Davie Moyes has openly discussed meeting with Dermot Desmond to discuss managing Celtic.
In the spring of 2016 Celtic were looking for a successor to Ronny Deila who had been in the manager’s chair for 12 months.
Moyes had been out of management since November 2015 when he left Real Sociedad. In July 2015 he had brought Real Sociedad to play Celtic in a pre-season friendly staged by St Mirren.
As a former Celtic player, an experienced manager with Manchester United on his CV it was entirely reasonable for the club to discuss Moyes and meet up with him.
Moyes did meet with Celtic but not the CEO or Chairman.
It seems that Peter Lawwell and Ian Bankier were happy to take a back seat.
Instead a minority shareholder seemed to be driving the task of replacing Deila.
In 2006 Dermot Desmond was given a waiver from Section 9 by the Takeover Panel.
What terms were applied to that waiver are unknown as he took his stake in the company above 29.9%
It is reasonable to assume that one of the conditions was not to exert undue influence over the running of the company.
By doing so Desmond was able to own 34% of the shares in Celtic without having to make an offer to buy out every other shareholder.
CELTIC, SECTION 9 AND UNDUE INFLUENCE
Celtic fans have become used to almost all major decisions involving Desmond.
Brendan Rodgers, Martin O’Neill and Neil Lennon have regularly referenced the involvement of the Irish businessman.
O’Neill has regularly referenced taking a phone call from Desmond in October 2025, two days later he was in the home dug-out for a match against Falkirk.
In December 2024 Rodgers spoke about flying to Ireland to discuss various matters including January recruitment. Alas that seemed to be the beginning of the end for Rodgers.
Less than a year later there was the infamous statement on the Celtic website about Rodgers. Surely Exhibit 1 if the Takeover Panel are to investigate undue influence in relation to Section 9.
@PaulJohnDykes
The footage of this conversation is still available on the Upfront podcast from 1st August 2024. Another example of undue influence. https://t.co/FhCUAx6xWs— sean (@seanbhoy1984) November 8, 2026
CLICK HERE for the Upfront podcast hosted by Simon Jordan where Moyes discusses his contact with Moyes.
The detail listed above is fairly fresh. Moyes is a relative outsider but makes it clear that to become Celtic manager approval has to come from Desmond.
There are no set rules to over getting a waiver for Section 9 from the Takeover Panel. Unless a concern is raised they won’t investigate.
At this stage fans or shareholders can only speculate over what conditions the Takeover Panel applied to Desmond’s deal.
DESMOND AND THE TAKEOVER PANEL
To have control of a PLC you have to make an offer to all other shareholders as soon as you go over 29.9% of the shares.
If Desmond has too much control it is other shareholders that are missing out by being marginalised.
Should it be proved that the conditions of the Section 9 waiver have been broken there are no set sanctions.
Those involved could be cold shouldered which effectively prevents them from any share dealing or investments.
The next step is clearly upto Celtic Supporters Limited but they seem well briefed in the workings of a PLC.
Celtic fans have been conditioned to the role of Desmond, for many years it seemed positive as he opened the door to managers that would have been out of bounds.
Peter Lawwell’s contact book covered Neil Lennon, Ronny Deila and Tony Mowbray.
Desmond brought big hitters Martin O’Neill and Brendan Rodgers to the club.
In 2021 Frank Trimboli, agent for Ange Postecoglou made contact with Desmond to get his client in contention for the vacant manager’s job.
A Google search for ‘Desmond, Celtic and manager’ throws the net wide open with Craig Bellany and Robbie Keane among the newest links.
Whether an investigation from the Takeover Panel will impact on how Celtic operates remains to be seen. But right now it does feel like the best hope for change at Celtic.
