You know what our media is starting to sound like to me?
One of those sad-sacks who spends his or her life going round to the neighbour’s house and gawping at all their fancy stuff, and trying to get invited to their parties so they can have a shot in the hot-tub and recline on the fancy leather seats.
They cannot enjoy their own lives or their own surroundings because every waking moment is spent in a kind of wearying, grinding envy and sick fascination with the house next door.
Let’s be honest, friends in Celtic, we have never been blessed by a great and crusading media here. If we were then the scourge of racist singing from the Ibrox support would have been erased decades ago. Someone might have asked David Murray where the money was coming from. There might have been scrutiny of refereeing before now.
No, we’ve never had it exactly good here but by God it has been better than this. Better than the press corps of the present time, surrounded by people who see our game up here as nothing but a poor imitation of the one down south.
They do not debate its merits, but highlight its faults over and over again. They have a strong sense of what I’ve called on this site The Cringe. They are ashamed of the sport they cover, whereas I am just ashamed that such people as these cover it.
They should want every good player in Scotland to stay here and every good manager to be here to enhance our game and see our clubs develop better until we’re back punching in Europe, but they have fallen into a role that even their counterparts down south don’t play; that of uber-boosters for the bloated English Premier League.
Look at the English media and how they cover their game.
Many of them think it’s obsession with money is grotesque and the panic that sets in at clubs who are seen to be struggling, and that forces them to sack managers creates a circle of fear and greed which gets worse as time passes.
They recognise the steady creeping influence of oligarchies who are hoovering up clubs and who the game should not want near it. And the influx of such huge wealth has created a vast divide between the players and the fans such as has never existed before. The wave of off-field scandals involving young guys with way too much money and time on their hands is only going to grow until it taints that entire league. There is no end in sight.
Our media worships that league and all in it. Some of its clubs and their fans have wholly unrealistic views of themselves as “big teams” because they suddenly have oodles of cash; many of them haven’t noticed that they are the same mediocrities they’ve always been, only now they have the swagger of wealth. Most of them will never win a thing.
The thing is, this appalling and utterly wrong-headed view is shared by the press here. They genuinely think that these clubs are our equals and that they hold an attraction for everyone in the game. It is the only football environment in the world where “success” is measured in a top four finish or staying a “member” of their wee club.
That league rewards managers well. But it’s a graveyard for many careers. The only consolation is that the money is so remarkable that most of these guys need never work again, but for a manager like Ange, who might only get one chance at it, it’s a dangerous place.
Only a handful of chairmen have the patience for long term solutions; had Ange got off to a start in the EPL like he made at Celtic I have no doubt he’d have been under real pressure. He may even have been sacked before he was properly established in the job. Even teams out-with the EPL who have taken a “punt” on a boss can act rashly because their board’s see a chance to reach the Promised Land go begging. It is a madhouse.
But our media worships it like an obsessed consumer sucking up to a guy in a boat showroom who actually has the money to buy a boat. If there was a sniff of a chance of going riding out on the waves they would kiss feet and I don’t even want to think about what else.
Our media and its EPL love-a-thon makes me sick.
I love Celtic but outside of us the standard of Scottish football is very poor. Just look at the performances and results of our leagues representatives in Europe. Dreadful and embarrassing.
We have too many clubs playing in front of too few fans who will never contribute anything meaningful to football in this country.
If you need proof of this just watch our away matches on TV if our fans weren’t regularly filling 1/2 – 3/4 of the stadiums they would be empty apart trips to Ibrox, Tyncastle, and Easter road.
We basically have a league where 10 of the participants have ZERO opportunity of competing for the title.
The SFA isn’t fit for purpose so there is no chance of them initiating any meaningful reform, while the league is run by the clubs who take the hand off SKY regardless of the scraps they offer.
Clubs are happy to be basically cheated by officials,and we tolerate racist singing without complaint. The club that plays out of Ibrox does and says what it wants without sanction. The press are so overly biased they should be Ibrox fanzines yet our Club and others allow to print lies.
So unless football in this country starts to take itself seriously I don’t think we have any right to expect anyone else to do so.
Spot on.
The Victim Lie and the Survival Myth only exist
because the other Clubs are not affected or interested.
As long as we have a Board that refuses to condemn Sevco ( unfortunately
a large segment of our support are unaware of the issues or are just not
interested), or a Board that doesn’t crave the £BLUE the situation will not change.
It will take the involvement of some outside Agency, ie.EUFA or if Wastemonster’s proposed Office of Football Regulator is extended to include Scotland ( while Scottish Government has the power to Regulate it, it would be political suicide for them to get involved).
Things won’t change anytime soon.
Watch the Big Match when Fitbaw wiz Fitbaw! Teams full of Scottish players with Scotland qualifying for EVERY World Cup! Today’s Fitbaw is GARBISH, players might be Fitter but who can actually beat an opposition player one on one! Wee Jinky in the mud waltzing by 5/6 players we’ll NEVER again see the like!!
You are right on the money as usual.
Pass the sick bag round.
The Scottish league is absolute garbage, I only watch Celtic. I wouldn’t watch any of the other games, because the teams are absolute pish. The EPL, have far better players, and their commentators are far superior. It’s not just the Scottish media who adore it, you’ve got our South Korean player who has just signed, saying it’s a dream of his to play in the EPL. It’s the most popular, and watched football in the world.
Tell the truth James, given the chance you would have Celtic in the EPL in a heartbeat !
Not if Independence comes first.
Imagine it, The Mighty Sevco forced to play Football in a Scottish Free State knowing that they could never play in the English Leagues. The English FA and EUFA would never Sanction it. The couldn’t even move to NI as the North and South will be United within the next 20 years.
Good article, but a but of the mark!
As previous posts indicate, scottish football is dire and there is no likelihood of it improving. There is no money in scotland.
EPL is where it is. Chelsea spent more money than the value of all the scottish clubs put together.
So we cannot compete on any level. By the way some EPL matches are dire to watch. Man City Arsenal cup game was poor.
We all think celtic did well in the CL, we all know we could have done better. In Engerlund, they called us a pub team.
We are at a level and that level is dying.
Needs radicle changes.
Sorry Super Leagues is the only way out for Celtic!