There is a way to get Dermot Desmond out of Celtic, but it would be extremely painful. Are we ready to face that and go to war with him?
No hardship for him, Desmond said. All the hardship's been ours. Here's the case for making Celtic not worth his while anymore.
Eric Knott 
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On Wednesday evening I wrote a piece about Dermot Desmond playing Football Manager with our football club.
It ended with me asking you to sit with the thought that he could burn Celtic to the ground and barely dent his portfolio.
A lot of you came back with the very same question.
So what do we actually do about it?
It’s a fair question, and I’ve been part of the problem on that front.
Because I’ve written more than once that the only way the reign of Dermot Desmond ends is when he’s six feet under.
I’d like to take that back.
There is a way to get him out.
I just don’t think many of us are going to like what it costs.
Twenty two years ago he sat down with a magazine and told us exactly what he thinks of people like us
Ten years ago, the Irish magazine Business & Finance went back through its archive and republished an interview it did with Desmond in October 2004.
He was 54 then, and the God King was a lot less guarded than he is now.
Here is what he had to say about the rest of us. Read it twice:
If you were to go by what the majority say, you’d never do anything.
We’ve all got to realise that the majority doesn’t succeed; it’s always the minority.
So I am always looking for a minority view.
Does that remind you of anything?
It should, because it’s the very same thought that resurfaced decades later in his infamous line about the million and one.
We all filed that one away as arrogance.
But what if it was never arrogance at all?
It was a man repeating a belief he’d already held for twenty years, and he has never once thought the majority worth listening to.
Which means every banner, every poll and every strongly worded statement is water off a duck’s back to him.
You cannot appeal to a man like that.
You can only cost him something.
In that same interview he handed us the only key that actually fits the lock
This is the part that changed my mind, and it’s why this article isn’t a fantasy.
Asked how he decides whether to hold something or sell it, he said this:
I don’t have any rules about holding on to something or selling.
I’m not a seller, nor am I a buyer in the sense that if I believe something is right for the business and right for me as a shareholder, then I will take that course of action.
Right for the business, and right for him as a shareholder.
He has told us the precise condition under which he walks away from a thing.
So do you see it now?
Our job was never to remove him, because we can’t.
It’s to make holding on to Celtic not worth the bother.
The first thing we hand over is the only thing that has ever kept us quiet
Domestic bliss.
The trophies, the flags, the days out in May.
That is what has kept the peace for the guts of fifteen years, and it’s what lets a boardroom sell your best players every summer and still take a standing ovation in the sunshine.
Desmond banks on it every single year.
Take it away and he’s a principal shareholder presiding over failure with nothing left to hide behind.
I’m not going to pretend that isn’t a horrible sentence to write.
Winning nothing may have to become a NECESSARY EVIL.
Not Another Penny already worked once, so why on earth would we be softening it now?
We know this one works, because we’ve already done it.
It got under their skin in a way nothing else has managed in years.
It worked because it’s the one protest that doesn’t ask them for anything – it simply stops giving.
So we widen it.
Then we boycott the games that make the point, and I don’t mean the European nights or the ones where the team needs us.
Because a half empty Celtic Park is a photograph, and a photograph travels.
Then there are the season tickets, and this is the hard one.
What do you imagine a full renewal in the spring tells him?
It tells him nothing has changed, and that he still has us.
That is precisely what he power trips on.
Make no mistake, the man doesn’t need our money, and I won’t insult anybody by pretending a boycott bankrupts a billionaire.
What it takes off him is the control.
For someone who once said he left Ireland for the freedom to do what he wants, losing his grip on his favourite shiny thing is the only punishment we have.
Whatever happens next, Martin O’Neill gets backed to the hilt, because none of this is his doing
The LASK collapse, two derby defeats to the Ibrox side and a 3-1 hammering from Ferencvaros at Parkhead have left a 74 year old carrying the lot on his own.
Silent Mike has backed him publicly, which tells you how much trouble everyone else is in.
Mark Guidi told the Go Radio Football Show this week that the manager isn’t going anywhere, as reported by Conor Spence at Celtic Shorts.
