The first question I was asked this morning by a solicitor and non-football fan was, “How much is Brendan Rodgers worth?” I said, “He’s probably earned around £30m over the last 15 years”. “So he has enough to sue, if anything Dermot Desmond said is wrong”, came back. You and I both know, he’s not going to sue. It’s all true. It is also high time Celtic took a direct approach to communicating with the supporters.
Who of us would have guessed that Brendan Rodgers, Brendan Rodgers, the man of legendary impeccable character, would have his “conduct and communication” called into question? How shocked was I to read that Brendan’s assertion about the club were “simply untrue”! Untruths come easier to some than others.
Two players in particular are pertinent to the assertion that Brendan had “full knowledge, approval, and endorsement” of players bought and sold; Kyogo and Nicolas Kuhn. “Sell them” is not what should have been said when offers came in for either player. Brendan has favourites in the squad. Others, not so much.
The first thing Martin O’Neill is likely to do when he meets the squad is put an arm around Reo Hatate, Daizen Maeda, and put a call into Cameron Carter-Vickers. Where there are favourites, there are outsiders. Celtic have looked and played like a team divided for most of this year.
This absolute mess was predictable and predicted. On his return as manager in June 2023, I wrote, “Brendan will find a united dressing room, backroom and supporter base. We should all try hard to keep things this way, self-indulgent schisms do nothing for Celtic.” Two years later Dermot Desmond wrote that Brendan’s words and actions were “divisive, misleading, and self-serving”.
Predicted: “Self-indulgent schisms” and we got “divisive… self-serving”. I called it.
The wee-man toxicity that left the club in 2019 was welcomed back to my utter astonishment. Pardon my, “Welcome to Celtic, Brendan” on the day, it was with the best intentions but not entirely sincere.
Martin O’Neill was brought in with a remit to unite the dressing room. A team divided cannot win. Players need to know they are respected. The Honda Civic stuff was not a material comment, merely a public manifestation of what had been the reality at Lennoxtown for a long time.
Celtic has been set back years as a consequence of the decision to appoint Brendan in 2023. I hope the board recognise this, reflect how it came about and on their role in the mess. If you welcome the fox into the hen house, you cannot complain when he eats the hens.
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Desmonds maniacal rant sounded like something that other asshole Trump would write around 3am in the morning,on his very wrongly named,Truth Social.
Absolute lunacy.
The more I read his statement the angrier I get.
He has chosen to go ballistic when the sensible pragmatic approach he is famous for was the way to go. When we want him say something or do something he’s nowhere to be seen or heard but when it’s unhelpful and full of spite he rolls up and damages or club the extent of which is yet to be seen.
Regarding the content of his rant it’s already been rubbished by anyone that has a brain and a memory. 20 minutes Tim’s read Brendan’s exact quote regarding the “contract” offer and he said literally exactly what Dermo said in his statement so where is the lie? What happened to the Danish guy at Go Ahead or the Norwegian guy that went to another Dutch club – did we go for them and fail – yes we did so how exactly did we support the manager every time – we clearly didn’t so there’s another lie. For what Dermo said to be true we would have to have a team full of new players, all 1st/2nd choice, who were pretty much all doing well and no holes in the squad like say at centre forward or right wing? If it wasn’t for Brendan we would have got a last minute striker this window or even a goal keeper to replace Hart – that’s a snapshot of our amazing recruitment policy.
Dermo is an arse and he has proved it with that statement.
BTW I am not devastated the BR is gone but the circus around it is truly awful and unbecoming of our club.
Anyway,glad now to see Brendan well out of it,and away from having to spend time with those Board members.Purgatory.Better for the team and fans.We can sit back and watch,The New Manager show,then the January Transfer Window Show,in between,a few important games to be played.
Final word from” Young Mr Desmond.Carry on,you’ve all done very well”
THE BATTERED BUNNET on 28TH OCTOBER 2025 6:15 PM
Like I said, I don’t believe there wasnt a plan for sacking him, but the resignation took them by surprise going by what MON said today.
Or maybe MON has an excellent poker face which is also possible
19 out of 25 not bad is it ???
Nicholson and Lawwell’s positions are now untenable. The fans won’t wear them any longer. No point in delaying the inevitable.
I don’t see a problem with McKay staying. He’s just the finance guy doing his job.
The Battered Bunnet on 28th October 2025 12:49 pm
Most of us are squarely on the outside. We have only what’s in the pubic domain and whatever inferences we can draw from that, plus or minus our own take.
Paul67 is the only person I know on this site who has reliable information from the inside. That makes him worth listening to. Whether you like what he says is strictly secondary.
