It’s not often that I agree with Tom English, but he’s one of a number of pundits today who has scorned Danny Murphy and his comments on the last Glasgow derby.
Apparently, Murphy turned it off after realising there were no away fans in the ground. He’s woefully behind the news if he didn’t know that, and I find it hard to believe either way.
The thing is, no Celtic fan gives a damn whether Danny Murphy watched that game or not, and I am baffled as to why the media thinks any of us do. This is not news. This is gossip.
This is the kind of crap our media seems obsessed with.
Murphy is a third-rate English pundit sneering at the game up here, and really that’s all this was, that and someone who hasn’t been in the news for a while wanting to see his name in the headlines again.
Our media does not have to indulge rubbish like this, but they do.
What Murphy is saying is that there’s no other reason to watch our biggest game than the sheer hatred which used to surround it. Let me tell you, I do not miss that element of it.
I’ve switched off a lot of games in the last few years, most of them, it has to be said, in the English Premier League, and I write that as a genuine football fan who watches games from all over the world. At no time switching one off have I ever cared who was sitting in the stands, or felt the need to call a press conference to inform people of the fact.
Is the derby experience lessened without away supporters?
I am split on that one because I genuinely detest having them in our house, polluting it with their bigotry and bile. The atmosphere around these games is horrible and I don’t think anything which reduces that can necessarily be called a bad thing. But I respect the views of those who do think the fixture is less than it was without it, and to a certain extent I can’t disagree.
But to brand the fixture “unwatchable” as Murphy has done or – even more ridiculous – to demand sanctions as Simon Jordan has done is patently ludicrous.
Neither of these guys ever has a good thing to say about Scottish football.
The Evening Times and other outlets are running this stuff tonight as if we’re talking about two elder statesmen of football here who are genuinely concerned about what is happening to what they see, mistakenly, as one of the great derbies.
But these two are mouthy EPL-centric goons who couldn’t give a toss about the game up here, and are only interested in sounding off.
The day we listen to Simon Jordan, who drove the club he once owned to the wall will be a cold one in Hell. Would BBC Radio Scotland put Craig Whyte on? That’s the kind of guy we’re talking about.
Jordan does make one good point; this should never have been allowed to get this far, and the SFA and the SPFL’s failure to involve themselves in it before now shows a spectacular failure of football governance.
But as per usual, this ignorant eejit cannot bring himself to apportion the blame where it actually belongs, and lumps us in with the Ibrox club as though this whole thing were our fault.
His proposed “solution” – to return to the previous allocations – is Celtic’s official policy, as stated on more than one occasion, and it is incredible that he either does not know that or chooses to misrepresent us in this fashion.
The media shouldn’t be giving this stuff the time of day.
I would prefer not to have to write about it myself, but I only do so to question why our outlets up here even give a damn what those two mouthy Englishmen think.
Does it enhance our game in any way to have their input? No, it makes Scottish football look ridiculous to their audiences, and whilst I don’t disagree that we have major problems up here, I have more respect for it than that.
Some in the media will doubtless say that the point is to pressure the two clubs into seeing sense; that’s part of the problem, of course, in that there is only one club responsible for this, and that we would be perfectly happy to go back to how things were.
The real issue I have with this idea that the clubs can be shamed into a solution fails to consider that Celtic have nothing to be ashamed about and Ibrox literally cannot be shamed.
But you have to pay attention to this subject to know that stuff, and you only pay attention if you actually care about the issue and these two don’t. All the press up here does is give megaphones to those who think we’re a backward joke, and that has knock-on impacts in every area from sponsorship to the image of our game abroad.
Why our hacks continue to publicise anti-Scottish garbage like this I’ll never know.
There isn’t a single aspect of Scottish football that could be improved by asking Murrphys opinion. He spent his whole career in England and struggles to speak coherently on that.
Struggles to speak coherently on anything.
Ex professional player who obviously lives and breathes football
Sits down to watch a Glasgow derby
Then switches it off because he realises there’s no away fans
i say that never happened at all
Haha yeah that’s the impression I get too 🙂
Danny Murphy is a nonentity who badmouthed Celtic supporters when their Queen died because we didn’t respect the minutes silence get your facts right ya wee gobshite this has nothing to do with Celtic only the tribute act can sort this out they can shove their 750 tickets give us the old allocation before King spat the dummy out problem solved
Presumably then,
Murphy just couldn’t bring himself to watch any
Scottish, English, or European football during the period
of covid, with no fans at all in stadiums?
Brains in his feet. 🙂
I love reading your blog James, but on this occasion I disagree with you. It shouldn’t be up to Celtic and Rangers to determine this, it should be the SFA who decides this. Simon made a very good point about that, and I tend to agree with both him and Danny, there should be away fans in the ground, and it does take away from the match. Both Danny and Simon were asked a question and they answered, a mean are they not allowed to comment on it because it’s not the EPL, that’s preposterous. I didn’t see any arrogance at all in what they said, Simon made some perfectly valid points I thought. This needs dealt with, because it’s become a laughing stock there is nothing better than going to ibrox and coming back with the 3 points and having our fans celebrating in the stadium. It’s about time common sense prevailed here.
