Can anybody tell me what Dermot Desmond stands to lose if Celtic actually back Brendan Rodgers before this transfer window shuts?
Eric Knott 
(Photo by Alan Harvey/SNS Group via Getty Images)
There is an awful lot of talk going on at the moment about Celtic majority shareholder Dermot Desmond, and what he may or may not to be willing to allow the club to spend on transfers.
According to Martin O’Neill, via an article in the Record by Keith Jackson yesterday, Desmond won’t be ‘brow beaten’ into paying over the odds to finance a second successive summer splurge.
Now, I would understand all of that, if it wasn’t for one glaring discrepancy.
A transfer spending splurge, by it’s very definition, means spending money you might not otherwise have.
Splurging is spending when you cannot afford to spend, but you do it regardless.
There is one team in Glasgow that seems to have no issue doing that, but it isn’t based in the East end.
Celtic did not have a summer splurge last summer.
Because our club was well able to afford what it spent at the back end of last summer’s transfer window.
We closed out that window with a positive net spend of about £6 million.
That, by any stretch of the imagination, cannot be classed as a transfer splurge.
It was a profitable transfer window.
Now, we’ve talked, and talked, and talked about the transfers of Adam Idah, Arne Engels, and Auston Trusty.
We’ve discussed on the podcast about this malicious campaign to make out that they were poor signings for the club, despite their huge contribution to last season’s Champions League campaign.
Everybody wants to talk about the £26 million they cost us.
Nobody wants to talk about how much money we made on outgoings in that very same transfer window.
Because to do that, is to acknowledge that there really isn’t anything at all to talk about here.
Celtic lost little to nothing as a result of signing these players.
Most people with a brain can see that we actually gained substantially from their signings.
Keith Jackson in his article yesterday, is making out that last summer’s window was very costly for Celtic.
He wants to give the impression that we lost something in that window, yet we didn’t.
And that as a result of this imaginary loss, Dermot Desmond and the board are averse to spending any money.
Well, spending a little over £3 million in the current transfer window confirms that we’ve spent what may as well amount to nothing.
Because it is nothing, in comparison to what we’ve made in outgoing transfers since the turn of the year.
Here is an example of what we’re being fed at the moment in the media from Jackson:
But, while the former boss is adamant that Desmond is equally determined to improve the team, he expressed doubts over the owner’s willingness to repeat the £26m recruitment drive which brought Adam Idah, Arne Engles and Auston Trusty to Glasgow’s east end 12 months ago.
Those deals saw Rodgers smash the club’s transfer record twice in the final hours of the window to complete his summer spree – with Idah and Engles costing a combined sum over more than £20m.
Now Rodgers is looking for more of the same with less than two weeks to get his squad prepared for a Champions League play-off tie against Slovan Bratislava or the Kazakhstanis of Kairat.
And O’Neill dropped a huge hint Desmond may adopt a more cautious approach to this season’s spending plans.
I’m not sure Brendan Rodgers is looking for more of the same?
But I’m pretty sure he’s looking for a bit more than £3 million to be spent in this window.
Now, you’d be inclined to understand Desmond’s supposed cautious approach if he stood to lose something by backing the manager with the transfers he needs.
But let’s make something clear here.
Dermot Desmond has never lost anything for as long as he has been a major shareholder at Celtic.
He has only gained.
Whatever money we spend, if it is even forthcoming in this window, will not be coming out of Dermot Desmond’s pocket.
Desmond has rarely put his own money into Celtic.
The only incidence I can recall of that was when he agreed to foot part of Brendan Rodgers salary to secure his services as manager back in 2016.
And that was in the aftermath of the loss to the Ibrox side in the previous Scottish Cup semi-final.
I highlighted how pissed off Desmond was after that loss in a recent article.
Based on his current behaviour, I get the feeling he’s going to be a hell of a lot more pissed off in the coming days and months, unless he and the board get their shit together.
By supplying Brendan Rodgers with the players he needs, Desmond and Co. stand only to gain.
So where is this fear of losing money stemming from?
Celtic NEVER loses money.
Strengthening will guarantee our dominance in Scotland.
Winning in Scotland is the pathway to the Champions League.
If that stops, then that pathway closes.
So why close it?
Where is the sense in this?
There is, in fact, no sense in it.
Nothing that is going on at Celtic Park at the moment makes any sense.
But unfortunately for the multitudes who are waking up to this fact, it appears the people inside the club are either blind to what everyone is starting to see, or they’re choosing to be blind to it.
Neither matters.
What matters is that they are now putting our club in unnecessary jeopardy for reasons only they know.
Because they feel that we do not deserve to know these reasons, we are left to wonder what the hell is actually going on?
During the 2020/21 season, Dermot Desmond refused to bow to fan pressure.
