Astonishing comments from Jim McIntyre following the weekend; in a rant so one-sided and ill-considered it ought not to have passed muster even from Tom English and his ilk, McIntyre rewrote not just the history book but the Scottish football rulebook as well.
“We never seem to get six minutes added on when we are looking for it,” he said. “I found it strange to say the least. It was a real surprise.”
I find those statements strange.
I find the sentiments expressed in them to be a real surprise.
So his team, which is in a bare knuckle brawl with St Mirren to escape relegation, weren’t looking for every minute of the game that they could get, in order to secure three points instead of settling for one? And it kind of begs the question; did someone change the rules so only one team gets the benefits of time added on for stoppages?
Do they announce which team that is, or do you have to guess?
These comments are the latest nonsense being spouted about the time added on in the game; I wrote earlier about the bitter wailing of Chick Young on the same issue.
It overlooks the simple truth that those six minutes were not only wholly justified by the stoppages in the game, but that the team which wanted to win the game did so whilst the team that tried to stifle and shut out and play for a point didn’t.
In short, we got what we deserved and so did they.
Had McIntyre’s team attempted to win the match, those six minutes might have been the most important his club plays this season. It’s not our fault that we decided to use the time better and more productively. His comments speak to the defeatism of too many teams this season, teams who set up to play for a point from the start and never try for more.
Gerrard rounded on Kilmarnock at the weekend for apparently using negative tactics; some of the media even agreed with him. Today there is unanimous praise for the Dundee manager who played even more negatively, sat even more deeply behind the ball, but who was unable to eke out a result. The expressions of sorrow on his behalf are nauseating.
I can handle that though, as most of us can. It’s what we expect from much of the media here, a shocking, shrieking, double standard. But it is inexcusable when they do not do the simple things and call people out on this kind of arrant nonsense.
McIntyre’s comments are ridiculous and should have been greeted as such. I actually understand those comments though, as they come from a place of frustration. I actually like McIntyre himself; he’s a decent guy and a cut above a certain predecessor at that club.
But some in the press, who are obviously even more hurt at the outcome than he is, have lent legitimacy to a very stupid idea.
The partisan nature of the coverage, its wilful retreat from reality in order to tread a well-worn path – this idea that “the big clubs get everything” – is what is contemptible.