Martin O’Neill – Dermot Desmond’s commitment to Celtic not in doubt | OneFootball

Former Celtic boss Martin O’Neill believes that Dermot Desmond’s commitment to the club should never be doubted amid increasing speculation that Celtic could even be sold…

Celtic manager Martin O’Neill with his new signings Alan Thompson and Didier Agathe at Celtic Park in September 2020. Photo The Celtic Wiki

The 73-year-old former Celtic manager maintains that throwing money at the squad does not automatically guarantee success. Throughout pre-season, Brendan Rodgers has raised concerns about Celtic’s aspirations and emphasised that moving the club forward would require support from the board in the transfer market.

O’Neill insists Celtic’s majority shareholder will have taken note that despite Rodgers spending over £26 million last summer on Arne Engels, Adam Idah, and Auston Trusty, just one of them featured in the starting line-up for the Scottish Premiership opener against St Mirren on Flag Day last Sunday.

The ex-Celtic manager is confident that Desmond will provide Rodgers with financial backing to strengthen the squad ahead of the summer transfer window closing at the beginning of September.

Martin O’Neill, image Celtic FC

Speaking at an event to promote Premier Sports’ Scottish football television coverage this season, O’Neill said via Glasgow World: “Dermot will have a vision of the football club, but as a club owner or as a major shareholder and the person who’s making the decisions, then he might see going forward in a different light than the manager.”

“Seriously, he might not always think that spending 14 or 15 million pounds on a player is necessarily the way to go, and we’d have to say that in terms of the dealings in recent times, he might be right.”

“Now, I don’t know what players Brendan’s looking for. He’s looking to improve the team, I’m quite sure of that. They’ll have players in. They’ll definitely have players in.”

O’Neill added: “I knew the parameters in which I was working with Dermot when I was the Celtic manager, but I don’t honestly ever remember him saying, ‘No, I’m not, I’m not having that other player’. Who’s to say who is right or who is wrong?”

Peter Lawwell, Chairman of Celtic, Dermot Desmond, Non-Executive Director of Celtic, and Michael Nicholson, CEO of Celtic, are seen in attendance prior to the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and theRangers at Celtic Park on March 16, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

“Life changes a wee bit, but I did have that free rein, which I enjoyed. Brendan has also earned that right. The dynamic might be different now in the sense of how the club is run. Dermot may well say that it’s run far better now than it was when I was here.”

“The model may have changed since my time in terms of the spending power, but I was never unhappy with the model I worked with,” O’Neill continued. “Some people will say no wonder if you’re able to get Joos Valegaren for three million.”

“The model has definitely changed, but I would have had to find a way to work with that. I’m not that intransigent.”

Conor Spence

Here’s Martin O’Neill speaking to The Celtic Star with Matt Corr asking the questions…

Yesterday Conor attended the Celtic fan media conference at Celtic Park to speak to Celtic legend James Forrest alongside supporters from four other fan media outlets. Here’s the video…

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Danny McGrain lifts the trophy in 1981. Photo The Celtic Wiki

So  you get two great Celtic books by David Potter and better still the postage is only charged on one. Offer available for a short period only as we have a very limited number of copies of David’s wonderful book on Alec McNair left.

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Celtic in the Eighties by David Potter. Foreword by Danny McGrain. Published on Celtic Star Books on 5 September 2025. Click on image to pre-order.

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