Folk who come on here and dis him on his own space do so freely, but as often as not come across as resentful of Paul’s access and their own exclusion from it
————
I have my own thoughts based on no insider information.
However as per above, Paul 67 is in the loop, most of us are not.
While not agreeing with everything Paul 67 writes, I would believe his offerings over the MSM
HH.
McKenna is not thinking out of the box type manager…we need someone “cheapish”,proven European experience and with a cavalier trained team type attitude….Knutsen 100% over mid table Championship manager…
So the mini’s supporters were right ..
Knutsen for me ….
Evening all.
I see the ‘trolls’ are back.
Just a wee reminder, the Ship Bank Shipwrecks are gathering this Friday 31st. It’s a cracking day, no idea what we will be talking about 😉
On days like these, I miss Tony, SFTB, RIP.
HH
I would go for the Bruges manager, played great football at CP last season
Bizarre rant by Desmond..
Every pound reinvested 😃 😊 😀
Log in again…
Peter Latchfords belly
Why after the last 24hrs would PL and MNs position be untenable?
They were dealing with a snake of a manager who thousands of us think was burning the house down until he could leave.
Lastly, you said yy that you watched Lagerbirlke play at Ibrox and thought he wasn’t good enough.
I watched the same game and thought he was as good a 23yo CH that Ive ever seen for Celtic.
I know you’re really wealthy (you’ve told us) but do you know anything about football?
I listened to a podcast about Bodo/Glimt and they are a very well run club with a certain structure from top to bottom. Knutsen is clearly a very good coach, but he’s 57 and never worked outside the comfort zone of the Norwegian league. I’m not quite as convinced as others seem to be.
Lagerbielke *
Was on a Wigan fans forum looking at Sean Maloney’s time there, feck me its really bad think I would rather have Lennon back.
Or was it because Cyriel fouled him when he had the ball and you don’t think it was a foul?
lionroars67 on 28th October 2025 4:59 pm
“Some of the punching down at these supporters on CQN is a joke”
……………
These supporters would rather suck the PLC swamp than drain it as they have been proving since they ignored MON’s comradely tip off 20+ YEARS AGO about the diminishing of the club’s stature that “THE SLOW LANE” would bring about.
Then these supporters kowtowing to a board who kept its powder dry since 2012, yet 60,000 fans kiss this boards ass no matter what they do, or don’t do.
How does this change without fans who are NOT corrupted into any knickers waving clique trying to flick a light on with these supporters, our/my comrades by rattling their cages, or even better, some leadership from the club, opens these fans eyes who need an arm around them, yes they do, because they are being guided by knee jerk emotions, not rational thought.
I want to see these fans getting helped, and becoming better because of it.
That isn’t lecturing its love from an old comrade.
Hopefully we now have a leadership from someone who lifted us to our GREATEST experiences since the Stein era.
Who one would expect would point out how stupid the fans look [with his magical MON words] by giving the hated board 1,000 x 60,000, then a matter of weeks later they are singing sack the board?????
A straightening out of Timmy minds needs to be begin now.
Such fans, obviously misguided by the pathetic, after the season ticket horses have bolted, collective fans group should be calling NO SHOTS on ANY issue regarding the stewardship of Celtic FC.
If fans want rid of the board – then sack the board.
Who is stopping them – apart from weakness????
PS, Michael O’Neill for me as manager.
Long Ball = Reality Ball.
Germany scraped a 0-1 victory vs NI a couple of weeks ago, Germany whining before the game about NI’s long ball tactics.
Neil Lennon played similar stuff vs 2012 version of Barcelona and he made Efe Ambrose look like Billy McNeill. lol
I’m easily pleased.
HH
oot.
‘tabula rasa’
This is what is required for my club.
Tomorrow I will be a Celtic supporter.
HH
DarrenOd….I’m fairly confident that MON n Shaun will win most of the games until they leave.
Full time n interim are different.
Plus, NFL has played and managed in about a fifth of our honours…..you shouldn’t disparage a legend
LAXALT Neil Lennon good player for us never a Legend
Jimmy Delsney, I think, is the only footballer ( maybe even sportsman ) to play in front of 300k attendees within 4 days….which he did in 1937 against Aberdeen and England for Celtic and Scotland respectively.
John Kennedy Is Jimmy’s grandson.
Celtic royalty.
Good luck and thanks John Kennedy.
Darren OD….Just opinions ma mhan…..he’s a legend to me.
