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What A Shameful Week That Was For Our Mainstream Media. Again.

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The week before last was all about Kieran Tierney and the wilful spreading of lies about his future. The people involved in it have no shame whatsoever, and some of those people were back at it again this week, only Kieran Tierney wasn’t the target.

As everyone knows, this was the week in which Show Racism The Red Card Scotland behaved in a most appalling manner towards Brendan Rodgers. They have failed, utterly, to grasp the seriousness of what they have done; I think that matter is going to end up in the hands of lawyers, and they will be highly priced ones at that. It’s already been reported to the Office of the Scottish Charities Regulator, as a gross violation of their charter.

But Show Racism The Red Card Scotland were not the only ones who lied about our manager. Some of the hacks did too, in articles and in headlines and on Twitter. Some of them tried to row it back when it became clear that the consequences might be severe, but their comments will stand out nonetheless, and be remembered in the future.

A handful – like Neil Cameron – condemned the rest, and pointed out that there are transcripts and recordings to prove the issue. I am as grateful to them as I am angry with some of their colleagues. It was a disgraceful allegation to repeat, and easily disproved.

Their coverage of that was only the most horrendous part of a week that shamed the profession, as if it needed further shaming. It was the week King turned his dogs – his lapdogs – on Murdoch MacLennan again, first Chris Jack and then Michael Gannon.

Neither had a single legitimate line of attack; both tried to use the fact that MacLennan is not a public figure against him, a charge that was never laid against any of the former (or indeed the current) Presidents of the SFA.

Both obliquely referenced a decades old blind quote, published in Private Eye, and which we are supposed to take seriously.

It is impossible to take any of this seriously, but it is serious nonetheless because the objective is to make MacLennan think that hanging in there is simply not worth his while. The intent is to try and jam up SPFL business, to make it impossible for him to function, and use that to force his resignation, which Sevco will claim as a victory.

It will actually be a victory for bullying and bigotry; the media knows this full well, but some of King’s pet hacks are going along with it anyway. They are so far up the Ibrox chairman’s rear-end that they can all do their teeth with the same brush.

But of course, the MacLennan thing had a dual purpose, because the story wasn’t just about what the media wrote but about what they didn’t bother to. They can dredge up 30 year old quotes and chase their tails over that, and they can fabricate false charges against Brendan Rodgers, but the story of the week was Sevco’s stunning courtroom reversal and what it means for their merchandising arm.

I’ll be writing more on that later today, but I cannot imagine the press treatment this story – which most of the hacks absolutely ignored – would be getting if it had happened at Celtic Park. It is beyond belief that something with the potential impact of that was not given proper coverage. It is a shattering blow against the club and the likelihood is that Ashley will win; even without being a legal scholar it’s clear that there’s a contract here and that the club has violated it.

The next few weeks are going to be crucial to that club’s future, and the media is pretending it isn’t happening so that they can focus on fluff, lie about our manager, try to unsettle our squad … and play their part in an Ibrox inspired witch-hunt against the SPFL chairman.

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