If you watched the BBC Sportscene highlights on Saturday night you’ve have seen an entirely one-sided punditry team; Stephen Thompson, Ricky Forster and Cammy Bell all played for the Ibrox club.
Yet there they were, offering Celtic fans a visual treat to stun the senses.
Bell is a new one. According to Thompson at the start he was responding to a “late SOS.”
I guess Kenny Miller couldn’t make it. Maybe he’s burned out from appearing on nearly every media outlet in the country at the moment. Where does he find the time? If only he was worth it. If only he wasn’t stone stupid and incapable of proper analysis.
If you had been wanting to see Aberdeen vs Ross County and tuned in last night, you’d have seen another old face sitting next to Michael Stewart. On this blog we have long joked about the grim and ghastly inevitability of Lee McCulloch ending up with a BBC Sports Scotland gig, and there he was in the “experts” chair. What a joke that organisation is.
It is the long-held view of this site that in order to get a gig at BBC Sports Scotland that you only really need one basic qualification; if you played for one of the Ibrox clubs you are in. Lee McCulloch is one of the dumbest men alive.
There are things living on the bottom of rocks with higher IQ points than him.
And Cammy Bell? A late SOS?
Amazing that they sent up the bat signal and it was answered by an ex-Ibrox man, isn’t it?
I don’t care whether they offered biased or unbiased analysis. I mean, obviously I do care but it’s not really the critical thing. BBC Sports Scotland now openly flaunts it relationship with Ibrox, and that taints everything that it does. These guys could give the most sensible and rational and straight-up viewpoints possible. It still stinks to high heaven.
I don’t want to turn on the TV to watch Celtic highlights and be greeted by a glum faced sofa full of the detritus of the EBT era and its shambolic aftermath. I would prefer to think that the national broadcaster at least made an effort to be neutral; it doesn’t make any such effort as you can see when you turn it on and are presented with that.
It’s not for nothing that some of scorn the very idea of paying a license fee to these people. They might as well go the whole way and broadcast the show from Ibrox, that’s how bad it’s gotten. Since they offered their grovelling apology to that club in July 2022 this has been relentless, and it’s why Celtic fans simply do not trust a thing they say over there.
Sure, there is more intelligence and insight on the BBC than there is on something like Clyde, which as I wrote the other day is just a complete Goons Gallery so bad that Gordon Daziel is often the most intelligent guy in the room – think on that and shudder. But the national broadcaster should be able to afford the quality and the best … instead of that it runs a retirement fund for ex-Ibrox players between coaching gigs. It’s gotten beyond a joke.
It’s McCulloch, more even than Bell, who hoists this affair to a whole new plane of the absurd. He shouldn’t be near a pundit’s chair. That the BBC thinks his fit to do more than work in the canteen tells you how far they have fallen and how completely in thrall to Ibrox’s former playing staff they actually are.
That organisation has sunk to its lowest point ever.
Spot on James……think of the wailing if it was 2 or 3 ex Celtic players EVERY WEEK!
BBC Scotland a disgrace to broadcasting. It is getting so bad that even your pal
Keevins might get a place on the sofa 🙂
HH
I suppose the counter-argument might be that comparable ex-Celtic staff are too busy being coaches, running successful businesses or living off the earnings from their playing days to do such tawdry work as appearing on the sofa with desperate unemployed halfwits, but the wider spread of pundits on BBC Radio Shortbread, which include the occasionally insightful Willie Miller, the sometimes sardonic but knowledgeable ZeJim McInally, stammering Packie Bonner, idiotic Allan Preston and the man who somehow always sounds like he’s reading from a script even though he can’t read – the monosyllabic Derek Ferguson – suggests they could easily do better than they currently do. It seems being relatively recently retired and possession of a ‘boy band hairstyle’ is probably as much a prerequisite for the Sportscene sofa as an iBrox past. Being able to talk knowledgeably about football or with any insight certainly isn’t. I can’t even remember when Richard Foster last talked about anything tactical. Probably beyond his cognitive bandwidth…
Sportscene mid week inthe 70s. Archie standing on the touchline post match, doing a pre game intro then a post match summary…25 mins of football in between. Now we have 4 mins of football and 10 mins of pundits drivel. Very few of their observations are enlightening or worth hearing.
Pundits was the nicest way to describe them btw,
Suppose BBC Sport Scotland is just mirroring BBC News?
