Simon Jordan tears into Ross Desmond over Celtic AGM behaviour

Relations between Celtic supporters and the club hierarchy remain strained and Simon Jordan has just dropped a grenade on the whole Ross Desmond AGM row.

The St Andrews protest has put that divide under the spotlight again, while last year’s chaotic AGM has also resurfaced ahead of the next shareholders’ meeting.

Simon Jordan has now revisited what happened inside Celtic Park that day and taken aim at Ross Desmond’s conduct.

Jordan believes Desmond handled his appearance at Celtic’s 2025 AGM badly and accused him of provoking those in attendance.

Speaking on talkSPORT, Jordan said: “I don’t agree with what Dermot’s saying. I don’t agree with what his son said. I didn’t think that was wise at the time — at the AGM.

“I thought that was silly. And the way he baited an audience and then shut it down… Because all these shareholders had flown in from different places and they were told that they could no longer listen to him because he didn’t like what was being said back to them.

“I always thought that was rather silly.”

That “baited” accusation cuts straight to the heart of the anger surrounding the AGM. Ross Desmond had addressed shareholders on behalf of his father, Dermot, and accused sections of the Celtic support of being “bullies” while referring to “aggressive or irrational factions”.

The reaction inside Celtic Park was furious before Peter Lawwell eventually brought proceedings to an end, leaving shareholders without the chance to question the board.

The Celtic Trust has since demanded an apology over Ross Desmond’s contribution and the way the AGM unfolded.

The outspoken talkSPORT pundit’s view of Dermot Desmond is not quite as hostile. Jordan backed the Celtic powerbroker over his public criticism of Brendan Rodgers last year.

He said: “I think I liked what Dermot said about Brendan last year. I thought that was right.”

Celtic’s finances brought a very different response. Jordan continued: “I don’t know why they’re sitting on big bank balances and how that dissipates during the course of a season.

“I don’t know if you take a snapshot of someone’s cash flow, you can look at it and see in three months’ time it might be a completely different situation.

“I don’t know why they’re sitting on £60 million at the beginning of the season. I don’t know what that would be like in January.

“And maybe there’s an answer to that question. Maybe they are carrying huge cash reserves and they carry them in perpetuity.”

Jordan accepts Celtic’s cash position could look very different later in the financial year and does not claim the club are wrong to hold substantial reserves.

However, he is far more decisive about Ross Desmond. Charlie Mulgrew has already suggested Dermot Desmond meeting Celtic supporters could provide an “easy fix” for some of the tension surrounding the club.

The AGM should have been one of those opportunities.

Instead, nearly a year later, the fallout is still being discussed.