This week, Celtic fans have been hooked on events going on in London, where Martin O’Neill and Robbie Keane are being interviewed for the manager’s job.
Why is a Scottish club conducting its managerial hiring process in London? Because Dermot Desmond, a non-executive director, has a residence there.
Why is a non-executive director leading Celtic’s managerial hiring process? Because in real terms, he isn’t a non-executive director. He’s the sole, supreme controller of the club.
Celtic fans already know this stuff — but present it in these terms to any non-Celtic observer, and you’ll realise, as you say it, just how absurd it is.
Your reaction to the latest development in the Celtic manager race?
Dermot Desmond’s prevention of progress at Celtic
In the past, this setup has brought us Brendan Rodgers, Ange Postecoglou and, of course, O’Neill himself back in 2000. Some pretty successful appointments.
But as the footballing world around Celtic has modernised, the club have been left looking truly daft by conducting their process in this way in 2026.
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The word ‘restructure’ has become a cliché among the Parkhead support at this point.
In 2016, it was led by Rodgers, who revamped the club’s sports science department and brought Lee Congerton as his recruitment right-hand man.
The club quickly learned the dangers of allowing the manager to dictate said restructure when Rodgers suddenly departed for Leicester, taking basically everyone along with him.
Neil Lennon was then brought in to emulate the authoritative role of Rodgers; the club hired Nick Hammond and Jay Lefevre quietly assist him.
Again, this half-hearted approach to restructure was shown up, only this time in a much more damaging and direct way when the crucial 2020-21 season ended in disaster.
Desmond himself then held discussions with Eddie Howe and, crucially, Fergal Harkin, who was slated to become the club’s first director of football since Kenny Dalglish in 2000.
We all know how that turned out: another form of humiliation, as the whole thing collapsed at the very end.
Thankfully, Peter Lawwell (despite vacating his role as CEO just months earlier) informed Desmond of who was Ange Postecoglou was, and the one-man show resumed.
What would you say to Dermot Desmond about Celtic’s transfer model now?
Fast forward to 2026
I’ll save you all a recap of Paul Tisdale’s tenure as Head of Football Operations and the subsequent disastrous transfer windows and eventual appointment of Wilfried Nancy, as you all get the point by now.
For as long as things are done on Desmond’s terms, we will remain in this cycle.
Tisdale was hired for a position of immense authority despite never working in a remotely similar position; he had instead been consulting various clubs as a self-described “football doctor”.
Desmond don’t want best-in-class; he wants the status quo.
O’Neill is getting on a bit at 74, but has just proven his worth by securing an unlikely league and cup double with a remarkable record in interim charge.
He has shirked the tag of being an ‘outdated’ or ‘dinosaur’ manager, to which he was undoubtedly susceptible upon his return to football.
The same can’t be said of Desmond’s model, which currently looks equally likely to land us much-denounced appointment of Keane.
We don’t need to get into the reasons for said denunciation, we just have to ask the question: why does Desmond want Keane?
We all know the answer: Desmond has a pre-existing relationship with Keane and likes him. And Desmond’s word goes.
He has been identified through no serious process, through an outdated model which allows Celtic to be outperformed by many of their European peers, most of whom have far fewer resources.
Here’s hoping that O’Neill wins a race that should never taken shape in the first place.
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