The Record is almost 18 years out of date with their Desmond interview, and that’s heart of the problem at Celtic

Today, the Record ran with a 2008 interview with Dermot Desmond, which has got a lot of people in Celtic cyberspace talking.

Running with this today is pretty pointless, if you ask me.

For a couple of reasons.

Celtic fans who want change are pushing for this because we feel that Celtic’s way of operating is over 20 years out of date.

Referring to an interview that Dermot Desmond gave almost 18 years just reiterates that fact.

The strategy and way of operating that Desmond discusses in that 2008 interview is the exact reason we find ourselves where we find ourselves today.

What he said in 2008 is not relevant in today’s footballing landscape.

In fact, I can pretty much assure you that there aren’t many football clubs out there operating with a strategy they used in 2008.

This is 2025 and Celtic has been left behind.

Football, both European and domestic is now a totally different animal.

Case in point, when Dermot Desmond conducted that interview, Setanta Sports had the rights to show Scottish Premier League games.

Where is Setanta Sports now?

But since everybody seems to be interested in this 2008 interview, lets see what Desmond had to say back then.

Let’s see how relevant it is to where are today:

The biggest contradiction about Celtic, and Celtic supporters, is from the minority. When those same supporters that sing about being ‘faithful through and through’ then boo those at the club that is a complete and utter desecration of that song,

I totally abhor anyone like that. Real support is when you are losing. Everybody gives me support when I don’t need it. I only want support when I need it. When we are winning matches here, when we are winning trophies or winning the league, there will be people that will come up to me at Celtic Park and give me a thumbs up, smile at me, and tell me ‘good man’.

We lose a big match and I’m the greatest bollox on the earth. It’s all my fault, all the directors’ fault. But when we win it is down to the manager and team, not the directors. We are beneficiaries of abuse, we are never beneficiaries of praise.

Alright, let’s just say that Desmond said the opening line of that comment right now.

You know?

The “faithful through and through” one.

Then, and possibly now, Desmond seems to be labouring under some sort of misconception that Celtic fans should be faithful through and through to him and his board?

We are faithful through and through to the eleven men that take to the field on any given match-day.

The football team.

We are supporters of a football team, not the board of directors who are charged with ensuring that that very same football team is the strongest it can possibly be.

When he speaks of the utter desecration of that song, what about the utter desecration of our football team since last January?

Because that’s what we follow.

Not him, or his board.

That is the same now, as it was in 2008.

Then he says that “real support is when you’re losing” and that he “only wants support when he needs it”.

Tell me, when you’re a billionaire, who is it exactly that you need to support you?

Considering you could pay anyone to support you if you wanted to?

But you see, that’s the problem, Celtic fans can’t and won’t be bought.

And that, to me, seems to be what irks Desmond so much about us.

He feels that we blame the directors when we lose big football matches, but when we win it is down to the manager and team, not the directors.

We are beneficiaries of abuse, we are never beneficiaries of praise, he says.

Desmond is long enough in the game to know that this is the nature of the beast.

Or at least you’d expect he should know this.

In any sport, everybody is happy when their team is winning.

But when it all falls apart, the fanbase will always look to hold someone accountable.

If the manager is not doing his job, then naturally, the fans will blame him.

But when the manager is reduced to begging for the players he needs to ensure his team is competitive, then the fans start to look at the people who deprive him of what he needs.

When we start to lose games in Europe to teams ranked hundreds of places beneath us and we have £77 million in cash reserves sitting in the bank, we don’t blame the manager for that.

We blame the people who refuse to spend that cash reserve on strengthening the squad.

If Desmond feels that this way of thinking makes him “the greatest bollox on earth”, well, that’s his problem, not ours.

I’m Irish, like Desmond, and in my estimation, that is acting the bollox as far as I’m concerned.

And you know what?

Being even more of a bollox is blaming the manager for everything when it’s all gone to shit.

After he was reduced to begging you for the players he needed.

Now, I could dissect and contradict everything Desmond said back in 2008, but as I said at the outset of this article, I don’t think a lot if it is relevant in 2025.

But there is one part of it that stood out to me towards the end.

A part that is totally contradictory to everything we see going on at the club today.

Have a look at this:

It was not my ambition to be the controlling shareholder, it was not my ambition to be the major shareholder here, because that carries responsibilities over and above just being a shareholder. And the most likely result of being a major shareholder at a football club is dog’s abuse. It is an absolutely no-win situation.

Not my ambition to be the controlling shareholder??

Let me get this straight.

Desmond is the principal shareholder at Celtic, not a major shareholder, correct?

So he states quite clearly in 2008 that he did not want the responsibilities that went with being a major shareholder.

Yet now in 2025, he is not the major shareholder at Celtic, but has taken it upon himself to assume full control at the club?

Control he categorically stated he did not want back in 2008.

But what’s more is that he understands that the result of being a major shareholder at a football club is dogs abuse.

If Desmond didn’t want dogs abuse, then why has he decided to act like a major shareholder, and take full control of Celtic?

Every man and his dog can see that this is the case right now.

Excuse the pun.

Desmond as much as admitted in 2008 that the way he is behaving today in 2025, would only result in dogs abuse.

That it was a no win situation.

So then none of what’s going on right now should come as a surprise to him, should it?

He is reaping what he sowed back in 2008 in 2025.

He recognised exactly what would happen if he was the major shareholder at the club.

But what’s even more ironic is that he isn’t.

He’s just acting like he’s the major shareholder.

And that folks, should tell you all you need to know about what’s wrong at Celtic at the moment.

I rest my case.

Key Takeaways

• Dermot Desmond’s 2008 interview fails to address the current football landscape and Celtic’s outdated operations.
• Celtic fans remain loyal to the team on the pitch, not the board, highlighting a disconnect with Desmond’s views.
• Desmond’s suggestion that fans should support him falls flat, as loyalty is inherently tied to the team’s performance.
• Financial reserves exist, yet the lack of investment in the squad leads to fan frustration and calls for accountability.
• Desmond’s current control of the club contradicts his previous statements about not wanting major shareholder responsibility.