24 Nov 2025 18:59:03
Been going back over the Celtic Fans Collective meeting minutes and Desmond's statement after Rodgers walked, and there's a pretty clear tension between what Nicholson said in the meeting and what Desmond put out publicly.
From the agreed minutes released by the club, Nicholson stated that transfer business is handled through a:
"multi-disciplinary model" where "no part of that model has ultimate authority. "
He also confirmed that there are:
"thresholds where the Board of Directors must authorise increased transfer payments. "
And when asked how this works in practice, the board said:
Emails are sent to board members for authorisation where necessary.
So the board's line is basically: recruitment is shared, no single individual controls it, and bigger deals require board sign-off.
Desmond's public statement after Rodgers resigned painted a very different picture. He said:
"Every player signed and every player sold during his tenure was done so with Brendan's full knowledge, approval and endorsement. Any insinuation otherwise is absolutely false. "
He also claimed Rodgers:
"was given final say over all football matters"
and was
"consistently backed in the recruitment process — including record investment in players he personally identified and approved. "
He even added that when Rodgers raised concerns with him privately, Rodgers:
"was unable to identify a single instance where the club had obstructed or failed to support him. "
So on one hand you've got Nicholson saying recruitment is multi-disciplinary with no single authority, and that the board must sign off on certain transfers.
On the other hand, Desmond is saying Rodgers had "final say over all football matters" and approved every signing and sale.
Individually, both statements can technically coexist, the board might retain financial veto while the manager signs off on football suitability but the tone and implication are very different. Nicholson describes a shared, controlled structure; Desmond describes Rodgers as holding decisive power.
Yes, there's a factual tension between the two. Nicholson emphasises collective decision-making and board oversight. Desmond emphasises Rodgers' authority and final say. They're clearly telling two different stories about who actually held the power.
24 Nov 2025 19:32:46
There's no contradiction whatsoever, all it says is that there are multiple people involved but of course the manager has the final say as it's his head at the end of the day and of course the board has to sanction large funds being released! Both points should be fairly obvious and to be honest should go without saying.
24 Nov 2025 19:46:33
Brendan being very quiet. He's either been bought off or he's biding his time to drop a bomb!
24 Nov 2025 21:20:57
If anything in the DD statement was untrue our former elite manager's ego would not allow him to stay silent. BR worked his ticket by causing a rift at the club. Good riddance to a truly awful manager!
24 Nov 2025 21:54:50
He may have signed a non disclosure rab, which is very common when a someone leaves a club.
24 Nov 2025 22:27:19
Awful manager is the 2nd most successful in the clubs illustrious history, but I'm glad he went to as it had went stale and he definitely wanted out.
25 Nov 2025 14:02:29
NDA works both ways.
If either party says anything defamatory about the other they can end up in breach and therefore court.
The fact DD blasted BR very quickly after his resignation infers that an NDA probably wasn't signed.
I don't think we have heard the last of this one.
25 Nov 2025 17:24:06
Fair point North 18q.
25 Nov 2025 21:46:24
Yeah I'm waiting for BR to reply also, to see what his side is. I mean there are two sides and all that. I kind of agree why he walked, I mean if you were in a job where you constantly had to bang heads and have disagreements all the time, you wouldn't stay. Same goes the board should of sacked him, but they are to tight to pay him off. I walked out of a couple of jobs, good paying ones, but the bosses above were total knobs and I couldn't put up with it.
So basically Rodgers deserves his story, ego or not, yes he's football was getting stale, but I don't blame him for walking if he did. If DD finally grew a pair and sacked him that's also fair enough, but what we need is transparency and honesty, something I don't think any one of our board are capable of.