Tomorrow, Ange will sit in front of the hacks for his latest presser.
There will, if my information is correct, be representatives of the fan-media there.
I would urge that one of them ask Ange to comment on the growing drum-beat of slander against Kyogo Furuhashi. It has grown from being a minor irritant with some comedic value to a potential problem which we, as a club, cannot allow to get out of hand.
It bears pointing out that these deplorable claims are being pushed, in part, by sites like “The Celtic Way”, a mainstream publication disguising itself as a blog. I don’t care who writes for them; their decision to publicise the nonsensical comments of an ex-ref who a few weeks ago was writing articles for an Ibrox fan site tells its own story.
We now have a number of “media personalities” openly suggesting that Kyogo is a cheat. Now we have this former official suggesting that the SFA has to put him under scrutiny.
The narrative is building that Kyogo is one of those players who dives at the drop of a hat. If that is allowed to become part of the established “story” around Scottish football, it’s open season on him.
The idea that Kyogo is a rogue is contemptible garbage and it is incumbent on somebody in a position of authority at Celtic Park to say that, openly, and slap down anyone who suggests otherwise. Notice that the media has never directly suggested this to Ange, in spite of some of them pushing the line for weeks now.
If they won’t do it, fan media should.
It will give our manager the opportunity to put our club’s position on the record. It will give him the chance to defend our player and to call this out for what we know it to be.
And it has to happen because this crap will continue until it does.
This lamentable accusation has gone from being the fringe obsession of certain online halfwits to being pushed on media outlets like Sky Sports, Radio Scotland and Radio Clyde.
It now has force. It now has weight, and we need to stamp it out at the first available opportunity.
Because if we don’t we’re going to have a problem with this.
Either refs will simply stop giving decisions involving him – and that means teams can kick him up and down the park as they see fit – or worse; Kyogo himself will be treated as the problem and not as a victim.
I make no apology for using the picture which sits atop this piece; this was the result of an unprovoked assault on the player, and this is one of the incidents where he’s been accused of making a meal out of this.
Do not mistake this for anything other than a malicious campaign.
Those involved in it see what we do looking at that picture and they just don’t care.
They are pushing a lie.
Our manager must have the chance to call it that.
Big deal if he goes down easy all the players are at it now the size of him against some of the big defenders he is bound to get pushed kicked body checks its bull what s.ome hacks write let him get on playing the way he likes
Why is the media not lauding the fact that one of football’s most exciting talents has chosen Celtic and Scotland to ply his trade ? Why are fellow professionals assaulting him ? Why would referees listen to discrimination ?
A potential £30M, that’s why.
This campaign is racist in origin and is being orchestrated by sevco elements and their fellow travellers in the media.
Kyogo doesn’t dive any more than anyone else but he is a person of colour and therefore fair game.
The fascists don’t like him because they’re scared of his abilities on the park and because they cant stop him by legitimate means, they are reduced to this Trumpian smear campaign.
If the club doesn’t come out and support him loudly and publicly, then the fans need to do it themselves.
I also wonder how this smear campaign would go down in Japan, were they to be made aware of it particularly with the prospect of other Japanese players arriving in the near future.
We are ALL Kyogo Furahashi.
As per usual the Celtic board will sit on their hands and hope it goes away.
They are trying drive him out because of fear he will rip them on the 2nd jan