speculation exists about the 5 WA but most of it is just that, speculation.
If you want to cleanse Scottish football of all its current tyrants then shout this from the rooftops and tell everyone you know to do the same. The truth maybe hidden for years or decades but it’s still the truth. And fraud is a crime that is not time-barred so a fraud in 2012 is still a fraud today.
I just feel great that I no longer pay towards the farce that is Celtic and the top league anymore !