The Daily Record is at its moon-howling worst tonight, in claiming that there is a “split” amongst the Celtic support because a few people decided to turn up at Celtic’s Portuguese training camp in the expectation that they would be able to watch what amounted to nothing more than a training session involving the use of a ball.
Let’s clear a couple of things up.
First, there was no “infiltration”, unless you call a bunch of guys going for a walk that. This wasn’t being held at some ultra-secret missile base out in the sticks. If it was a secret it’s the worst kept one in the history of the world, since those guys knew about it and many thousands of Celtic fans on social media knew about it as well.
Hyperbole is one thing. Another is just “Making Shit Up.”
Celtic fans are split? Are they, aye?
And Celtic have “gone dark”? Is it normal for clubs to advertise the results of the equivalent of a yellow bids versus red bibs encounter? Because although there were two teams involved here that’s what it was. There are no state secrets being protected here.
Reports online say the score-line was somewhere between a 0-0 draw and a 7-2 Celtic win.
That we’re not quite sure should tell you that it was an absolute non-event, a glorified run in the park except with a referee and some linesmen.
We’re playing two “games” in a week against the same team; how seriously, therefore, should any of us take this? The official designation for these was “training ground friendlies.” What does that tell you?
But because a handful of fans decided to turn up for it – causing it to be delayed – and they got a bit of stick for it from another handful of fans we’re to believe the fan-base is divided again? Seriously? Are we still divided over Rodgers return, or the new strip?
Is this a third division? Or a whole new one?
Some people need to get a grip on their emotions I think. I know the writers at that rag are desperate for any negative Celtic story they can get but this one is a piss-take.
The real pre-season starts next Wednesday when we play in Japan. That game is live on CelticTV, that’s an official “pre-season friendly.”
If this one looks as if it’s been done low-key and “in secret” as The Record seems to think, expect that if it’s a secret it’s a badly kept one as a hundred fans even knew the location of it, then perhaps that’s because low-key is exactly what it was. Fans are not allowed into closed door sessions.
They weren’t allowed into the one the Ibrox club played against Livingston last week, but the media didn’t care about that.
To be honest, they don’t care about this either.
They just want to present an image of Celtic in melt-down even when the idea that there’s some split in the support over something so utterly banal as this is quite frankly bat-shit.
This is that paper doing what it does though, scraping the bottom of the barrel and splashing the gunk online.