Claiming to be professional, impartial, and fully supportive of diversity and wokery,
in order to produce ‘high quality output’.
Yet, the viewing figures and TV Licence Tax paying numbers have been dropping
significantly for many years – to suggest that consumers think otherwise?
And your issue with diversity is?
To be honest with you I’ve always found the BBC a bit of a joke regardless wether you come from the Green or blue side of the city, through the years I’ve seen them swing from one side to the other,then we get others like Michael Stewart who thinks it’s all about him and just tries to be controversial for the sake of it, I would be more than happy to ditch the ex pros and have non bias journalist giving a man on the street view of the games.
A non biased journalist ! – Jeez Good Luck in finding that ultimate rarity in not so Bonnie Scotland Ronnie…
There probably is a few out there though not many and they will of course be stifled by their programme producers and editors –
They certainly won’t be getting anywhere near BBC Scotland anytime soon for sure…
Is it not that sour faced, never smiling, half wit, Sevco shareholding Dick (surname Wilson) that’s their editor…
London BBC would be shocked at some of the shit that constantly stinks out BBC Scotland up here !
James please don’t insult canteen workers comparing them to one of the thickest thugs ever to disgrace the game of football. The tackle on Beram Kayal which the Israeli player said he never really fully recovered from, was an attempt at a career ending assault that the referee dutifully ignored.
There have been players of both Ibrox clubs whom I have had a bit of respect for over the years, he is definitely not one of them.
As for BBC Scotland, it is a disgraceful organisation in so many ways.
Even Tam Cowan is now making jokes about it, and he’s the ultimate yes man.
I totally agree James. It’s the Billy Boys Corporation right enough!
If you still pay the TV tax you need to give yourself a shake!
BBC Billy boys club
Don’t forget Billy ‘ boy ‘ Dodds has just been pumped from his day job too … there’s another ex the Rangers player with form with the publicly funded national broadcaster – BBC ! Expect his dulcet toned voice to be back in the co commentary box ,tout suite ! Any truth to the rumour that old aunty in Scotland ‘s new mantra is ‘ there’s always room for more ?’
Not that I fund it in any way – But it’d be interesting to see how much they get paid for each appearance on Sportscene…
Radio Scotland is one awful awful broadcast channel when it comes to football –
But it is an absolute joy to listen to when Sevco lose or Sevco drop points !
Good article which cuts to the point. BBC sports Scotland will never sully my telly again until the state sponsored whitewash and DUMBING down (Capitals intentional for the EBT hard of thinking/counting thieves) stops.
One negative point my good man. Please don’t equate mouthbreathrers like McCullough/ Boyd et al with canteen staff. These are wonderful, insightful people who see humanity at it’s base level (hungry) . This country stops without them. Unlike the debt ridden idiots who wander the corridors of a now totally discredited, not fit for purpose BBC Scotland.
Great post Stephen !
The BBC are along with Sky a disgrace to broadcasting.
Big jock had an argument with Archie macpherson on the subject of the BBC didn’t have any catholics working with them, Macpherson vehemently denied the accusation and him and jock fell out over jock’s accusations. A number of weeks passed and Archie contacted jock and admitted he was right, they became good friends after that. For reference it’s in Archie’s book in the first chapter.
Beeb Scotland is and always will be a joke. The folk at the top are making these biased decisions based on funny hand shakes.
Playing to a certain demographic same with the Scottish red tops.
Anyone but Celtic but we have been used to this for years and frankly the more we see pro-klan the more it tells me the Celts are well on top. HH
Diversity is alive and well at the home of the truly independent BBC. What amazes me is that in 2023 this organisation exists and flaunts so openly such sectarianism. You could write in and complain only to be ignored or told their pundits are passionate, balanced and certainly don’t represent bigoted views. Right Kenny, Rae, McCoist ?
What should come next is a comedy spoof show with a panel of Islamic pundits hosted by Al Megrahi (good sounding Scottish name) commenting on Israel’s football league teams just to highlight the ludicrous insanity at play here. And tonight on BBC Bombscene … HH
???
Hilarious ?
If iy was ally pally Mc Coist seeing that team was been challengrd hed be asking to name names so ibrox goons the menn in black shirts to threaten there familys try and burn there stadium just bully them into submission McCoist is a dangerous man