He kept Neil Lennon in the job for another three months, when everybody knew the League Cup home loss to Ross County was the final straw.
He did that to spite the fans.
Desmond did it because he knew he could.
That in itself shows a trait we should be very wary of going forward.
Desmond sees Celtic as his plaything, to do with it as he pleases, and to hell with the customer base and their opinions.
However, there is one huge difference between now and that season.
If the same scenario happens in the near future, Desmond and his cohorts will face the wrath of full stadiums, not a handful of supporters breaking lockdown to get their point across.
They may adopt a devil may care attitude to that, but eventually, it will take it’s toll.
Celtic fans might accept being uncompetitive if we had good reason to be uncompetitive.
But we have absolutely zero reason to be uncompetitive.
We are a cash rich club, acting like we are paupers without a pot to piss in.
What’s more, we are starting to become a laughing stock when it comes to transfers.
Celtic is fast gaining a reputation for being a club that messes other clubs around when it comes to transfer negotiations.
And you can be sure more and more clubs are becoming wise to our behaviour.
We will soon become a pariah in the transfer market.
When Michael Nicholson contacts a club about one of their players, he’ll get a short, swift answer; ‘F*** off until such time as you’re willing to offer us what we feel he’s worth. Until then, we’ve zero interest in speaking to you.’
The Celtic board are now like dinosaurs operating in the modern era.
And the dinosaurs in our boardroom are out of touch with the modern game.
Their biggest problem?
They’re all afraid to challenge the Tyrannosaurus Rex, Dermot Desmond.
The man who loses nothing as Celtic’s major shareholder, but dictates that we can’t spend unless he says so.
Make sense of that.
Because I sure as hell can’t.
Can’t argue with that Eric.
It’s baffling, frustrating, idiotic and God knows what else, it just doesn’t make sense. Last years signings came were paid for by the sale of O’Riley alone. We spent nothing. Even again this year, we could spend 6 million each on 2 wingers and a striker paid for by the sale of Kuhn. Not to touch the money for Kyogo or the bonus of Frimpongs sell on clause. Only those in the boardroom can explain the idiocy of holding us back but they don’t communicate with the fans. Get them outta here.
Starting to feel like the mid 90s with one huge difference. There’s little to no chance of ousting this board through a protest movement no matter what. Whatever their agenda happens to be, it certainly appears to be about self-preservation, prestige, privilege, and power. Celtic Royalty?
World class in everything we do apparently!
Keep the faith celtic fans it s frustrating what goes on at the minute but i am sure Celtic will make signings before the window shuts if they dont then that will be the time to call out the board patience is a virtue
Letting sevco close the gap.
You are sure we’ll still make signings? Meh! I’m not butet’s say you’re probably right. But instead of getting 3 or 4 quality players in the door and paying what is required, these miserable bastards will probably get another EPL youth loan through the door and 2 whom no one has ever heard of for a couple of million each.
It wouldn’t surprise me if our board are actually that ridiculous that their thinking includes us possibly not qualifying for the Champions League this year, in the mistaken belief that we could perhaps still get to a Europa League Final ( because theRangers did) & these stupid, vain old accountants and lawyers would rather bask in the glory of that under their watch, than have constant progression in the Champions Lesgue, year on year. I really wouldn’t put it past them.
tries again.
desmond is the principal shareholder at 34%
he can do whatever he wants.
as soon as you pay for something to celtic plc.
it is the owners money not yours.
So let’s stop paying to Celtic plc.
It’s our money that created the huge surplus but they won’t spend anything.
Not a penny more from me.
Great article Eric ,thanks for speaking for the ordinary fans.
Very good article…As for us getting the message across to them however…I suggest one or two banners in their face at Celtic Park, expressing anger and concern, would surely help ?
We still have over 3 weeks of the transfer window left. He has been backed we have signed 7 players so far.
Oh you mean Champions League Quality… well we play in the SPFL which is NOT all that enticing or glamorous. 90% of talent want to leave the SPFL at the earliest opportunity.
What do Celtic have to offer top talent?? A stint in the UCL Champions League < One issue there we have not Qualified yet.
Yes whoever Celtic get in will dependent on what stage of European Qualification we get.
The other is telling them we will be a door for the EPL or other big leagues.
Personally like BR stated I do not care how much they cost. Like Pep stated at Man City valuation means nothing it is what you think they are worth to the team. £500k player can be as good as a £10M player. The more you pay the more the risk – look at Chelsea they have players eating up wages who they cannot sell. Celtic cannot afford that higher the cost higher the wage and before you know it the bank balance shrivels.
Though its easier to have negative views
What a load of nonsense. The money Celtic have amassed is shrewd transfer sales added to UCL participation.
