{"id":147464,"date":"2025-09-19T13:49:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-19T13:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/147464\/"},"modified":"2025-09-19T13:49:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-19T13:49:08","slug":"dermot-desmond-insider-breaks-rank-as-celtic-fans-taken-for-fools-with-two-triggers-escalating-tension","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/147464\/","title":{"rendered":"Dermot Desmond insider breaks rank as Celtic fans taken ‘for fools’ with two triggers escalating tension"},"content":{"rendered":"

The unrest in the Celtic Park stands is bubbling heading into the Premier Sports Cup clash with Patrick Thistle this weekend<\/p>\n

12:05, 19 Sep 2025Updated 13:16, 19 Sep 2025<\/p>\n

Content cannot be displayed without consent<\/p>\n

Lord Willie Haughey has warned the Celtic<\/a> board they can’t take fans for “fools” as he named the two transfer issues that he believes sparked supporter fury.<\/p>\n

The former Hoops non-executive director worked alongside Dermot Desmond<\/a> in Glasgow’s east end after the majority shareholder helped save the club from closure in 1994.<\/p>\n

And he has opened up on what he believes is behind growing fan unrest at Celtic Park – with sections of the support waiting 12 minutes before entering Rugby Park in protest<\/a> during the clash with Kilmarnock last weekend.<\/p>\n

Transfer issues coupled with the humiliating Champions League exit at the hands of minnows Kairat Almaty have sent tensions rocketing, and Haughey said: “I was as disappointed as every other Celtic fan about going out of the Champions League<\/a> to a team I thought we should have beat – home and away.<\/p>\n

“Really, really disappointed with how the window went. I think that was just compounded that and got 80 per cent of the fans upset was the statement by the club. I think if they reflect on that they would probably admit that themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s what sparked the anger, more than anything else.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, don\u2019t tell Celtic fans how to support Celtic. And don\u2019t try to take them for fools.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pressed on how to repair the relationship on Go Radio, Haughey went on: “When you have got stability within a club, with the best manager we could get right now, and an owner who has put his money where his mouth is – the problem lies with recruitment.<\/p>\n

“We are all angry. Let’s focus in on how we fix that. The fans have been great. They got behind the team and made their point at the weekend, but we need to home in on what we are all angry about.<\/p>\n

“Is there something wrong with the set-up? What is wrong with it? Can we get any indication on what we are going to try and do to fix it?<\/p>\n

(Image: SNS Group)<\/p>\n

“It would be great if we kept the form going that we have at the moment, go into January top of the league, and help the manager get the players he needs.”<\/p>\n

And he reckons that the problems have been simmering since the big spending summer transfer window in 2024 – which saw mega money spent on Arne Engels, Auston Trusty and Adam Idah.<\/p>\n

It follows Brendan Rodgers branding an insider who briefed against him “cowardly”<\/a> and demanding an investigation is launched by the Hoops’ hierarchy.<\/p>\n

Asked if he thinks the relationship with Rodgers can be saved, he said: “I certainly hope so, because I would like the manager to stay for a long time to come.<\/p>\n

“Stability is everything. Look what happens to other clubs when they are chopping and changing over the years, and we don’t want that. If we brought in a consultant they would say ‘the problem seems to be this’ (transfers).<\/p>\n

“I think our problem started in the last window when we bought players. I think we could have spent that \u00a325million better.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The unrest in the Celtic Park stands is bubbling heading into the Premier Sports Cup clash with Patrick…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":147465,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[23924,53217,40166,7336,2817,18667,1669,12431,218,8058,101,2719,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-147464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-adam-idah","tag-arne-engels","tag-auston-trusty","tag-brendan-rodgers","tag-celtic-fc","tag-celtic-transfer-news","tag-champions-league","tag-dermot-desmond","tag-football","tag-scottish-premiership","tag-sports","tag-transfer-talk","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147464","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147464"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147464\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147465"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}