Whilst other “Celtic” websites simply plagiarize the red tops and give them credence, the Celtic blog stands out as the one website that acts as a counterweight to the MSM.
Clear concise commentary that doesn’t miss the mark.
Keep up the phenomenal work James.
Ah James, the plot thickens. Sevco are loosing the argument and suddenly after a meeting where Sevco make statement and Celtic counter said statement, then, with all the other issues at Ibrox the scenario shifts from Refs to Away allocations. Seems contrived to me.
The reason the SMSM publicise this Shoite is that it’s in SEVCO’s and the SFA’s interest for the Scottish Game to be branded as poor and a backwards, it stops anyone doing a ‘deep dive’ into the real problems afflicting the Scottish Game.
They are both organisations that are terrified of real change being introduced in Scotland as it would herald an existential threat to their positions. They are content with the ‘ Status Quo’. Free of scrutiny of the sectarian and racist behaviours that they persistently condone.
Free of accountability for the corruption of the Laws of the Game that their employees display on a weekly basis.
They are content to run the game as their personal fiefdom for the benefit of one cause, Scottish Protestantism ( actually their interpretation of it) and its Superiority and dominance over Catholicism. That for the SFA and the SFA is the end game, their ‘raison d’être’. Oh and the jollies help.
Throw in the Scottish Masonic Order and the Orange Order with their input in all aspects of Scottish life and you have a country that is insular but defines itself as welcoming. A Country that professes tolerance for all while ignoring the intolerance shown to one section of its population.
The best wee bigoted Country in the World.
I’ve certainly never heard of a pundit called Danny Murphy and on reading this Thank Goodness for that !
I’ve never heard of Simon Jordan either but if he’s destroyed a football club then perhaps he should’ve been a reporter on Sevco when they were actually known as Rangers…
But hey it’s Negative Celtic – Celtic Baaaaaaaddddddddd so print it they surely will up here then –
Oh man… It’s so stress free not paying to see all that shit about my beloved Celtic in these Scummy Scottish Football Media publications…
I think hearing the name Dan Murphy means I’m gonna have to stick on an Irish song that I’ve not heard for a while called – “The stone outside Dan Murphy’s door”
The stone will be solid and intelligent – The complete polar opposite of Dan Murphy…
Dan Murphy The ‘journalist’ that is !
If there was a stipulated 5% allocation for away fans then this would be a non event .. ok it wont be the 7000 Broomloan stand like before but it would be more than the paltry 700-800 they are trying to force us to take.
Last paragraph sums it up. As there careers go down the toilet they seem determined to take the game in Scotland with them. They need to tackle the cancer in the game up here ie SFA SPFL and our friends from Govan. As you have repeatedly said until strong fair leaders are in at the top of the game we are going to have these issues constantly any time Sevco rattle there gums
The day I listen tae nobodies like they two, is the day I start snacking from the contents of my overstuffed man-size diaper ie. well after senility has set in, and incontinence too obvs.
The twa ae them talk utter diaper content anyway, FQ ‘EM
James, you are so right in what you say in your very good blog, especially when you mention the two “eejits” trying to make a name for themselves! Most of the media and in particular BBC, are only too happy to give air to these clowns and don’t give open ,fair and honest airings to others( Scottish Independence being one subject)!
Why does Celtic choose to ‘leak’ soundbites about what’s going on to news outlets. Why do they allow other media outlets to make stuff up and misinform their readers/viewers/listeners with lies. Why don’t Celtic just release a statement saying they didn’t start this and only reacted in kind to what was forced on our club. Why don’t they come out and say they will happily go back to full allocations if the rangers are in agreement. Get ahead of this Celtic instead of letting media dictate the debate.
The atmosphere at the last Glasgow derby was sensational. So what was it that Murphy missed so much? Angry songs about killing Catholics? Or simply just attention?
Boobs is the only common theme between Murphy and Jordan. HH
Because the hacks here in Scotland are lazy apologists as sports journalists, all they seem to do is pick up crap talk from the shock jocks or quotes fed to them from Ibrox.
They insulted the intelligence of a large % of their leadership post 2012 and are suffering the consequences when it comes to their sales. I can’t think of any news outlet in Scotland with a decent, intelligent, insightful sports journalist working for them.
Oh for a Hugh McIlvaney or Hugh McDonald or even a big Malky Munro from years gone by.
Graham Spiers had a go at sensible common sense sports reporting in Scotland and was quickly side lined.
That should be readership not leadership in 2nd paragraph, a wee rap in the knuckles for me.