Dermot Desmond will never be a popular figure at Celtic.
As Celtic’s principal shareholder, he is front and centre of what the club does and doesn’t do, even if you never hear from him.
But with the 2026 summer transfer window over a week old, Frank McAvennie is beginning to question if Celtic will produce the goods in the market.
On top of that, McAvennie dropped the rather worrying bombshell that Desmond is ‘getting involved’ in scouting players, as he told his Let Me Be Frank Podcast.
Host Simon Houston: “You heard a wee rumour.”
McAvennie: “I heard Dermot is doing it himself.”
Houston: “Getting involved in actually trying to scout players? He has got a lot of time on his hands.”
McAvennie: “Surely not?! He has a lot of time on his hands, but my god.”
👀 A clear trend in Martin O’Neill’s striker targets…
Surely Martin O’Neill won’t allow Dermot Desmond to get involved
Without Martin O’Neill, Celtic would have finished the previous campaign trophyless, and the divide between fans and the board would have been as big as it has ever been.
But O’Neill brought everybody together, despite the continued nonsense from those in the boardroom. From a lack of communication to how they back their managers.
If Desmond is having any sort of say in scouting, transfers or anything of that nature, then it wouldn’t be a surprise, but rather worrying for the Celtic Park faithful.
However, with a man of O’Neill’s calibre now in charge for next season, it just doesn’t feel right that he would allow such nonsense.
Hopefully, McAvennie is wrong about what he is hearing, because those already making the calls are proving to be incompetent as it is.
Despite the summer transfer window still being in the early stages, and the 2026 World Cup taking centre stage, McAvennie thinks it will be the same old story by the end of it all.
Houston: “Do you think he has thought that maybe this analytic business is the way forward. He is maybe looking at stats and data. Maybe looking to identify players himself.”
McAvennie: “I think he is a very clever man. To make the money he has, you have to be very clever. But leave it to the football guys.”
Houston: “He strikes me as the type of individual that might do that.”
McAvennie: “That’s why I said it to you, because it’s so strange that it could be true.”
Houston: “Maybe he has thought there is a science involved in identifying players with data.”
McAvennie: “Martin isn’t the type of manager that you say, ‘there is a player.’ (David) Sullivan did it with West Ham. Every Monday morning, there was a striker there. ‘Who is that? It’s a striker. Don’t need a striker, but you have it.’
“Listen, I hope we get people in.”
Houston: “There is no evidence of that happening.”
McAvennie: “You know what? Normally, you sit and think, ‘We are going to do this.’ I just don’t see it. I don’t see anything. I think it’s going to be the same as the last couple of seasons. I think it’s going to be last-minute. Creeping for loans. A club like Celtic shouldn’t do that.”
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