Another Day, Another Dishonest Celtic Headline From The Daily Record.

The headline seems straightforward enough when you look at it; “Celtic board ‘pulling their hair out’ over Queen banners as UEFA stadium ban punishment floated.”

There are two elements to it and both are equally important, and would need to be taken seriously. The first is that the board are frustrated and angry over the banners and the second is that there is a credible threat of a stadium closure.

But none of those things is even remotely based on actual information or fact. The opening line of the article proper tells you that right away.

“Tam McManus reckons …”

So the entire piece is based around the ignorant view of one idiot, someone with no connection to the club whatsoever and who has exactly zero inside knowledge of either our boardroom or the machinations of UEFA. The headline is a fraud.

Even the “stadium ban punishment” hasn’t been plucked from anywhere credible. No, this too has sprung from the mind of an ex-player so dense that a raft of others have found employment in the mainstream media whilst he works for a blog.

“McManus insists the football authorities could come down hard on Celtic and put a partial stadium ban in place,” says the article, as if he was a big-wig in Nyon and his view was any more relevant than that of a drunk in the local pub.

How nice it must be to be able get yourself into the headlines with such ease. Simply say something ridiculous about Celtic, something designed to create controversy, and no matter how mindless or unmoored from reality it is, you can get yourself in the papers.

I see absolutely nothing in this piece which stands up to the slightest scrutiny. Whilst I’m sure some members of our board might be a bit frustrated that the entire week has been devoted to this nonsense, I can’t help but conclude that if they were ever seriously concerned about a section of our support that they would actually do something about it.

The idea that UEFA will shut part of the stadium … this guy is wired to the moon if he thinks that’s even a possibility as a result of this. More concerning, by far, are the continued use of pyro, but that’s not what his piece is about and it’s not even mentioned.

No, this is not a legitimate news story. When I read it I hear the distant sound of bars rattling and a squeal for attention, which the paper was more than happy to amplify.