Rather odd that three of our first-team players were happy to go back and play for a second time under somebody so ‘self-serving’……
An outlier….Martí Cifuentes Corvill….current manager of Leicester….ex QPR manager….not the best cv…but having watched Leicester in a few games this season….they play some nice attacking football..don’t yet have the players to suit his style…but it’ll come…unless we step in…
Some words and thoughts from Shaun Maloney:
Maloney said: “The last 24 hours have been extremely hectic, turbulent and probably a big bit traumatic for everyone up at Lennoxtown.
“We had a meeting with all of the staff at Lennoxtown pretty early and then some meetings with the senior players.
“The players are really close with Brendan and his staff.
“I would say that the relationship John has with these guys is extreme. It’s deep, it runs deep.
“He helped bring Kieran Tierney through from the youth team and it’s similar with Callum McGregor.
“John’s relationship with these guys is really strong. I know that hurt but they have to separate it. And in fairness, they did.”
Kennedy and Rodgers were followed out the door by fellow backroom staff Adam Sadler, Jack Lyons and Glen Driscoll.
First-team coaches Gavin Strachan and Stephen Woods have stayed put, Stephen McManus has stepped up from B team duties, while Mark Fotheringham has been drafted in as part of a makeshift backroom staff.
Maloney – who came through the youth ranks with close pal Kennedy – continued: “I spoke to John about 4.30pm on Monday and you start to understand that something wasn’t quite right.
“But it was only around 6pm that I was asked if I could come and support Martin.
“It took a few hours for that to really materialise and for other parts of the club to get things in place.
“In terms of the staff, I called Mark Fotheringham at 11.30pm on Monday night and asked if he could be at Lennoxtown on Tuesday morning,
“We arrived at 6.30am and Stephen McManus was the same.
“I asked Stephen at that time to organise in terms of the session that we were wanting. Stevie Woods was the same. Gavin was the same.
“So it was around 11.30pm on Monday night when we were trying to create a structure and give some form of stability to the players.
“Did I get any sleep at all? Not much.”
Maloney has temporarily stepped away from his role as Celtic’s Player Pathway manager to steady the ship.
But the former Wigan and Hibs boss made it clear he doesn’t expect to land the gig full-time.
Speaking ahead of his dugout bow against Falkirk tonight, Maloney added: ”I don’t really see it as an opportunity. We know it’s for an interim period. I think my biggest feeling is probably motivation.
“I was really motivated today to try and bring some sort of calm and stability, which the staff did really well today in an almost impossible task of making it feel stable.
“It doesn’t feel like an opportunity. I just feel like I’m going to try my very best to help us win games, help the players, help Martin.
“You’re kind of detached. We’ve got the game against Falkirk, so you have to prepare for it. But you also have the other side of things where we’ve lost some brilliant people from the club.
“So there is sadness. I’m extremely close with John. I have been for a long, long time.
“And then you have to try and detach yourself in the short term. And then support the team to try and win a game.”
Whits Jurgen doing these days 🤔🤣👍😬
I see the self-styled Celtic Fans Collective is planning yet another protest before tomorrows game against Falkirk. Wonder what primary shool playground antics the steering committee will come up with this time, chapping the main stand front door and running away, or letting tyres down in the car park? Could happen. You would think that those with genuine concern about the Celtic would advocate getting behind Martin and the Bhoys and helping us achieve a positive result but no, more childish pranks in the offing. After that what next? Oot guising oan Friday?
Can we call back some or all of our loaned out players?…
CELTIC MAC
As a matter of interest..how would you organise a visual and verbal protest?…
Just as I thought…
MO’N has no illusions about Lawwell. Get used to the slow lane etc.
However, I suspect he’ll still be shocked at how utterly shite this squad is that the mute has overseen.
BelmontBrian on 28th October 2025 8:02 pm
‘tabula rasa’
How do you know about the Tabula Rasa ?
Have you read the fourth real trilogy of Books by john twelve hawkes , if yes , you know the secrets of the world my friend, theyre not fiction.
Ive read them twice and will read them again. The Traveller. The Dark river. and Golden City. They left me with my mouth wide open after reading them when they came out about 15 years ago and still deeply impact my life and altered my worldly views.
Hey Laxalt
Yes, played senior football for two seasons when at university. So Roond ye.
Robbie Keane a lively outsider…
Playing football obviously didn’t give you much of an understanding or ability to spot a player….but that’s fine….not everyone has my gift/talent to do that.
Bring rich didn’t give you manners tho.
Roonye?CSC
I don’t see any manager with good prospects risking their reputation on Desmond’s whims. That statement last night has done immense harm to Celtic and how we’re viewed in football..
A Maloney, Duff or Robbie Keane – that’s what await us.