Dermot Desmond is frustrating but McGowan’s vapid attack offers nothing
By Donal Glass
Stephen McGowan’s latest Herald piece: “Dermot Desmond — Absentee landlord or Celtic mastermind?” is a classic illustration of Scottish football journalism: a sprawling expanse of words that has width but no depth and says practically nothing you couldn’t glean from twenty minutes scrolling Celtic Twitter.
The piece’s central issue isn’t anything particularly controversial (though you sense McGowan carefully shielding his precious inside sources). Rather, it highlights a glaring weakness in Scotland’s football media: laziness dressed as insight. McGowan trots out familiar tropes, recycling superficial anecdotes and shallow observations — mostly stitched together from a quick Google search, Companies House trivia, and a whispered chat with someone at Celtic Park.
Information about Dermot Desmond isn’t exactly buried treasure. It’s widely accessible in Ireland’s press and in mainstream business and financial journalism — sources McGowan apparently lacks either the wit or application to explore. Instead, we get a tired regurgitation of superficial details about Desmond’s Gibraltar address, a London home decked with harps and murals, and occasional rounds of golf — and, of course, his elusive persona — as if these snippets pass for genuine revelation.
What really grates for me isn’t just the lightweight commentary, but the sense that the Scottish media has been entirely left behind in terms of any pretence of genuine football analysis. England has dozens of football journalists who dig into tactical nuances, financial intricacies, political complexities, and cultural factors shaping clubs and the game as a whole.
They may not be your cup of tea but at least they offer something more insightful than the sorts of argument your da and your uncle used to have between rifts and the odd empty can thrown at their nephew (was that just in my house?).
Scotland has none of this depth. Instead, it has reporters relying on the faded currency of inside contacts, blissfully unaware that fans and bloggers now have equal or better sources, making professional “exclusives” increasingly redundant.
Yes, we can all largely agree the club isn’t doing enough, despite domestic dominance. The bar Celtic measures itself by shouldn’t be the likes of Aberdeen, Hearts, or even Rangers. Celtic should aspire to consistent, credible performances in Europe, yet too often, ambition hits a brick wall of caution. However, pinning that lack of European success solely on Dermot Desmond is lazy scapegoating, especially when he’s arguably the one person around the club who’s shown real ambition.
Let’s face it: Desmond is frustrating. He’s detached, often aloof, and generally uninterested in communicating clearly with fans. But he’s also the only figure in Celtic’s boardroom who seems remotely interested in breaking through the glass ceiling Scottish football constructs around itself. Who else would have gone after Brendan Rodgers — twice? That’s not just a gesture; that’s a statement. It shows genuine intent to do more than simply dominate domestically; it shows a desire to break out of our comfort zone and push for something bigger.
Desmond’s presence at Celtic is complex and often frustrating, but at least he’s shown ambition. He put his money where his mouth was, not just once, but repeatedly. Bringing Rodgers back after the bitterness of his first exit wasn’t easy or cheap. That decision alone shows that — love him or loathe him — Desmond dreams bigger than the rest of Celtic’s cautious custodians combined. Who else at Celtic Park is really pushing the envelope? Michael Nicholson? Peter Lawwell? Please.
Yes, Celtic has become complacent domestically. Too comfortable, too risk-averse, too content to count titles while European progress stagnates. But placing all the blame on Desmond conveniently overlooks the truth: he might be remote, elusive, even frustratingly distant, but he’s also the only person on the board who’s ever seriously pushed for greater heights.
McGowan’s article perfectly encapsulates Scottish football media today: plenty of words, minimal substance, and no genuine insight. It’s all surface, no substance, and adds nothing meaningful to this conversation — just another missed opportunity to genuinely interrogate the club’s direction.
If only Scottish football journalism had half the ambition Desmond showed in securing Rodgers’s first appointment and eventual return, we might actually start getting somewhere.
Don’t bet on it.