Dermot Desmond is certainly not the flavour of the month with Celtic supporters right now.
The shareholder has been heavily criticised for the way he handled Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic exit after Desmond levied accusations of the former Hoops boss being ‘divisive’ and all manner of other slurs.
Desmond appears to have complete control of the club, which is strange considering he doesn’t have a majority shareholding.
How will you remember Peter Lawwell’s time at Celtic?
And as one of his longest-serving employees in Peter Lawwell makes his Celtic exit, what Desmond said about the state of the Parkhead club has been brutally ripped apart by Hugh Keevins.
Hugh Keevins labels Dermot Desmond’s Lawwell comments foolish
Keevins is a long-term Celtic critic and doesn’t hide when he sees the chance to offer his negative opinion on club affairs.
So when he read Desmond’s statement about Lawwell’s Celtic departure, Keevins was having none of it.
Keevins wrote in the Daily Record, “At the end of the club statement announcing Peter Lawwell’s imminent departure as chairman, principal shareholder Dermot Desmond was quoted as saying: “Celtic is in a strong position to withstand whatever the future may throw at us.” You could have fooled me.
“Strong position? Johnny Kenny was humiliated at Tannadice in midweek – palpably out of his depth up front for Celtic and proving that was the case by missing sitter after sitter.”
A dig at the state of Celtic’s squad was just the start as Keevins gets warmed up with his own take on the state of the club under Desmond’s rule.
Desmond slammed for Celtic being ‘mired in a mess’
Next up for Keevins was Celtic’s poor form heading into title race with Hearts as he says that there is a very real chance Desmond will see the club win nothing this season.
Keevins continued, “Strong position? In what way precisely? Celtic are mired in a mess of their own making and one that will ensure, from this distance, no trophies are won this season. And the nightmare scenario is still in the formative stages.”
“Strong position? When Kilmarnock and Ross County dismissed Stuart Kettlewell and Tony Docherty over the space of 48 hours at the start of last week, they were acting out of an obligation to understand their clubs’ shared predicament.
“Strong position? It was supposed to be that way but it didn’t work out as expected. Sometimes, when you think outside the box, you can go too far outside the box.
Do you think Dermot Desmond would really consider selling his Celtic shares?
“A left-field appointment can be a good idea, unless it’s too far left of the field. Like Nancy.”
This catastrophic takedown is as close to the bone as any other journalist has ever written about Desmond, and he will not be happy.
Hopefully, the anger he may feel will fuel him into allowing Celtic to spend some of the tens of millions they currently have sitting in their bank account.
Because as Celtic fans have found out over the last few months, nothing gets done at Celtic without Desmond’s say so and that, in itself, is embarrassing for a club like Celtic.
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