We know that we have a gutless media in Scotland.
We are well aware that some of them also share an affinity for the Ibrox club.
This is readily apparent from the last week, and in particular the silence on the lack of an apology from their board for historic child abuse cases at Rangers.
I wrote at length about that subject earlier today, and you can read it here.
I won’t go over the same ground again.
But what that article highlights is just one of the dark motives behind Ibrox’s harassment of the media.
This is a struggle for power, at its very deepest level.
It’s also a battle to control the flow of information which Ibrox wants hidden.
They have become good at it.
There are broadly four reasons for Ibrox’s sudden war on the press.
The First Is About The Abuse Cases, Of Course.
Ibrox has never been directly involved in promoting the poisonous online discourse on this, but you can sense the hand of the club in some of it over the years. Still, they have benefited from having the discussion framed around Celtic.
They don’t want the press digging into the dirty laundry there, whether it’s theirs or it belongs to the Rangers operation.
To confront it takes the spotlight from Celtic.
To admit to anything makes hypocrites out of their most dangerous fans and the club would rather have them inside the ten pissing out than outside of it pissing in.
As I pointed out earlier, this is about the Survival Lie more than anything else, and the way that grotesque club is conveniently hiding behind the death of Rangers on this issue.
It is despicable and so is the media’s failure to confront them on it.
Part of Ibrox’s war on the media is to keep it that way.
The Second Is About The Half Yearly Accounts
As everyone knows, Celtic released its half yearly accounts last week, and this blog is quite open in its prediction that the Ibrox club won’t do likewise.
They didn’t last season and this season the numbers will be materially worse.
They will paint a picture over there which is truly awful and might spoil some of the euphoria and back slapping which is going on.
The Ibrox club wants the media silent on that issue, because to ask questions might mean they have to come up with answers which their season ticket holders aren’t going to like very much.
There is no way that they can afford to keep this squad of theirs together.
On top of that, I hear all involved over there are on pretty hefty win bonuses for delivering the title … bonuses which those who drew them up never believed for one second they would have to pay.
The club has recently gone cap in hand to its own fans in an effort to keep on the lines for the remainder of this campaign; what a joke it is that the media has focussed so much attention on the alleged bad shape of Celtic … but hasn’t even bothered to inquire how a club which earns less and doesn’t have a surplus in the bank is going to cope.
And Ibrox wants the hacks to keep it that way.
The Third Element Is Ashley
A third is the Ashley carry on and what the likely consequences of that might be.
I think they are deeply concerned that a negative verdict in that case could force them to take drastic action.
It won’t be this season, and indeed you can’t put a timeframe on when it will be, but that could be a big, big case and a big, big verdict for those of us with an interest in seeing them squeal.
Phil Mac estimates that the bill could be well in excess of £10 million. That seems right, and if that drops from a clear blue sky there is no way that they can pay it. You’re looking at instant administration.
There’s also a lot of ongoing stuff with the Castore deal … and if you think it’s just a coincidence that the media are getting slammed when they are putting out stories about cracking down on counterfeiting you’ve not been paying attention.
The Castore deal makes Swiss Cheese look solid. I assure you, there’s plenty more to come on that story.
Ibrox wants the media off the scent.
Sevco Thinks It’s Time To Throw Its Weight Around
As much as all three of those factors is the fourth, and it’s as dark a reason as you’ll find.
Sevco thinks it is about to replace us the biggest club in the country.
Winning one league title will not make them that, but they are under the mistaken belief that it changes everything.
What we’re seeing is that club arrogantly trying to assert itself in that role, by throwing its weight around and targeting those that it perceives to be its enemies, and the media is high on that list.
Some of this, of course, is driven by a rabid support which has always wanted showdowns like these, as wrapped up as many of them are in the Survival Lie and it’s awful spawn, the Victim Lie.
They really do believe that Scottish football conspired to wreck their club back in 2012; the idea that what happened to Rangers came from inside its own walls is one that none of these people has ever wanted to accept.
They have waited a long time for revenge.
The Media Did This To Itself … But It’s Time To Make A Stand
So the press had better get used to this kind of treatment unless it starts standing up against it.
Only one journalist – Spiers – has defended those who the club has treated like shit these past few weeks. Radio Clyde – more on them later, I assure you – grovelled and apologised when pressured. Other outlets have done similar.
The Athletic was punished, though indirectly, for its abuse apology question … not even Sevco would ban a journalist for that, as it might be enough to slap others out of their own lethargy.
But this is just the start of it for them; their card is marked. The first time they write something that the Ibrox club is able to directly confront them on, that’s a certainty.
I have limited sympathy for most of the press corps here.
They have enabled this bad behaviour over years, including with their pushing of the Survival and Victim Lies, which they somehow failed to understand make them targets for the haters.
Others have gotten purposefully close to Ibrox or already had their noses firmly up Gerrard’s posterior.
But none of them will be spared the heavy hand.
They wanted a strong Ibrox operation, but forgot what that means; it means them begging it for scraps, it means becoming its creatures, its useful idiots, its nodding donkeys, it means cheering them on with ever more detachment from the facts and the reality.
This was always a Faustian bargain, a deal with the devil … and most of them have forgotten what it feels like to get a wrap on the knuckles with a long spoon.
I suspect that a growing number of them are going to find out … and Hell mend them.
For the rest, it’s time to stand up and be strong. It’s the only way to beat a bully.