Keith Wyness: 'Furious' Dermot Desmond has made 'huge mistake' at Celtic

Celtic owner Dermot Desmond has only added fuel to the fire with a scathing statement after the fans' recent protest towards his reign.

That is according to former Aberdeen chief executive Keith Wyness, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, who believes that the Bhoys' chief may have further stoked the bitter war that has been developing at Parkhead.

Desmond was playing at the Alfred Dunhill Links golf championship last weekend, and had his round interrupted by fans throwing tennis balls onto the course, many of which were wrapped with images of his face.

Wyness believes that Celtic simply should not have got involved in the controversy, given that the incident occurred in Desmond's personal life, rather than at a club event.

However, the Bhoys instead issued a scathing statement in which they denounced the actions of the Celtic Fans Collective and threatened bans for anyone who was involved in the protest.

Wyness believes that the statement was "ordered" by Desmond, but is only to make things worse rather than better.

Celtic should have called for fan consultation

Aberdeen's former chief Wyness - who served as CEO at Pittodrie between 2000 and 2004 and now runs a consultancy business advising elite clubs - believes that Celtic should have called for "greater fan consultation" as part of their statement.

The Scottish businessman is adamant that the club hierarchy should have tried to create a way to speak to the fans about their grievances, rather than fighting fire with fire.

Speaking on the latest edition of Football Insider's Inside Track podcast, Wyness explained why the way that Celtic approached the statement will only make things worse in reality.

"It was a huge strategic mistake from Desmond to have ordered the club to do this. And it does seem it was pretty clear it was Dermot that ordered them to do it," he said.

"The club really shouldn't have got involved in it because it was Dermot Desmond and his personal capacity. But they should have said, look, the club is not happy about it.

"We're going to move on to a greater fan consultative process going forward. But they shouldn't have had such a long, rambling attacking letter. I think that was completely strategically wrong. 

"Rather than trying to take the temperature out of things, it's turned it up, and I think it was a major mistake. You could see Desmond was furious when the whole thing happened."

Celtic have created 'very big political issue' with £10m move

Wyness previously told Football Insider last week that Celtic have created a "very big political issue" for themselves thanks to the scheduling of the Oasis gigs at Parkhead.

The Manchester band are set to play five nights at the Bhoys' home in May 2027, but one of the concerts clashes with the 60th anniversary celebration of the Lisbon Lions' European Cup triumph.

That has already angered fans, and Wyness believes there is limited scope for the club to alter the agreed dates with Oasis now that tickets have been sold.

Wyness previously suggested that Celtic could stand to make £10million from the concerts, but that may not be worth the fall out that comes alongside.