The Record Scorns “Hateful” Prague Remarks But Celtic Fans Have Long Memories.

When the team from Prague rolls into Glasgow this week for their game against our crumbling neighbours, one of their player has said he expects a “hateful” atmosphere.

The Record has hammered him for those comments claiming that they are “tone deaf.”

Wow. That is one of the most hypocritical things I’ve ever read from that paper, and that is saying a lot. Celtic fans have longer memories than the average hack at that rag seems to think, because I remember their paper pumping out some pretty horrible stuff over the years.

Do you remember one headline pre-Ibrox where they asked whether Hector the Taxman or Neil Lennon was the most hated person there?

Celtic made an official complaint over that one.

This is the paper that bangs the Old Firm drum constantly. They market it as one of the best derbies in the world. But they are selling hate, which is one of the reasons – apart from one of the historical participants no longer existing – why the bulk of our support wants nothing to do with the toxic idea. Who wants to be part of a rivalry built on poison?

When it comes to the ticket fiasco, the Record is in the lead wanting Celtic to “take the moral high-ground” and hand over some to fans who will come to our ground and pollute the air there with a rash of sectarian songs and racist anthems.

All in the name of “the unique atmosphere.”

The whole build-up around fixtures between ourselves and the Ibrox clubs has long been fuelled by talk of vendettas and feuds and who can’t stand who and words like payback and revenge are thrown around as if we were talking about a mafia movie.

The Prague player has reached for the best word in his vocabulary and found it. And he is correct in the word he has chosen. Just what does the Record think the atmosphere will be like there on Thursday if not hateful?

Hateful is the response our fans get every time we go to that ground.

It was the reception their fans gave Hibs supporters yesterday, which inspired that blathering idiot Stephen Craigan to praise the atmosphere on Premier Sports and to suggest it was better than that from the Celtic game the day before.

Definitely more to his tastes, for sure.

Our media stokes the hate. It stirs the soup every chance it gets. This snowflake reaction because a foreigner has correctly identified the driving force of Ibrox would be funny if this thing wasn’t so serious.