I know we have a media in this country which isn’t fit for purpose, but really?
How can even The Record, with its low standard of journalism, actually put up a headline like the one you are about to read without someone in the editorial department saying “hey, wait …”
“Joseph Okumu Celtic and Rangers transfer race blow as Lorient make first move in bidding war.”
Am I crazy, or can it really be a bidding war if there’s only one club involved in it?
How can you make the first move in a “bidding war”?
If it’s the first move, isn’t that just a bid? Where’s the war?
If you make the second move, that could be described as a bidding battle.
The third move, possibly a bidding frenzy if you wanted to be dramatic about it and they all came within an hour.
The fourth move, you might get away with the “bidding war” characterisation.
But even The Record surely has better editors than this?
“French side Lorient are reportedly leading the race for Elfsborg star Joseph Okumu amid links with Rangers and Celtic,” the piece starts. “It now appears the Ligue 1 side are the first to test the resolve of Elfsborg this summer ahead of the Scottish Premiership giants.”
How can that be a race?
Is one guy running against himself a race?
People might have expressed an interest in running at some point, but it surely can’t be a race when there’s a single participant?
Am I being picky and having a go just for the sake of it? Yes, and no at the same time.
Because we don’t have a manager right now and it’s inconceivable that even our club would make serious moves in the transfer market whilst this is the case.
The sale of Klimala, I’m told, was down to Howe signing off on it back when he was taking over.
We know we are languishing behind other clubs at the moment but do you see us making moves?
This is the Record, setting us up for more negative press and especially if Sevco finds money in the mattress and snaps this guy up first.
Unlikely, I know, but the days when Lawwell openly boasted about us winning any auction involving both clubs are definitely over because we lack the ambition we used to have and they are even less restrained than before.
This is a non-story which The Record is trying to turn into one.
There’s no auction here, no race here, except one they invented.
If we submit a bid at some point we’ll see where the land lies then, but at the moment this is a story invented purely to put us on the wrong side of something and as pissed as I am at this board I’ll be damned if I let the hacks away with that.