This morning, we learned that the club from Ibrox has been involved in pushing yet another bit of misleading information and misdirection concerning its outgoing footballers.
The story of José Cifuentes has intrigued me for quite some time, largely because he’s a player none of us has actually seen much of, and also because what we have seen has been hilariously poor quality.
Over the last couple of weeks, the media has been pushing an obvious fiction, and the Ibrox fan sites have aided them in putting it on steroids.
They’ve been pushing the idea that Cifuentes is some sort of player after all, even though that potential will never be realized at Ibrox. The reports about his pending one-year loan to Greece suggested that the club he was going to would be obliged to buy him for £4.2 million—a sum that’s four times what the Ibrox club paid for a player who has barely featured in their team.
To anyone familiar with the player and his travails at Ibrox, a fee that size sounded absolutely ridiculous. And, of course, ridiculous is exactly what it’s turned out to be.
How anyone—whether in the media or outside it—could ever have believed that a player as mediocre as Cifuentes could fetch a £4.2 million transfer fee when he’s barely kicked a ball since moving to Scotland, defies belief. Even a spell on loan delivered nothing and revealed what a stupendously bad signing he is.
Today, to the surprise of absolutely no one in Celtic cyberspace—where we’ve been saying this for weeks—it’s been confirmed that Cifuentes will be going to Greece, and the club will have an option to buy for €2 million, which isn’t even half of the initially reported fee.
There are some stories where the media obviously falls asleep at the wheel, failing to even do the most basic research. But this one? This is such a basic error, such an inexcusable mistake, that it genuinely shocks me. The poor quality of sports journalism in Scotland is staggering.
This didn’t require any special effort or deep digging into the situation at Ibrox or in Greece.
A sports journalist in Scotland who had watched this guy play for even five minutes would know that the idea of a £4.2 million obligation to buy is absurd.
There’s simply no excuse for getting something this easy so wrong.
Calling Cifuentes lazy is an understatement.
Calling him ineffectual is generous praise.
I can barely remember watching a player contribute so little.
In one live match last season when he did feature, we were more than sixty minutes into the game before I even realized he was on the pitch.
Even the Ibrox fan forums, which can be pretty delusional, have almost universally written him off. Yet some of those same fans completely believed he was leaving in a multi-million-pound deal, and were already spending the money in their heads.
But it’s the hacks who deserve the most criticism for buying into the “obligation to buy” story.
Some of them have actually watched this guy, so they must know there’s no way any club is going to spend that much on him.
Of all the transfer sagas this summer, this one was the easiest to identify as pure fiction.
It’s about as fact-based as fairies at the bottom of the garden.
Here’s an easy prediction for you: having actually watched Cifuentes play, the Ibrox club will never see a penny of that €2 million option to buy.
The club he goes on loan to will figure out in no time that he’s both a waste of money and a waste of a dressing room peg.
It’s astonishing that anyone believed he’d ever be anything more.
Should we pay “Caesar’s Things to Caesar” James? Whatever, the huns do and Celtic in reply will play out. Whilst this happens, you will pay Caesar’s things to Caesar whether you like it or not. What else is there James to accompany that?
“Show me a de·nar?i·us. Whose image and inscription does it have?” They said: “Caesar’s.” He said to them: “By all means, then, pay back Caesar’s things to Caesar but God’s things to God.”
When we watch Celtic, how many times do we see the weaknesses? Even when we win 5-1 . It should have been 7 at least.
You might be right but what can we do ? I think you’re right! Don’t turn up against Hibs. And for all these people saying: I need to see Celtic as I don’t have a season ticket. You, need never have a season ticket or even a ticket for the Hibs game. And your family should say to you: Dad or Him as you want to be defined . . . He/ Him . . .You dad, are part of the problem and I your daughter am going to Celtic Park to question these bastards.
And having been punted out of the CL by Kyiv,
and also missing out on £4M UEFA money for just losing this tie,
sevco’s cashflow forecasting must be getting desperate now…?
:).
James I’m in Spain watching this manky shower of shit ,question? Am I absolutely pished or is Phillip fillop just talk utter garbage.
Can I just say, lets all laugh at sevco
Aye I’ve just seen 30 pigs flying through The Moray Firth a few minutes ago with Dynamo players on their backs drinking champagne and illegal scotch ‘white’ whisky as they bid farewell to Bonnie Scotland…
Hey Ho, I know youse Hoops supporters don’t believe me but The Sevco Huns might just Swallow Swallow that one for sure…
One thing tho – And please believe me on this one…
I like a late night dinner most nights and tonight they’re only one thing on ma menu…
CHICKEN KIEV ! – Even tho they (Kiev) were anything but Chicken tonight !!!
Still drinking james , a thought just came into my head what are the cheating bastards at the SFA going to do now that the scum will have yo play on Thursdays.
No great surprise given I keep reading and hearing the press and media increasing call the scum across the road Glasgow Rangers. It used to be occasional but it seems to be all the time now, the new strategy to I guess, put the survival lie to bed and replace it with the continuation lie. I’ve also noticed a decrease from us to loudly remind and inform them of this. Possibly our attention and voices are to focussed on transfer deficiencies and board dissatisfaction. More banners, more effigies and more attention is required me thinks to let them know we’re still focussed and there is no gap for them to slip it in as the unchallenged norm
Yep – Well said indeed Birdman !
Jeez there is some amount of Celtic ‘fans’ on CQN that constantly refer to them as ‘Rangers’ (Sic)…
I always remind them – lurking Sevco fans and lurking Scummy Scottish Football Media Sevco fans…
That as of today –
Sevco are 12 years and 16 days old !
Birdman – it has always been their ploy to tough it out and repeat the lie often enough as Goebbels said and people will believe it.