Here’s the bit that matters:
They don’t have any of those three players anymore.
Johnston’s injured, Engels has been sold, Maeda has been sold.
It’s a much bigger picture than the manager.
Even the media can see it.
Desmond put Martin O’Neill in this position and Desmond stripped out the squad that won us a double.
So the manager doesn’t carry the can for it.
The man who hasn’t put a penny into Celtic since December 2005 does.
We did all of this once before, in 1994.
But I’d be lying if I said this was the same.
In 1994 the enemy was broke, and we beat them by staying away until the bank came calling.
Desmond cannot be starved out, because there’s nothing there to starve.
The only thing we can take off him is the feeling that he owns us.
He’s hell bent on a scorched earth policy with our club – so we adopt the very same mentality, or he wins by default every time.
There are tens of thousands of us, and there is one of him.
People power is real, and the only reason it ever fails is that the people talk themselves out of it first.
In 2004 he told that magazine that everything he does, he does of his own volition, and that there is no hardship in it.
No hardship for him, right enough.
All of the hardship has always been ours.
So the question isn’t whether there’s a way to get Dermot Desmond out of Celtic.
There is.
The question is whether we can stomach handing over our dominance and watching the Ibrox side enjoy it.
I honestly don’t know if we can.
But I do know what the alternative looks like, because we’re living in it.
So, metaphorically speaking, are we ready to go to war with him?
Key Takeaways
- Dermot Desmond plays a significant role in Celtic’s management, and some fans feel powerless against him.
- Past interviews reveal Desmond’s indifference to fan opinion, suggesting that dissatisfaction alone won’t drive him out.
- To oppose Desmond, fans should consider withholding support, as failing to win may disrupt his control over the club.
- Boycotting games and not renewing season tickets could demonstrate fans’ displeasure and reduce Desmond’s influence.
- Ultimately, the fan base must decide if they’re willing to take action against Desmond’s management of Celtic.
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Only thing is if we do not renew our season tickets, there are thousands of people waiting to take our place. Some of these people have not been to paradise for years , do don’t realise how bad its got, they would gladly buy our tickets.
No six foot under does it for me , hate the cunt
No six foot under suits me hate the cunt, and take the rest with him
What about everyone staying in the Stadium and singing DD is a blah blah blah…give him a good old savaging verbally and constantly Erik…
The war started a long time ago, your right the fans don’t know what is coming, it’s a juggernaut called Desmond control and austerity, just like a parasite lives off the host until the there is nothing left worth worrying about ,the happy clappers might just bail out
Destroying the club’s finances to start again with less doesn’t seem quite logical. If Mr.Desmond doesn’t love the club then surely his shareholding has a price.
Mainly, the players who were sold didn`t want to be there. It is nothing new, I remember when the Celtic support were begging the likes of Pat Crerand, Davie Hay,
Lou Macari and Kenny Dalglish to stay but they all wanted away for the extra cash at the time, which was less than double their wages.
Postecoglou didn`t make any effort to keep Gioukamakis (?). He said he was entitled to better himself if he felt like it. He obviously took his own advice shortly after.
The writing was on the wall when Dundee United was denied a 5-0 victory not by
Celtic but by an oval piece of aluminium.
Bells should have been ringing in the boardroom rather than being drunk by the Double Pour.
Serious question,bud…..da fuck are you talking about regarding Dundee United ??
You’ve lost me,there!
Btw,you’re right about everything else.
The ONLY people who are totally committed to the club are the fanbase although there is the odd exception like wee Jamesie who up to this point has been a one club man.
We can hardly blame ANY player/coach/manager who decides to move to pastures new when they see the lack of ambition from the boardroom.
Take Ange as a prime example……That cunt Lawwell was snuck back in under the cover of a covid lock down when we couldn’t get into the ground to protest.
Big Ange is no mug.
He constantly refused a long term contract because he saw the writing on the wall and what was coming down the track and had his agent sound out any interested parties down south while his stock was at a high.
He completed the treble against Inverness and was Spurs manager less than a week later.
