One By One, Celtic’s Stars Are Shooting Down The Media’s Disruptive Narrative.

Little by little, the media’s hoped for narrative of the season is being shut down. Little by little all their avenues of attack are being closed off. One at a time, one after the other, the players at this club are expressing their contentment.

The manager has too.

And so it is that a favoured media trick – disruption by focussing players on what they could have rather than what they have right now – is being shredded as everyone they focus on responds the same way; this is a great club and they are happy to be here.

The summer was characterised by sheer nonsense about Juranovic.

The ridiculous story, which emerged out of nowhere, about he was “expected” to move in that window was never backed up by a single fact. But it led to reports about various clubs and it dragged on and on and on.

Then it was the turn of Matt O’Riley. Now it’s Abada again.

Even before the summer properly began, some of the hacks were confidently predicting that neither Jota nor Carter Vickers would sign as both would have more lucrative offers.

When that went by the boards they switched their narrative to focussing on others.

The daftest stories have been the ones about the manager, of course.

They are plainly ridiculous, with some amongst the commentariat convinced that he would leave for the first Premiership offer that came along.

He ruled any effort by Brighton to get him null and void when he made his total disinterest clear.

He has done the same with talk about Leicester.

Abada’s dismissal of the idea that he wants a move is the latest story to pop up, and these only pop up because these players are constantly asked this daft question.

The press loves to try and create stories where there are none. All this talk over him and O’Riley and others is pure speculation; there hasn’t been a single concrete offer for any of them.

That includes the boss, of course. All the chatter about him really was pure media mischief making, and he seems to know it himself. He’s done the right thing by nipping it in the bud before it gets too outrageous.

I doubt it will stop the nonsense though.

What the nonsense won’t do is unsettle people.

This seems to be a Celtic squad which is more grounded and sensible and committed than any for a long time. Some of these guys will move on, of that there is no doubt at all, and for big bucks … but none of them will raise a ruckus over it.

This is a unified club. The media’s little games will not change that.