{"id":495524,"date":"2026-03-26T01:30:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T01:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/495524\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T01:30:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T01:30:12","slug":"dermot-desmond-sparks-celtic-spending-concern-amid-fan-backlash-as-next-boss-forces-board-to-dig-deep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/495524\/","title":{"rendered":"Dermot Desmond sparks Celtic spending concern amid fan backlash as next boss forces board to dig deep"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hoops legend Frank McAvennie is worried the rift between the fans and the board could have long lasting consequences<\/p>\n

Dermot Desmond (L) and Michael Nicholson(Image: SNS Group)<\/p>\n

Frank McAvennie insists Celtic will need to appoint a heavyweight manager like Roberto Martinez this summer to persuade Dermot Desmond<\/a> to dig out the chequebook.<\/p>\n

The Hoops hero fears the Parkhead powerbroker might dig in after a campaign spent warring with a section of the club\u2019s supporters. But Macca insisted Celtic<\/a> need serious investment \u2013 and a serious manager \u2013 or face a trophy less future.<\/p>\n

The Hoops have been linked with Portugal coach Martinez, Robbie Keane<\/a> and Motherwell\u2019s Jens Berthel Askou<\/a> with Martin O’Neill expected to step down at the end of the season. But McAvennie has thrown his weight behind Martinez \u2013 as he has concerns Askou wouldn\u2019t make the demands needed on the board.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cCeltic have got to buy players. Dermot and the board are going to have to spend.<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m a wee bit concerned with all that\u2019s gone on between the fans and the board. I understand all what is happening with the fans, but when you are talking about sacking people and so on, you can\u2019t do that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just hope Dermot doesn\u2019t take it the wrong way and not spend any money this summer. We can\u2019t have that \u2013 because this team is not good enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf they bring in the boy from Motherwell, he\u2019s a good manager, but it will say to me they are not going to spend any money.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause he\u2019s not going to ask questions. If someone like Martinez comes in<\/a>, a bit like Martin O\u2019Neil first time around, he wants this and that, and all of a sudden he has big players like Chris Sutton and John Hartson, good quality players.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what Celtic need this summer. I like the Motherwell manager but I just don\u2019t know if he\u2019s big enough or strong enough for the board.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaritinez has worked with Shaun Maloney and would come in and want money. He\u2019s been there and done it, he knows Celtic and would tell them they need to buy players.<\/p>\n

\u201cMartin did it in 2000 when the team was awful, but not as bad as it is now.<\/p>\n

\"Portugal<\/p>\n

Portugal boss Roberto Martinez<\/p>\n

\u201cUnless we get a manger who will come in and demand money, I can see us going two years without winning anything. I hope I am wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

McAvennie is worried about the summer \u2013 especially after caretaker boss Martin O\u2019Neill wasn\u2019t backed in the January window.<\/p>\n

The Hoops were six points behind Hearts when the Northern Irishman was summoned for a second rescue mission.<\/p>\n

But Celts signed a rake of loan players plus Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain on a short-term deal with several struggling to make an impact.<\/p>\n

\"Celtic's<\/p>\n

Celtic’s Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain during a clash with Motherwell (Image: SNS Group)<\/p>\n

McAvennie \u2013 who spoke to Record Sport at the campaign launch to build a statue of Lisbon Lion Jim Craig in Govan \u2013 said: \u201cYou look at January. They didn\u2019t spend a penny. St Mirren spent more and they only spent about 125 grand.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know there are wages and so on, but I just don\u2019t get it. When you look at that team, a year ago they went toe-to-toe with Bayern Munich, but they would take eight off Celtic now.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not a slant on anyone, but it\u2019s a reality. You want to see improvement all the time and that\u2019s not happened in the last couple of windows.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope Dermot says to the board to get the money out bring in a decent manager first of all and give them the cash to buy decent players.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can\u2019t do what they usually do and wait to see if they get to the Champions League before making signings.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey might not even get the chance next year as it could be the Europa League, or even the Conference.<\/p>\n

\u201cHearts and Rangers will be hard to beat.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think all three teams will drop points \u2013 and Motherwell will have a big say in it.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut Celtic cannot really afford to drop any more points.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frank McAvennie was helping to launch a campaign to build a statue of Lisbon Lion Jim Craig in Govan at the Glasgow Irish Centre.<\/p>\n

For more info go to jimcraiggovanfoundation.co.uk<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Hoops legend Frank McAvennie is worried the rift between the fans and the board could have long lasting…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":495525,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[2817,1669,12431,2600,218,66542,80483,174547,107294,8058,101,2719,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-495524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-celtic-fc","tag-champions-league","tag-dermot-desmond","tag-europa-league","tag-football","tag-frank-mcavennie","tag-jens-berthel-askou","tag-john-hartson","tag-robbie-keane","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\/495524","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=495524"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495524\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/495525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=495524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=495524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=495524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}