It is tempting, when looking at Celtic’s extraordinary response to the protest aimed at Dermot Desmond the other day, to see it simply as Desmond lashing out at supporters.
But that may be too narrow. There is a wider context here, and I think it matters, because Desmond and this Board are not under pressure from one direction now. They are under pressure from several.
Supporter anger is one front. The state of the football operation is another. The manager’s position is another. And then there is the looming ghost of Brendan Rodgers.
There are people who think Rodgers will be constrained in what he says when he finally speaks properly about the end of his time at Celtic. Constrained because he loves the club and does not want to burn the house down. Constrained because he may have signed a non-disclosure agreement. Constrained because he may fear the consequences of saying too much.
I am not convinced that any of those things will necessarily stop him.
If you love a club, or claim to love it, and you leave because of the way it is being run, I would argue that there comes a point where affection becomes a reason to speak rather than a reason to stay silent. If you genuinely believe that something inside Celtic is wrong, then hiding behind love for the institution can only go so far.
At some point, if you know things that supporters ought to know, there is a moral argument for telling them.
The NDA question is more interesting. Unless confidentiality provisions formed part of Rodgers’ original contractual arrangements, or unless he later agreed to some form of settlement containing confidentiality clauses, simply resigning would not in itself silence him.
I know that coaches who left alongside him were not bound in that way. That makes Rodgers’ own position all the more interesting.
One possibility, and I want to be absolutely clear that this is speculation, is that if Rodgers is bound by any later confidentiality agreement, it could conceivably have emerged from some subsequent settlement following Dermot Desmond’s extraordinary public statement about him.
Again, that is speculation. But unless there was already something in Rodgers’ contract, or something was agreed later, there is no obvious reason to assume that his departure automatically came with a gag around his neck.
And that matters, because there are still many months before Rodgers makes his appearance with ACSOM.
Whatever else he may have going on in the background, whether that is further media work, a book, other appearances or something else entirely, we simply do not know. And that unknown is going to do a lot of the work.
Desmond does not know what Rodgers intends to say. The Board does not know how much Rodgers intends to say. They do not know whether this ACSOM appearance is the first move in a broader communications strategy or simply one part of something bigger.
They do not know whether he intends to give interviews elsewhere, whether he intends to write, or whether he intends to address the recruitment structure, the chain of command, the football operation, his relationship with the people above him, or all of it.
They simply do not know.
And that is precisely what makes the development so dangerous for them.
Rodgers does not have to say anything tomorrow. In some ways, the fact that he may not speak fully for months makes the situation worse for the people running Celtic.
They cannot prepare for one allegation, one interview or one line of attack. They simply have to sit with the uncertainty.
And if you are not viewing the club’s recent behaviour in the context of an executive under pressure from multiple directions, then I do not think you are looking at the whole picture.
From the moment Rodgers’ appearance was announced, I would expect alarm bells to have been ringing throughout Celtic Park.
ACSOM has claimed that the club was already attempting to undermine the event. If that is accurate, it would hardly be surprising.
Why would Celtic be relaxed about this? Why would they be indifferent?
The pressure does not exist because Rodgers has nothing to say. It exists precisely because of the damage what he might say could do.
And Rodgers does not even need to unload every detail. That is the other thing people are missing.
He does not need to turn up with documents under his arm and spend two hours detonating bombs. He does not need to reveal every conversation, tell every story or name every name.
He only needs to express concern about how Celtic is being run. He only needs to make clear that working inside this structure became difficult. He only needs to suggest that other high-profile managers may also struggle under the same conditions.
Most importantly, he only needs to validate the concerns supporters already have.
That may be enough.
Rodgers still carries credibility with a large section of the support. He won trophies here. He knows how the club operates internally. He knows where the problems are.
And if he chooses to say that those problems are serious, he instantly becomes more than a former manager talking about the past.
He becomes a flag around which supporter discontent can rally.
That is what makes him potentially more dangerous to this Board than almost anything that has come before.
The supporter protests are visible. The banners are visible. The anger is visible.
Rodgers is different.
Rodgers has been inside. He knows the conversations, the structures, who made decisions and who did not. He knows what was promised and what was delivered.
Until he speaks, nobody at Celtic knows exactly how much of that he is prepared to put into the public domain.
That uncertainty creates pressure all by itself.
Rodgers is the ghost they never expected to show up at the feast.
They thought they had seen him off. They thought that months of silence meant the story was over.
But we all knew it was not over.
We all knew there would eventually come a point where Brendan Rodgers would be asked what happened at Celtic. The only questions were when, where and how much he would choose to say.
Now we have at least part of the answer.
