It’s times like these when you really notice how many pro-Ibrox stooges are in place across the media.
They have been put in place explicitly for moments like these, moments when they can try and drag their club out of its lethargy by injecting it with hope.
Barry Ferguson has been doing that in The Record for years now.
He’s not the worst, not by a long shot.
The paper which still employs Keith Jackson, whose article this time last week was so awful that I couldn’t even muster the willpower to slag it off properly, has so many on the payroll who simply trot out the Ibrox party line.
Ferguson is different though.
He really is nothing but a spokesman for Ibrox paid by others means, and whilst he’s capable of giving them stick this is what his job primarily consists of; talking them up, a bit of boosterism, anything to make them look good.
He and Jackson think Celtic are the ones who are feeling the heat. I don’t know which element of this he’s failing go grasp, but all we have to do it keep on winning.
If we get to New Year, 1 January, with this team having won its games then the league’s over because at that point, with an eight-point lead, Ibrox would be looking for snookers just to stay in it.
There are times when I have to double check that we’re the team with the five-point lead and the next derby on home turf. Any team would kill to be in this position.
The media is spinning it as Celtic being the team under pressure because The Belgian Waffler has gotten off to a good start and we’re the team out in front … isn’t it amazing how quickly and readily they change their tune on that front? It’s one of the clearest signs of bias you’ll get.
If Celtic is out in front then all the pressure is on the team who are leading. If we’re the ones chasing then that’s where the disadvantage is.
In truth, the team doing the chasing cannot slip up. If they do then it’s over. That’s why when we’ve been in that position Celtic managers have made it clear to the players that it’s just about taking it one game at a time.
You have Ibrox and its allies thinking about going to Celtic Park, winning, and going top, forgetting that we’d have to drop more points before then and they’d have to win every game.
They live in a fantasy world these people, one where Celtic’s form doesn’t exist.
We probably have better domestic form than any team in Europe over the past two and a bit seasons. At home we are virtually unassailable.
We haven’t lost a home domestic match since January 2021; come the New Year, if we get that far, it’ll be three years since we turned up at Parkhead for a league or cup game and saw a defeat.
I wrote last night about the schedule we’re facing; most of our games are at home. There are a couple of tricky away fixtures in there, but we’re on the flipside of the spell we came through in phase one, where we visited all the toughest away grounds.
Everything points to Celtic having the advantage.
If the Ibrox club was in our shoes the press would be trumpeting this stuff every day of the week. It does not matter what Clement does over there; if we keep on winning, that’s the ball-game, and if we win from now until New Year then we can start the party earlier than usual because if we get eight in front there is no way that we’re going to toss that sort of advantage away.
Could stuff go wrong? Sure it could.
We’re probably only an injury or two to our front men away from having real problems, but if the boss rotates the squad right and we make use of our depth then we’ll have nothing to worry about, in part because nobody at Celtic will take a single of one those points for granted and we will fight for every one.
Over at Ibrox, and amidst its media allies, they are already taking their points for granted, which is why all the talk from these ridiculous individuals is about how they can come to Celtic Park and go top of the league, as if it’s already a done deal, as if our dropping points is certain and their picking up the maximum from their own games is locked in.
But it’s advantage Celtic.
This weekend we’ll take on Motherwell at Celtic Park. Following that, they have to play at Pittodrie the next day. You tell me who is really under the microscope here. You tell me which club is fighting for its title challenge.
Whatever Barry Ferguson and Jackson think it ain’t us.
James, if Celts win on Saturday we’ll be ELEVEN points clear before sevco face Aberdeen.
Aye they seem tae totally disregard the fact that THEY need tae keep winnin as well and it’ll be interestin tae see the reaction when they lose a game, especially if we manage tae keep gettin results.
Its not what they think its what they hope.
