The Celtic AGM sparks even more debate after 67 Hail Hail’s appearance on BBC Sportsound at the weekend.
Initially, this site was approached to take part in a discussion to talk about Celtic facing St Mirren prior to the shambolic AGM.
Naturally, that discussion was short-lived as we gave our view on not just the meeting outcome but also Ross Desmond’s attack on the Celtic supporters.
As the BBC Sportsound panel discussed Brendan Rodgers’ Celtic resignation and the lack of class from Dermot Desmond‘s statement, 67 Hail Hail highlighted the hypocrisy Michael Nicholson showed at a meeting with the Celtic Fans Collective.
Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty ImagesMichael Nicholson called out for his appearance at the Celtic Fans Collective meeting
Michael Nicholson and Chris McKay both met the Celtic Fans Collective in a meeting to try and iron out issues supporters have had with the club from this season and beyond.
And here, 67 Hail Hail called out the hypocrisy of the Celtic CEO after the events of the last few weeks have made him look a bit foolish.
We told BBC Sportsound, “Can I also say about that statement from Dermot Desmond.
“A couple of weeks before Brendan Rodgers resigned, we were told by Michael Nicholson that everybody’s pulling in the same direction in the meeting that he had with the Celtic Fans Collective on the 6th of October.
“We were told there were no problems, we’re all pulling the same direction, we’re all trying to do our best for Celtic and, all of a sudden, this statement from Desmond appeared to blame Brendan Rodgers for all the ills at the club.
“So for me, there’s so many conflicting accounts of what’s been actually going on.
“And then when you look at how Desmond attacked Rodgers in the media and how his son, Ross attacked the fans, for me, like I said before, I’m actually dumbfounded.
“I’m 48 years old now, I’ve never seen anything like this in my life.”
The heated BBC debate over Dermot Desmond, Brendan Rodgers, Ross Desmond and the Celtic support
The comments sparked a heated debate as Tom English and Rory Loy argued over Dermot Desmond’s hatchet job on Brendan Rodgers and Ross Desmond’s incredible attack on the Celtic supporters.
English replied, “Paddy, what possibly drove Ross Desmond and Dermot Desmond, by extension, to do this?
“Like, what good did you do? If you try and look into Ross Desmond’s head, what good do you think he was he was trying to achieve?”
Loy: “If they feel that Brendan Rodgers has come out, and we all know about the car analogy, I’m not going to revisit that, and he has been saying things that aren’t true, and Paddy hits the nail on the head..”
English: “But we’re talking about the AGM now?”
Loy: “No, I understand that, but it’s all pulled into one. But I think that the initial statement that Celtic released with regards to Brendan Rodgers leaving from Dermot Desmond was their way, I think they felt that that was their voice to try and I think they were concerned that the fans would would massively turn against them, even more given the circumstances that Brendan Rodgers had left, and they wanted to try and set the record straight.
“And it all accumulates to the AGM, where they try a second time, and the fans just aren’t having it.”
English: “If Dermot Desmond thought that his statement attacking Brendan Rodgers was going to turn the fans around, then he really is living in cloud cuckoo land…”
Loy: “But what, what…”
English: “Hang on a second, because he was laying all of the problems of Celtic squarely at Brendan Rodgers’ door, not accepting any responsibility for the board’s failure.”
Loy: “But they had already apologised for the summer transfer window, so that’s not entirely true Tom.”
English: “When did they apologise for the transfer window.”
Loy: “They said that they had gotten it wrong in terms of the business and how they’ve gone about it.”
English: “Did you read Dermot Desmond’s statement?”
Loy: “I can’t remember specifically but I’m pretty sure they come out and said…”
English: “It was a full-on assault on Brendan Rodgers.”
Loy: “Paddy hits a nail on the head. We don’t know what’s happened. So if what Dermot Desmond has said previously and is true, then I wouldn’t be comfortable sitting there while somebody sees these things about the board that aren’t true, so you want to have your own voice. But the problem is, like Paddy says…”
English: “Rodgers is gone. Show a bit of decorum, let him go. He’s won a lot of trophies. Yes, he’s been high maintenance at times, without question.
“His ego has got out of control, without question. He’s gone, let him go. What’s the point?
“What is the point of really attacking him as he goes out the door? And what was the point on Friday of Ross Desmond taking a flamethrower to the supporters?”
The debate over both Desmond’s motives will continue but Celtic fans are not fooled. They can see the board circling the wagons around themselves and it’s not a good look.
Compare and contrast that against how the Ibrox club have conducted their business over the last 24 hours, the Celtic board and both Desmonds should take a long hard look in their collective mirrors.
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