He has chosen a Celtic fan-media platform with a large and engaged audience. That alone matters because this is not some throwaway interview at the end of a press conference or a five-minute television segment.
It is an environment where he can speak at length, explain, contextualise and answer questions without somebody waving from behind a camera after two minutes.
Rodgers was never going to stay silent indefinitely.
That is why even his silence now has power. The mystery has power. The speculation has power. The fact that supporters are already asking what else he might be planning has power.
From now until the moment he steps onto that stage, he creates uncertainty around the people he left behind.
And I have no problem with that.
I want them rattled. I want them off their game. I want them worried about what he might say.
This Board has spent far too long behaving as though everyone else has to live with uncertainty while they remain insulated from it.
Perhaps now they can experience some themselves.
And the great irony is that Rodgers does not really have to say much at all.
Most of his criticisms and concerns are already sitting there on the record. All he has to do is keep quiet long enough for supporters to look around at what has happened since he left.
Recruitment problems remain. Structural problems remain. Managerial instability remains. Questions over authority remain. Questions over planning remain. Questions over who is actually in charge of what remain.
All Rodgers has to do is allow supporters to reach the conclusion that maybe he was right.
In that sense, he has already damaged them.
His warnings now echo much more loudly because of what has happened since. The club has done much of the work for him.
And now he is going to break cover.
The timing could hardly be more savage.
Supporters are already in open conflict with the Board. Dermot Desmond has already been personally targeted by protest. The relationship between the club and organised supporter groups has deteriorated dramatically, and the football operation is under scrutiny.
Into all of that walks Brendan Rodgers.
The ghost at the feast.
The uninvited guest who disrupts the whole party simply by turning up.
Even if all he did was cancel on the night, which I do not believe he will, the damage created by the uncertainty would already have been substantial.
But if he turns up and speaks plainly, he does not need to tell everything. He only needs to tell enough.
Enough to confirm what supporters already suspect.
Enough to explain why the relationship broke down.
Enough to make people wonder whether any ambitious manager could thrive under the current structure.
Enough to turn suspicion into conviction.
That is why Celtic cannot possibly be relaxed about it.
I believe they are worried. They should be.
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Meanwhile over on Thick News, the baker’s dozen of board lickers are circling the zimmers!
A question to anyone who knows. Don’t disclosure agreements work both ways? Could Desmond have given Brendan an open goal with his wee rant through the official Celtic website?
Banquo enters stage left….
I know it’s kind of off subject, but I’m sick of Desmond being referred to as ‘owner of Celtic’. He fucking isn’t! End of! It’s just another SMSM way of having a dig. Sooner we get this arrogant and his cronies out, the better. Even if we have to take a couple of seasons not winners, surely the long term is worth it.
Arrogant cu**, I meant to say
On St Crispin’s Day 1415, The English fought the French at the Battle of Agincourt an event lauded in Film and Literature describing how the stout English longbowmen carried the day. Revisionists will tell you it was two other major factors which were far more important, the weather and the fact the the haughty French Knights refused to fight back against the English peasants.
Ce n’est pas le cricket!
Stuck in the mud due to their heavy armour the French knights refused to defend themselves against the English riff raff hacking away at them.
The victor writes the history and of course the English media/word of mouth would have been happy to overlook this and celebrate a great victory.
Not so in the coming battle in June.
What are the board to do? Respond to the barbs of a coquettish chancer who has found another way of relieving the Celtic fans of their hard-earned or like the French Knights stoically take the hits. They won’t be that damaging if it wasn’t for a more than willing anti-Celtic press who are salivating at the very thought.
Rodgers football philosophy is still hurting the team to this day.
Want to boycott something to improve Celtic? Start with this chancers “lie-in”.
I have always been a great believer in most things happen for a reason, and having a strong faith, only reinforces that belief, in many situations.
I have said, and still believe that positive change will definitely happen at Celtic…the timescale of that outcome is obviously harder to predict.
After yesterday’s St Andrew’s demo, where DD was given the opportunity to chip a tennis ball onto the green, and the club’s subsequent condescending communique, it just clarifies/reinforces the thinking that comes from our major shareholder and his board puppets!
Their arrogance continues, as does their disdain for our fanbase!
Whatever any of us think about yesterday’s events at St Andrews, we have to understand that Celtic groups, associations and Collective’s have tried to have meaningful discussions with our board, and are rebuffed at every turn.
They firmly believe that they do not have to engage with fans, and arrogance determines the stance that they continue to hold. We all know that is wrong.
If they cared about the club and those that finance it ( us) then of course they would be open to positive dialogue and progressing the club in a manner that we all want to see !
