Irish Independent journalist delivers some biting home truths to Dermot Desmond

Every Celtic fan owes Eamonn Sweeney a vow of thanks today.

Writing in the Irish Independent he destroys the myth surrounding Dermot Desmond’s apparent success at Celtic.

The Irish businessman has managed to steer clear of being associated with Celtic’s stagnation. But his statement soon after Brendan Rodgers resigned changed the landscape.

That came on October 27. On November 21 his son Ross read out a blistering statement at the Celtic AGM. No one can be in any doubt about the level of contempt Desmond Senior has for those pesky anti-establishment Celtic fans.

CELTIC SUPPORT IN IRELAND

While Celtic have a very committed and active support across Ireland the main interest for 90% of soccer fans is the magic of the EPL.

Some of those fans will take a passing interest in Celtic. Mainly on Champions League nights but little more than that.

Desmond gets associated with Celtic’s success. He likes to take ownership of it and keep a distance from the calamities created under Peter Lawwell and Michael Nicholson.

You won’t often see Dermo associated with Malmo, Maribor, AEK Athens, Cluj, Ferencvaros, Midtjylland and Kairat Almaty on his home turf. Today he was.

Sweeney doesn’t hold back. He doesn’t go into the nuts and bolts of the disastrous 25/26 campaign but there is more than enough content for the rugger and golfing types to nudge each other, point and laugh at Dermot and Ross next time they drop by.

Irish newspapers still employ some outstanding writers and journalists that hit the mark.

That is part of the reason that Tom English headed east to collect pounds sterling rather than euros.

The full article is a treasure, behind a paywall on the Irish Independent site. If you like your writing to be independent, free from cheerleaders and vested interest it is well worth your time and money to take a look.

The Top Takeways are:

Sweeney opens with:

Celtic deserve better than Dermot Desmond. Enough is enough. Things can’t go on like this. Ireland’s leading Bismarck lookalike and his minions are dragging the club down the drain. It’s hard to imagine things improving on their watch.

Setting the scene Sweeney adds:

Something like yesterday’s fiasco was on the cards. The surprise was that little St Mirren, to their credit, were the ones to take full advantage.

It’s not a case of hindsight being 20/20 vision. The omens were clear after a pre-season transfer window widely derided as the worst in club history.

Covering the resignation of Brendan Rodgers he adds:

Rodgers barely tried to hide his dismay but his departure at the end of October still came as a surprise. More surprising still was the statement which followed soon afterwards in which Desmond described Rodgers as, “divisive, misleading and self-serving”, accused him of “creating a toxic atmosphere” and “fuelling hostility” towards the board.

The chief shareholder’s extraordinary outburst reeked of plutocratic entitlement. Anyone spouting such invective was hardly in a position to complain about others being divisive, self-serving and toxic.

Into his stride, covering the adjourned and aborted AGM Sweeney added:

On its resumption, Ross Desmond, son of Dermot, decided it would be a good idea to read a statement describing the board’s critics as, “irrational” and “bullies”. The reaction to this led to the meeting being abandoned altogether.

Full acknowledgment and credit for appointing Martin O’Neill is given, the only good call made by Celtic this season.

After a Ted Lasso comparison for Wilfried Nancy there is a stinging conclusion, readers may suspect that Sweeney has sympathy for the aims of the Celtic Fans Collective as the domestic and European records are compared:

Yet such victories ring increasingly hollow as a catalogue of humiliations betray a proud European tradition. A club which once considered itself the equivalent of the English giants has become a north-of-the-border Norwich City. The fans are told they shouldn’t expect anything better.

Christmas is coming and Tims both tiny and large are being tormented by the Scrooges of the board. It’s time for the Ghost of Celtic Past to arise, rattle its chains and make them change their ways.

TASTY AT TANNADICE

Nancy will provide an update on how close he is to finding solutions to his project when he faces the media tomorrow afternoon.

The positioning of the away support at Tannadice and the stadium acoustics shouldn’t leave any Sky Sports viewers in any doubt over how Celtic fans feel about their board of directors. Chants calling for their resignation will be prominent. Every passing week the need gets greater.

Ian Crocker might be required to issue a record number of apologies ‘to viewers who may be offended by the language’.

Whatever golf course he is near today it’s unlikely that Celtic’s largest individual shareholder will be impressed by Sweeney’s use of language in the Irish Independent.

Well done Eamonn, more power to you. Keep up the enlightened work. If only we had some like you in Scotland fan media wouldn’t be so needed.

Clearly the work of the Collective is being noticed. Not Another Penny is starting to bite. And will go on into 2026, without question.