The nonsense some supporters talk..
Well if you have a season ticket give it up there are tens of thousands waiting for a chance.
Some supporters have delusions of grandeur
Agreement with SFA that we won’t turn our league into a one horse race each season that would affect tv deal and league sponsorship, we must keep it reasonably competitive with the other mob. We may be watching a stitch up. I cannot fathom any other reason for not spending some of the vast wealth we have
@jacksback – please go and happy clap elsewhere, let the adults have a mature discourse here. Cheers.
@eric – he has 35% of the ordinaries and I think half of the ordinary preferred and fixed coupon paying Prefs. So economically he owns £50m of the £100m in the bank and he thinks we got poor vfm last year (which is the case – we vastly overpaid for those 3 last year, they’re not bad players, but we paid double what we should have)
Last article we can’t afford this don’t want play here up to the COVID season the chief executive had earned £16-5 million on wages and bonus give a rest FFS.
Season tickets,that’s the problem. They can do what they want because of the season ticket money every year. The only way is stop giving them money end of and get them out the door.
John McGinn for £20M…that’s what we should be doing.
I’m pretty sure that although Paddy McGinty’s Goat ,forever armed with a bag of golf clubs may own 34% of the shares in Celtic PLC but crucially he also retains the proxy voting rights of a lot of the corporate investors, which takes him well past the 51% threshold required to hold the keys to the kingdom of Paradise.
We are royally fucked until this bastard either croaks ,develops alzheimers or sells out for some fantastic cash offer.
Number 1 is a certainty
Number 2 is a possibility
While Number 3 is for the fairies as he has enough cash to choke 1000 Shergar’s to death with and he just gets such a thrill out of his power trip dictating terms in Paradise.
Good posts jacksback.
Jamie G you sound ANYTHING but mature.I think you are simply a follower of what you think is the most popular.
(happy clappers) LOL wow.
Grow up.
It certainly is a weird and worrying time to be a celtic fan Eric.Who knows what’s going down up there,but going down something clearly is.Wish I knew.
Desmond spent £26m across 4 share issues 95. 97. 2001, 2005 and buy design took control of the plc at 34.7% share holding.
The preferrentaill share issue allowed to pay back the co-op loan, 8,000,000 shares paying 6% dividends.
£480,000 per annum.
WARNING: This might come as a shock to some of you.
The best thing for Celtic as a club is NOT to allow the club to become an enormous giant too overly dominant that Rangers will never be able to challenge again.
WHY? Because the SPL is a very small pond with very limited potential when it comes to sponsorship & TV earnings. The ONLY thing of any interest in the SPL was that it was a two horse race, with either Celtic or Rangers taking the title.
I dont know about you but I dont believe I wantched a full game the whole time Rangers were out the league as there was little point…. Celtic was going to win what ever the score was.
If the SPL becomes a one team show it will slowly die.
The excitement of football comes from the competition that your club will come out on top. Unless Rangers rise up to rival Celtic again the SPL is pointless and that is exactly how sponsors & TV broadcasters will see it too meaning there is no worth in investing in a league that only one team can win.
We NEED Rangers back or there is nothing to fight for.
I’ve said all along Dermot Desmond & this board will wait to see if we qualify for CL before they spend anything. It’s a disgrace the way he & this board don’t give a shit about fans. We are becoming laughing stock in the transfer market.
Jacksback is an arselicking board lover out of touch with reality like the board.
I can’t remember the last transfer window we came out of that we spent more than we brought in
I see yer fat mate’s howling again, this time about Castro telling Khrushchev, in a private conversation, that he’d be happy to start WW3, so long as Kruschchev bombs America, then the dumb fat fuck claims it as a ‘real, historical fact’ …
The clown’s that daft he thinks everything he reads must be true because it’s written down, wot a fackin plonker that overweight moron really is.
And that IS a proven historical fact, as he proves his dumb gullibility to his dumb gullible readers every waking day in his hysterical foaming at the mouth articles.
You’d think he’d’ve calmed down a bit now he’s getting his hole aff his acolyte, if she can manage to find the hidden sausage.
I see yer fat mate’s howling again, this time about Castro telling Khrushchev, in a private conversation, that he’d be happy to start WW3, so long as Kruschchev bombs America, then the dumb fat fuck claims it as a ‘real, historical fact’ …
The clown’s that daft he thinks everything he reads must be true because it’s written down, wot a fackin plonker that overweight moron really is.
And that IS a proven historical fact, as he proves his dumb gullibility to his dumb gullible readers every waking day in his hysterical foaming at the mouth articles.
You’d think he’d’ve calmed down a bit now he’s getting his hole aff his acolyte, if she can manage to find the hidden sausage.
