Celtic Fans Rally Round Michael Stewart After Latest BBC Sports Scotland Shocker.

Last night, BBC Sports Scotland embarrassed itself with three pundits agreeing with John Beaton that the penalty kick at Ibrox was warranted.

It is one of the most ridiculous decisions some of us have seen in a long time, and to hear the panellists debating the “merits” of it was cringe-inducing.

What, I wondered, could have motivated them to do so?

And then I went on Twitter and found out that Michael Stewart is in the midst of another of those spells where the BBC seems reluctant to put him on the show. Could it be that a little too much truth comes out of his mouth at times, and his bosses get very antsy about that?

Celtic fans leapt to the defence of the man, and why shouldn’t we?

Stewart criticises us when that is earned, and although I often find myself disagreeing with his take on certain things he is honest and forthright and never gratuitous in his comments.

The BBC is making a major mistake in benching this guy, especially if their reason for doing so is that he’s offended certain Peepul. They are offended over everything. They cannot take criticism in any form, no matter how objective or warranted it might be.

Stewart remains the best pundit on radio or television in the country.

If the BBC top brass is oblivious to that then they can stick Kris Boyd back on and see what that does for their credibility.

They either want to be taken seriously or viewed as a joke, and that last night was a joke.

Shelly Kerr is a regular onscreen if what you watch is RangersTV and McFadden says one sensible thing in a hundred or so years. Steven Thompson just wants to keep his job.

It was incredibly hard to take that seriously last night, and all the more so knowing that Stewart could have been on there instead to offer a better analysis, and one less motivated by fear or bias.

BBC Sports Scotland’s editorial line has become increasingly suspect, as I’ve written several times in the past few weeks, but last night’s was a whole different level of awful. Longing for Michael Stewart is one thing; that had me longing for Tom English.

That’s how dreadful it was.