Chinese Whispers From The Australian Outback Shouldn’t Bother Celtic Fans A Bit.

You know what I’m thoroughly sick and tired of? Reading rumours broadcast as if they are facts.

The January transfer window and some of the events surrounding it were an utter disaster for some of the people out there who thrive on this stuff. Now all we hear is speculation about the manager, and honestly, I’ve never read such junk in my life.

There is a saying from Taoism which I’ve always liked; “those who know don’t speak and those who speak don’t know.”

These people who talk to the media, who spread rumours in the press, what is it they are trying to do? They are trying to appear smarter than they are. They are trying to appear as if they are plugged into the Matrix.

But most of them don’t have a clue, and the reason I can say that safely is that if you really were in possession of hard information which was supposed to be close-hold these are the last people in the world you would tell it to.

Otherwise you’d find yourself getting up one morning and seeing it splashed across the back pages.

Do I believe that Ange Postecoglou is leaving Celtic this summer based on some game of Chinese Whispers and an Aussie radio guy saying so? We have our own radio guys over here; Keevins, Dalziel, Guidi, White et al.

Do you believe a word that comes out of their mouths? Always try to bear in mind that we’re not alone in having shock-jocks and media personalities more interested in self-promotion than in actually imparting facts.

The claims are astonishingly weak.

It’ll be Leeds or Forest. Based on what?

On Leeds having one minor Aussie investor. In Forest having a Greek one. In Celtic having hired Harry Kewell. It all depends, of course, on Leeds not getting relegated and Forest having no manager by then. It depends on Leeds not going back to Spain for their first choice pick, who only turned them down because he and his club were already mid-season.

Leeds will hire Andoni Iraola in the summer if they are still in the EPL. If they aren’t then this whole debate is academic anyway because no decent manager is going to want the job. They were more than a decade out of the top flight last time, and there is no guarantee of a swift return. They could be floundering in the Championship for years.

Bear in mind, the guy on the radio isn’t even claiming that this is personal knowledge. He heard it from some other guy. “A snout” as he calls it. That’s one to put it I suppose. A guy “plugged into Australian soccer.” Which is good. But Ange hasn’t been, himself, “plugged into Australian soccer” at club level for ten years nor the national team setup for five.

So there are whispers in Australia, but not in Scotland where our media is ever alert for the slightest, tiniest blip on the radar? They are all over this today, a story based on second hand information from a radio guy. Is there a cup final coming up or something?

More to the point, this is “known” in Australia … but not in England, where their sports media is world class and genuinely does have insight into what clubs are up to? I think not. When Rodgers went to Leicester, they had it. When Gerrard went to Villa it was the English media, not the one in Scotland, which broke the story wide open.

You know when I’ll take “Ange on the way to England” stories seriously? When reputable writers south of the border are on top of them. Ange was not even mentioned in discussions in the Everton boardroom.

He was not even mentioned in discussions at the executive level at Leeds. This might be hard for some people to believe but it wasn’t even a question of “would he choose to stay at Celtic?” because the issue itself never arose.

These clubs were not interested in him. He didn’t even make their shortlists.

You and I might find that mad, but every club in that league is looking for the next guru, the next continental whiz kid, and a 50 something Aussie managing in the SPL doesn’t get the pulses racing. He should, but the reality is that every club down there can throw a virtually unlimited sum at whomever they want and they all want the next Mourinho.

Few of us got over-excited when the Everton job was available. Few of us believed that Leeds was an attractive destination, as five other managers, including a couple without jobs, ably demonstrated when they turned it down. Southampton, no-one even took seriously for a second. Why would anyone give credence to garbage like this?

Because, of course there’s a cup final on and things get nutty in cup final week especially considering the opposition. That’s what’s behind this frisson of excitement coursing through the Scottish media.

But it’s impossible to take seriously. It isn’t worth another second of our time.