As James said, in an earlier article, their actions ( and inaction) which have led us to the present impasses, have sucked the life out of so many of us, and our enthusiasm for watching our club. To write that is incredibly sad!
Going to watch Celtic has been, and should always be, a happy time, regardless of results. It’s not life or death, merely your time with family, friends & acquaintances at the games, and a chance to escape whatever crap may be happening elsewhere!
That is being eroded by the current custodians and will probably only stop when change, throughout our club, occurs.
Whether they’re still here by the time BR gets to speak, who knows!
Everything does happen for a reason, and god willing, we get that positive outcome! HH
Gerry, do you not think your enjoyment is being eroded by the current team selections and tactics?
I am no board supporter but Hassan, Hogh, Baur and Duran are incredible signings and the fact that they are being misused is not the board’s fault.
Getting rid of the hangover of Rodger’s possession football by a new management set up would go a long way to relieving the situation.
For my money the board should sign the Lask manager and have him set up the team the way they played.
Who are the white knights you want to ride in and save the day. a David Murray, a Craig White, a Charles Green or maybe the Man City guys?
The problem is on the park not off it!
Cgreen123,
I get your point and of course the product on the park we are currently watching, is pretty dreadful.
Formation, tactics and style of play is the remit of our management & coaching staff and we are all fully aware of the requirement for that and many of our players to significantly improve !!!
The results and performances pre international break, fully bear that out !!!
However, we arrived here after securing a title against all odds and the thinking that, surely, those that run our club have learnt from last season’s omni shambles & chaos!
We all believed there had to be a more professional approach ahead !!!
How wrong could we be?
The board are to blame for their inability to attract a proper manager & staff with dynamism and forward thinking !
MON is a legend and is loved by us all, but most fans agree he should have stepped down after securing a wonderful double !!!
He rescued our season not once but twice last year and that should have been enough for him to walk away as a hero and club legend that he is !
However this board did their usual tardy, lazy approach and re-appointed MON. Yes, I know he accepted it, but what other options did they have or look at ?
He was undoubtedly promised the world, in terms of signings but did he get everything he wanted, or was he let down, like so many before him?
I think we all know the answer when we look at this board’s continued inability and tardiness in the transfer market!
Allowing your top assets to leave, ( which is fine,) but failing to firstly get their replacements in the door and integrate new players before your biggest game of the season …a recurring theme which has seen us fail in the CL qualifiers, so many times !!!
Yes, the players let us down in Austria, but we all know if the proper preparatory work had been done ( management team, required signings in early etc) now, and in previous seasons , CL status and the money to go with it, would have been secured!!!
Like so many fans, I just want to see our club ran in a professional and progressive manner, by people that care about our club & fans.
Rather than putting up with the continued arrogance from the current custodians, who really don’t appear to have any clue, how to take Celtic forward!!!
You couldn’t have used any worse examples of white knights than those you list but I get the sarcasm lol.
I’m pretty sure there are Celtic minded professionals out there that would love to be involved in our club, but obviously getting in the door is the hardest part !
Why should Celtic fans be happy to settle for the status quo?
DD & his board have had their time, and regardless of our domestic success over the last 14 years, we have not progressed in Europe!
A club of Celtic’s stature should definitely have a better name in European competition. That is what our fans expect, regardless of the greed and riches in the top 5 leagues !!!
Fans are entitled to continually wonder why we fail every year and who/what are the root causes!
Again, it’s not difficult to place the blame at a board that is out of touch with modern football and seems to hold a deep contempt towards our fans !!!!
As I’ve said, everything happens for a reason and amid the current turmoil, we have to keep the faith and hope that positive changes will come ! HH
Brendan Rodgers in the words of (Paul Keating PM) “in the psychological battle stakes is stripped down and ready to go”
He is doing DD & Son, Mute Mike and the muppets in the boardroom
SLOWLY…..
https://youtube.com/shorts/wamun0LDHb8?si=fNpmWWqohG01Zz6Z
James I can’t believe that ACSOM would pay all that money to get BR to appear without getting any assurances that he would disclose the things supporters want hear r
Really? So he would tell them in advance what he was going to say and his comments would remain a secret until then?
Some of the Celtic support are hell bent on making a bad situation worse. That yesterday was an embarrassment, a crowd of guys running around an Historical Golf Course, with black balaclavas and masks on, throwing tennis balls, and purporting to represent Celtic supporters. Anybody who thinks that’s a smart thing to do, need their heads examined.
Johnny Green – what would be the point of him coming here to tell us nothing that we didn’t already know
No point Kevin. However, we certainly will not know that until it happens, for knowing in advance would defeat the purpose.