I also noticed he wrote ‘That Rodgers will go is certain. I don’t think there’s any more debate about that than there is about the shape of the Earth.’
But the question fir the fat boy is, what exactly IS the shape of the Earth?
We’ve been told for years that the Earth is round and in exists in a vacuum but recently eminent NASA scientist/goofy shite actor Neil Snake In DeGrass Tyson claimed that the Earth is NOT round at all but is actually PEAR SHAPED.
That it’s ‘a little bit chubbier at the bottom than it is at the top’, a bit like the fat dumb loudmouth himself, as there’s been a debate going on for months whether he’s just a big blob of a round doughball or whether he’s actually pear shaped considering he can no longer get a pair a troos tae fit him.
I say ‘recently’ but this clip of Snake In DeGrass Tyson has been around for almost a decade and here he is in all his awkward ‘Fuck, what am I saying here?!’ shite actor’s ‘glory’.
If it’s a pear shaped Earth you’re after here’s yer man
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTOE4Ar0Dfo
So, fat boy, which is it for it can’t be both?
Is Earth round or is it pear shaped?
Your little pussy bumboy Brian Cox says it’s round but your creepy Snake In DeGrass says it’s pear shaped.
Isn’t there a debate in that, you pathetic baw shaped squealing little fuck?
I’ll happily debate the shape of the Earth with you, fat boy, but that’s a discussion you’ve been run away from for years, for over a decade, because, for all your dumb posturing and acting like you’re a big shot, like every other keyboard warrior, you’re nothing but a snivelling little shitbag fuck.
And your refusal to engage in this topic, for all your surety, proves your coward is beyond all doubt.
So let’s do it like this …
Some night I’ll come onto the Trinity Tims podcast and we’ll have this discussion.
What do you say to that?
For if you’re so sure about what shape the Earth is it should be an easy slam dunk for you, right?
You can reply to me here, while hiding behind Eric, or you can announce it on your own ‘Celtic Blog’, where all your octogenarian readers will no doubt be enthralled to see you in action.
Wear your Roman Legion outfit if it makes you feel any braver, you overweight dumb fuck.
Sorry, Eric, I’d rather not bring this over here but this narcissistic shitbag has banned me from his own blog, terrified out of his mind that I’ll nail him in public for the village idiotic blowhard that he is.
So he can declare it here then run away back hiding oer there.
The key thing is that he engages in the discussion, for if he doesn’t all he’s proving is that he really truly is the quivering little shitbag coward he has long proven himself to me to be to everyone.
And I want everyone to see him squirm then sink under the weight of his own gross stupidity, the product of an obese mind realising the gravy train will soon be over with the advent of the A.I. revolution which will see him soon oot of work once his owners realise the A.I. can churn out just as much shite as him but for free.
And he knows it.
Tick Tock, fat chap.
Have the debate while you still have a shred of integrity to protect, well, in your eyes at least.
Calm down dear, James is entitled to his reasoned opinions without the name calling. Be civil.
Saint Stivs on 9th August 2025 8:01 pm
!!Bada Bing!! on 9th August 2025 7:49 pm
Who was on VAR, absolute joke,good score for our Board
————
across the tim-ternet and esp the trinity tims, i see the oft repeated narrative
Peter Lawwell strategy is to keep Celtic just ahead of Rangers,
Ergo, domestic success, and only spending if it is needed to be ahed of thems, slightly, for competition and the tv .
In it together if you like.
Now, if Celtic spend big , does that not condemn that theory.
The biggest risk to PL strategy then is “the rangers” not keeping up their end.
They are shite,
Managed decline, Indeed, theirs not ours.
ps.
that offside goals would have been given pre var.
is the blog shut down ?
On one hand, if Celtic invested in the squad they’d probably still have the same outcomes (win the league, maybe more and last 24 in Europe) as they would if they didn’t invest. PROBABLY. But the point is, us, as Celtic supporters put our money in and the clubs owners should use that money to make us as good as possible. We don’t rely on a sugar daddy or outside investment. It seems to me this is lost on our board and some fans. The money comes from the fans, prize money, commercial deals and player sales.
‘ saint stivs
says:
10th August 2025 at 1:18 am
is the blog shut down ?’
Yep, and it’s all thanks to you.
Don’t know if you’ve noticed but you’re a killer of debate, Spiffy.
But do you know why that is?
Apart fae the fact you’re the most annoying cunt on the Internet who everybody hates and no one wants tae talk tae except tae tell ye tae shut up n fuck off ..?
Go on, take a wild second guess, Spivvy …
i dont kill debate nobody on here wants debate. they want to hate hate hate . use sweary words and be insulting.
meanwhile the decline goes on .
aberdeen 0 Celtic 2.
happily clapping .