Not sure but would imagine the fact that Dundee Utd were allowed space to attack and struck the woodwork 5 times .. may be what he is referring to? Imagine if they had gone in ? Neither were defended by us … just luck that who struck the shot didn’t aim a few inches lower or to the side … AND allied to the amount of chances we allowed Lask to have in both matches … then this shitshow could have been even worse!
The one thing Desmond got correct is that the majority aren`t always right. Whether
it be one or a million and one is immaterial.
Spot on Eric. The Not One Penny More Until Desmond & Son are out the Door 💚✅ is helping to drive the share price down.
Eric we have the one thing money can’t buy that is “Time”
We are going nowhere because we love Celtic the football club… Not CELTIC the PLC .
A Public Listed Company is regulated by the Stock Exchange Authority.Who watch carefully the behavior of share holders.
Every penny or pound that the share price drops affects the on paper value of the investment.
DD & Son are said to own 30% of the shares.
If DD & Son can be shown to be upsetting the club to the extent that the price is tumbling the Majority the other 70% made up off mainly institutions and investment funds will move too remove the cancer we know as DD &Son.
The SEASON TICKET HOLDERS can bring this to a head swiftly but they must act NOW!
ACTION PLAN
1) KEEP YOUR SEASON TICKET.
2 ) WRITE OFF THE COST £600.00+
PER SEAT.
3) DON’T GO TO ANY GAME AT CELTIC PARK.
4) “SACRIFICE IS NEEDED” WHEN THE IMAGE OF EMPTY SEATS IS BROADCAST BY SKY AND OTHER MEDIA OUTLETS.
5) A BANNER STATING “WE WILL RETURN WHEN DD & SON ARE OUT THE DOOR” IS SHOW BY THE GREEN BRIGADE AT ALL AWAY GAMES.
6) REFUSE TO MEET WITH CELTIC FC UNTIL IT IS CONFIRMED THAT DD & SON ARE GONE!
Serious question,bud…..da fuck are you talking about regarding Dundee United ??
You’ve lost me,there!
Btw,you’re right about everything else.
The ONLY people who are totally committed to the club are the fanbase although there is the odd exception like wee Jamesie who up to this point has been a one club man.
We can hardly blame ANY player/coach/manager who decides to move to pastures new when they see the lack of ambition from the boardroom.
Take Ange as a prime example……That cunt Lawwell was snuck back in under the cover of a covid lock down when we couldn’t get into the ground to protest.
Big Ange is no mug.
He constantly refused a long term contract because he saw the writing on the wall and what was coming down the track and had his agent sound out any interested parties down south while his stock was at a high.
He completed the treble against Inverness and was Spurs manager less than a week later.
DD and the rest of his cronies on the board have undone everything that Fergus done for our club. He built a fabulous foundation for us to continue to flourish and now they have completely trashed it. Shame on each and everyone of them.
NAP on steroids to reduce revenue.
Target big sponsors like Adidas,
Magniers etc and lobby them to stop supporting this regime. Meet their CEOs ,
flood their insta/ titter accounts.
We need to have boycotts off certain games so it is visible.
Turn up at golf events where he playing and ask him why he is killing Celtic ?
All this will embolden potential buyers.
I think finally the fans are starting to twig ,even the happy clappers, so stop giving them your money or you are complicit in the destruction of our club
Is it possible that Dermot Desmond the Billionaire business man has so much dough that losing say £40+ million for each time Celtic fail to qualify for the Champions League is like spending pocket change on 2 ice cream cones and is no big deal to him…nothing ? If so then that’s a disgrace? Because the club cannot afford to lose that amount of money ….buying new players each Summer is severely restricted ….the fan unrest multiplies …..the board follow his instructions to the letter ….all other sponsors and advertising deals become more fragile to maintain as all companies want exposure at the highest level of the CL and are not receiving it ….and the possibility of not winning the league becomes real because of the disgraceful austerity ! That’s nowhere near how to run a successful Football Club like Celtic ! And I do not understand why Mr Desmond the money making machine businessman would even consider a ‘success for Celtic is old hat ‘ for him ? If true of course ! That can’t be his attitude … surely not !
They’ve had no merchandising cash from me for well over a year now !