Who Are These “Celtic Based Journalists” Urging Ibrox To “Cash In” On Bassey?

It’s amazing to me some of what trends on social media.

Today has thrown up a marvellous example.

An Ibrox fan website, taking its cue from an interview on the Give Me Sport sites with “Sky journalist Michael Bridge” puts forward the weird claim that “Celtic based journalists” – whatever that means – are “urging” Ibrox to “cash in” on Calvin Bassey.

“There’s already cheeky articles from Celtic-based journalists in Scotland saying Rangers should cash in on him now, but I think that’s them being cheeky,” Bridge said. “He’s only 22 and he is in no rush to leave, so I think you’ll get a lot of that over the next few weeks.”

First, explain to me what a “Celtic based journalist” is.

A journalist who is … err … based out of Celtic Park? Is there such a thing? If he means Celtic minded journalists, you’d struggle to find more than a handful of those and they’d usually be ex-players.

Not one of those people, not Sutton, not Hartson, not Petrov, not Bonnar – not one of them – has suggested that Ibrox “cash in” on Bassey. The suggestion is nonsense. I would go as far as to call it an outright fabrication.

If he means the Celtic bloggers, well that’s even more ridiculous because far from suggesting that Ibrox take the pot of money we’re virtually unanimous in pointing out that the valuation is pie in the sky and that they won’t get anywhere near it.

It just seems to me that the entire Calvin Bassey debate has both feet planted in fantasy land, and this is the latest manifestation of it. The suggestion, however obliquely, that we want the player sold because he’s actually as good as they say – which appears, on the surface of it, what this claim is based on – is so daft as to not merit further discussion.

In case some people (are you listening, Ibrox sites, are you listening “Sky Sports reporters”) aren’t getting it, let me spell it out; Bassey is nowhere near the player he’s being hyped as and I couldn’t care if he stays at Ibrox for the next 10 years of his career. What I do know is that nobody is going to pay £25 million for him, not now and quite possibly not ever.

The Kieran Tierney comparisons don’t stand up to even the remotest scrutiny. They are barmy. By the time Kieran Tierney was 22 – which Bassey is now – he already had four Scottish titles, two Scottish Cups and two League Cups. He also had an FA Cup because his 170 Celtic appearances had secured him his move to Arsenal.

So please, spare us the “Celtic fans are scared of this guy” guff … and if possible, explain to the rest of us what a “Celtic based journalist” is cause I’m dying to know.