It is indeed a sad indictment of our sports media that the pro ibrox proclaimers are let loose on the population while masquerading as journalists / columnists. I don’t see much of wee Barrie’s output, but just this Sunday I was wondering to myself just why is Kenny Miller given licence to vomit his pro ibrox sentiments all ove a page of the Sunday Mail every single week. To give Miller his due, he remains staunchly undeterred by the fact that all of talismanic heroes have singularly failed to knock us of the top. Last year, Gio was the man, until he wasn’t. Then was convinced that the Mooch was the man to lead them to greatness. All Summer their massive positivity about the quality signings who were going to make a difference this year. Even when it was obvious that the Mooch’s days were numbered, Miller still found something to be optimistic about. Now that Clement has arrived on the scene, it is rinse and repeat. Watch him rebuild by dint of quality signings financed by? . . . In Miller’s eyes there are no financial problems hovering over ibrox. Of course they will spend big. Just as last Summer, he was prophesying the spending of £12M – £15M on one player. Completely unembarrassed by a littany of getting it wrong, Miller dishes up his weekly dose of deludamol to keep the bears staunch in their belief that they are indeed the peepel. Ibrox PR paid for by the Sunday Mail. Who don’t appear to be embarrassed by Miller’s track record of getting it wrong.
“Ibrox PR paid for by The Sunday Mail”
And by all those Celtic supporters ??? that fund them financially Jimmy…
Imbecilic Celtic supporters that buy The Sunday Mail CSC –
Keeps Miller in a well paid job…
Thank Goodness I’m not a member and never was financially !
What would you expect him to say?
Hope is a strong and formidable feeling.
He is entitled to his view.
When i said its what they hope i was including the imposter of a journalist the same guy who has been getting paid for printing lie after lie for years now. Every ibrox player was attacked kicked and spat on ?.in the age of mobile phone cameras he had the brass neck to print that lie to get hibs put out of europe and the new club take their place.
Didn’t you notice barry ferguson stated we were 7 points ahead.
The Bold Bazza is too thick to even consider getting a half decent ghost-writer.
We all saw the dodgy ref / VAR decisions before the international break,
involving our club and sevco.
In the meantime we’ve laughed at another shocking set of RIFC financials,
and which also confirms that THIS season is going to be even worse:
sevco MUST get that SPL title – for the guaranteed CL monies.
So, from Saturday the dodgy ref / decision-making is going to be cranked up
to ’11’ by The Scottish Referees’ Association.
IMO, it’s going to get absolutely farcical / enraging well before we get to that
December 30th, derby game… 🙁
Ferguson had to get permission from the Mrs first , before he made his comment . After all , she is the one he signed his soul over to in order to keep Hector and other problems at bay ….. remember ? Wear the white shirt today Barry …….ok dear !
100%,John. !!!
I’m told she keeps wee Barry’s baws in her handbag but on special occasions she uses them as earrings.
Walt Disney was a very gifted man, even a genius, at been able to make cartoon characters, come to life.
Even a practice that’s still ongoing to this day, with a brand upon a worldwide scale?
Yet! Even Walt Disney couldn’t match the visionary skills of that of a Hun scum cheerleaders?
The amount of horseshite that comes from these eejits would have ended up in the bin of Walt, as only so much he could try and make believable?
This is already our title to lose, before the scum even come into the equation?
Already the scum have had to depend upon the cheating that the officials within VAR has provided to the scum.
The turd polishing has increased since pepe le poo entered the shithole, but surely even his elbow is severely aching at this stage already?
Points on the board remains the best option available within football still.
Yet the scum will have to operate with the bandwagon of Hun scum cheerleaders trying to run upon flat tyres, upon the scale of bursting anytime soon, and without the funds available for new tyres that’s required still?
Lassie at least always found its way home in the end, same won’t happen for the scum no matter how much the scum cheerleaders try pushing the broken bandwagon
They are only trying to play to their own crowd to sell a sh!t product. Occasional wee backhander from Ibrox.
By the start of next season after no big money buys and a few points lost they will be all over the manager as usual.
Bob (original) has it spot on.
The Cheats with whistles, flegs and monitors will be on overdrive from now on.
Our lead will have to be reined in before the Hogmanay game to give them the chance of going ahead
and if they manage it you can expect the Celtic Park game throwing up a couple of red cards for us and imaginary
Pen-Tavs for them. The LRA WILL do it. They will do it because they know that in the ‘best wee bigoted Country in
the Wurld’ that they can get away with it with no comeback.
Even if, despite all the cheating, we are still ahead we still have to navigate our way through the spell when we lose our
Far Eastern contingent courtesy of the Asian Cup games.
Wish I shared your hope James but the huns have too much to lose if they can’t clinch the title.
Could even be an existential crisis for them if they don’t, so they won’t hold back.
Cheating is in their nature.
Should have read ‘wish I shared your optimism’.
What is it with the crazy spacing between lines in the text?