The internet is wonderful. The internet is full of excellent writers, extraordinary talent and even a bonus code for Matchbook betting.
It’s also full of trolls, people whose sole purpose is chasing controversy or worse … chasing hits.
As a consequence, some of them will post anything.
I don’t write news stories, or at least I don’t write news stories often. I floated one transfer rumour during the window, and a story this morning about how a newspaper said Celtic had sounded out a managerial candidate for the summer.
But for the most part, I try not to give substance to vapours.
The Ryan Giggs story tonight is not even that.
It’s not even simply made up nonsense which someone calling himself a “freelance journalist” slapped a Breaking News tag on.
Giggs was not at Old Trafford tonight because of a family illness; did someone decide to use that to fabricate a story?
What kind of person does something like that?
That doesn’t meet the standards set by any kind of journalism at all, as far as I’m concerned. It is the very definition of trolling, of trying for retweets, and it blackens the name of real freelance journalists everywhere, people who break actual news.
That this has been picked up by some “websites” is not surprising.
They are all about hits and fishing.
That’s their purpose, and fair enough.
The occasional online bookie picking it up is also to be expected as anything that gets people to their pages is good business.
It’s a different thing, entirely, for Ladbrokes to be “reporting” this utter garbage, as they are actually a Premier League sponsor and this could be seen, if one were being paranoid, as coming perilously close to trying to destabilise a club on the eve of a big game.
I’ve spent all day writing about Celtic and the problems at the club. I’m but a humble internet blogger.
I’m not a major organisation, with links to our league, trying to pass this crap off as actual news.
Our manager is still in a job. The league’s official sponsors have no goddamned right lending credence to nonsense like this, and what’s made worse is that their official PR wing is none other than Level 5, run by our old “friend” Jim Traynor.
Deila is under pressure.
This isn’t pressure.
This is a toxic cloud which no other manager in the league would be expected to endure.
Shocking stuff.
Your comments are perfectly right….shocking stuff.
level 5 is the sinking [stinkin] ship throwing there last life line to the flying Dutchman.
I am a regular punter on the horses and have used Ladbrokes extensively in the past.
Not any more, chiefly because of its association with the poisonous Level 5 propaganda machine and the toxic bloated misanthropic creature who runs it………… Jabba Do Hun.
fk deila , leave noob
Aye shocking stuff but there will be lots of celtic fans adding to the pressure our manager is under by demanding he gets sacked… just think sevco got a man sent off for a second yellow card and they and the media fuckin moaned and complained for a week about it…this week we have a player sent off for a debatable clear goal scoring oppertunity and our keeper is fuckinbrugby tackled for ross co ..second goal and fuck all is said about it…theese things changed the course of the game but the manager just gets destroyed by the media and a large section of our fans…he may not be the man for the job but the abuse he gets is beyond a joke..hh
Sadly I got caught up in the rumour mill tonight … but I was hoping it was True !!
I think anyone with a modicum of sense flagged this up as internet rubbish the moment they read it.I would say you don’t have any reason to worry that the overall reputation of internet writers is in danger
Ok, James you aren’t a journalist, you are a blogger. I don’t always agree about your stuff and sometimes I do, but anyone saying you’re a journo is wrong. I trained and worked as one for 20 years, that’s the difference.
It just shows the lenghts these people will go to keep the spotlight of there own club..Ronnie struggles you can’t deny that but if ever I wanted to see a Manager be Successful its him..I have never in my life seen any club in football history for there manager to go so much bad publicity..I firmly believe that The Msm in this Country on any given day sit in a Wee room and make decisions what to put in the Newspapers about my club and that’s why I think Celtic should shut the door on Jackson-Ralston and Mr Keevins..Etc etc etc etc etc because they haven’t one good thing to say about our Managers..Any of them including O’Neill..Don’t let them back in and tell there editors why..There a deliberate plot in this country to Destabilise our club Thru the Media..I’m convinced and always have been..On the other hand you here nothing coming out of that Shitehole in Govan Yet look what they’re printing about Our Club..But Barring them won’t happen because the boardroom are a Spineless shower if ever there was one…We need a Strong leader at our Club and wee haven’t got one..Hail Hail…