An unearthed Dermot Desmond interview from more than ten years ago has provided a bit of context to the ongoing saga surrounding Celtic.
Journalist Andrew Smith, of The Scotsman, has been listening to tapes of an interview he did with the club’s largest shareholder way back in 2008 for club media project ‘The Celtic Opus’.
In them, he’s found some interesting comments that relate remarkably close to the current situation at Celtic Park.
As we know, Desmond and Chief Executive Peter Lawwell are under pressure from a substantial amount of fans to relieve manager Neil Lennon of his duties.
With just two wins from ten, two exits from Europe as well as a domestic tournament, and 11 points adrift in the league table, it’s fair to say this is a difficult time for the Bhoys boss.
Desmond though laid out his ideology way back then in 2008, telling Andrew Smith, as quoted by The Scotsman today: “If a million people told me to do something [in a body of] only a million and one, and I was the one and I didn’t feel that something was right, then I would take my own counsel. And they can shout, and they can exhort all they like, and I will not change my opinion if I think it is the right thing for this club.
“Everything that is done from this club from all the board members and the management, we all do it because it is in the right interests. We might not get it right all the time, but we genuinely act without self-interest.”
Desmond also talks about fans singing ‘faithful through and through’ and contradicting themselves by slating the team when things are going badly. He suggests that support is needed when the team is losing, not when it is winning.
You can agree or disagree with the sentiment here, but you cannot deny it’s exactly the philosophy that he appears to be following at Celtic right now.
As the voices grow louder for Lennon’s removal, Celtic have only become more steadfast in their backing of the former captain.
We’ve put forward our own argument on 67 Hail Hail that criticism of the team, the manager and the club does not equal lack of support.
We want Celtic to be the best they can be, and it’s frustrating when decisions are made that appear to be in direct opposition to that ambition.
At the moment it feels like that support and the club are at odds, but everyone will be hoping for positives results this month with or without Lennon.
That’s what matters for our season.
In other news, the manager made an astonishing remark at his press conference yesterday.
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