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Andy Walker Is An Embarrassment To An Profession That Ought To Be Beyond It

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The CelticBlog can today exclusively reveal that Andy Walker has moved to the front of the running for this year’s Stating The Obvious awards. Yes, Moussa Dembele and Brendan Rodgers will one day no longer be at Celtic Park. He says if they keep on being successful it is inevitable. But if they don’t succeed it’s also inevitable. And if they find some middle ground between success and failure then there will still come a day when neither will be at Celtic Park.

And the skies will fall and the Earth will shake and the mountains crumble and the seas rise … except … no, actually none of that will happen at all.

I have news for Walker, this will come as a shock to him.

Players and managers have left Celtic before! Yes, that actually happened and the world did not end. Henrik Larsson left. Martin O’Neill. The Great Jock Stein himself no longer works at Celtic Park, perhaps Andy is unaware of that? That’s a statue of him outside, it’s not the real man Andy, okay? I know I have to explain this stuff to you like you’re a child.

Watch Father Ted try to explain to Dougal the difference between “very small” and “far away.”

If you get that you’ll get this, Andy.

Honest to God, what a media we have here where someone can get on TV talking such utter guff and be paid for it. He’s an “expert” this guy, as close as Scotland comes. In a media which also includes Neil McCann – who’s facial expression at the weekend when he was contradicted over whether Barrie McKay was as good as James Forrest was that of a guy who’s dog has just died – Kris Boyd and Barry Ferguson, then I guess in some ways he is.

But still, he’s a clueless little sod nonetheless.

Last month Paul Cassidy wrote a superb article for this site defending the coverage we get from BT Sport.

I actually found myself turned around on the subject by that piece, and listening to Walker offer his “opinion” on the Sevco-Motherwell cup game at the weekend I realised how much happier I would have been had I been listening to Chris Sutton.

I expect ex-Rangers players to pander when they are commentating on Sevco’s games, but Walker’s sucking up to them is vomit inducing. Every decision that would favour them he thinks they should have got or is happy to see them get. Crawling to them seems to be his default position. If you’ve heard him comment on Celtic games you’ll know he always leans in the opposite direction. We get no benefit of the doubt at all.

Walker is continuing a media tradition we’ve all come to recognise; as an ex-Celt it’s almost as if he’s not permitted to give us a fair shake or to be openly critical of what happens at Ibrox. Say whatever you like about Sutton, he’s not afraid to do either. Yes he’s mouthy and opinionated and has often targeted us for criticism, but that’s what I expect and want from a guy who takes the business seriously. Chris loves us, but that doesn’t restrict him from giving us both barrels if he thinks we deserve it. But you’ll never get him doing what Walker did today, going on the telly and mixing it just for the sake of it. Just to generate easy headlines.

I would not have it any other way though. Walker is fully entitled to have, and express, his unintelligent, ignorant, half-witted opinions. And I’m entitled to call them such. I hope he doesn’t mind. His presence on Sky Sports Scotland represents the dumbing down of that channel and the contempt in which they hold football fans here.

Yes, BT Sport has sent in the clowns.

But they put on a show and provoke debate. Walker simply says whatever comes into his head and provokes scorn.

I know exactly who I’d rather watch, and listen to.

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