Swing and Miss? Ross Desmond humiliated in Europe
At the 2025 Celtic AGM Ross Desmond warned shareholders about the dangers of swinging and missing.
He added that the European landscape had changed significantly since 2003. Apparently showing a modicum of ambition could put the very existence of Celtic at risk.
Last night Sabah of Azerbaijan beat Slavia Prague 2-0 at home in a 6pm Champions League tie. Later on Club Brugge won 4-3 away to Inter Milan.
Who would have thought it.
Meanwhile a few thousand Celtic fans are flying into Lisbon.
They are there for a pilgrimage. Not many are looking forward to facing Benfica on Thursday night, a trip to the National Stadium and a few days of autumn sunshine are the big attractions.
That is the state of Celtic in 2026. Two years ago Celtic were striding confidently into the new look Champions League.
Winning three group stage matches, picking up 12 points from eight matches then losing out 3-2 to Bayern Munich.
DESMOND DUMBS DOWN ON CELTIC AMBITIONS
The format is absolutely made for Celtic. Alas Celtic were also absolutely made for Kairat Almaty and LASK Linz.
Rubbing salt into the issue LASK host Liverpool tonight. If Liverpool visited Celtic Park in the Champions League it would capture the attention of the whole of the British media and beyond.
Unfortunately with the Desmond family fingerprints all over Celtic that scenario is highly unlikely.
Club Brugge’s turnover is roughly similar to ours, @CelticFC.
They’ve just beat our European opponents in the 1967 ECF 3-4 in the San Siro.
An unelected nepo baby of your dominant shareholder at the 2025 AGM told us this was scarcely possible.
Can he confirm how this happened?
— DrexciyanWave (@WavejumperOne) October 13, 2026
CLUB BRUGGE HOLD UP AND SHAME CELTIC
Brugge are the model that Celtic should follow. Regulars in the knock out stage of the Champions League despite playing from a stadium that only holds 29,000 fans.
Brugge bring through players from their own Academy, recruit smartly and are happy to sell players when they are at the top of their game.
They have confidence in the scouting and recruitment to bring in replacements that will fit in easily to their style of play.
Brugge didn’t sign six players in the final 36 hours of the transfer window for a total of £3.5m
This mob were founded 134 days after Celtic secured an invincible treble yet the Desmond family make out it’s impossible for us to compete anymore ?
— Muiry (@MuiryyCeltic) October 13, 2026
Sabah Futbol Kluba translates to Tomorrow Football Club. Celtic fans don’t even get promised a competent tomorrow in European football. Season 27/28 looks certain to be another of Thursday/Sunday matches.
Sabah were formed in September 2017, the month that PSG beat Celtic 5-0 in a sobering warning of what lay ahead.
Last season Sabah beat Qarabag to the Azerbaijan title, Qarabag reached the Round of 16 Champions League Play Off last season.
Desmond should know about Qarabag, in the summer Celtic paid them £6m for Camilo Duran who had cost Qarabag £250,000 last August. At the same time Celtic were spending £10m on Sebastian Tounekti and Michel-Ange Balikwisha.
Celtic have still to announce the date of their 2027 AGM, it remains to be seen if Dermot Desmond will make his first appearance at it since 2006.
CLICK HERE for Ross Desmond’s 2025 speech at the Celtic AGM
@RussellBoyce1 Brugge have a conveyor belt of quality youth players that are fundamental to their success. They’ve taken in over 100m in sales from players like De Ketelaere, De Cuyper and Talbi etc. All high quality he players that contribute and then sold. Seys, Vermant are the current crop.
— Marko (@neill_mark76462) October 13, 2026
Someone should remind the Celtic board and the Desmonds of the Parable of the Talents, and the sin of not developing one’s talent.
The master who has given the talents to his 3 servants, rebukes the one who has hidden and buried his as ” wicked and lazy “, takes the undeveloped talent away from him and gives it to another who has developed the one he was given.
He then casts out the lazy servant as being unworthy of remaining in his household.
If only.
Yes, further proof our club is stagnating both on and off the pitch?
The LASK, Bodoe/Glimt, Sabah examples just make it painfully obvious on the pitch.
Off the pitch, the absence of CL revenue painfully highlights the lack of growth in the business.