Celtic’s poor transfer window has been dragging on for months now, and throughout this period, both the mainstream media and a number of Celtic fans have been consistently telling the rest of us to be patient and wait. Almost everyone agrees that the Adam Idah deal needed to be done, and that Celtic had initially lowballed the offer.
So far, the whole thing has passed without much controversy. Even after Celtic submitted a major offer over the weekend, and the deal started to edge closer to completion, there was very little media scrutiny. Hardly any editorials blasted the club for the length of time it’s taken or for the fact that, in some views, including mine, Celtic might be paying over the odds.
So, imagine my surprise this morning to see Keith Jackson and the Daily Record taking a full-scale swing at Celtic, offering venomous criticism of Michael Nicholson and the board, both for the length of time this has taken and for it costing so much money.
Incredible. Jackson has turned the microscope on Celtic. And to be honest, when I read the piece, there’s not a lot in it I disagree with. It’s poorly written and full of brainless assertions, but the central thrust of it is pretty on the nose.
Yet Jackson gives himself away with the timing of this thing.
Why now? Why this morning? His Monday column covered some of this, and I know that because I explored that article in some detail. So, he’s revisiting the same topic twice in a week. Twice in the space of a couple of days, in fact.
If this seems fishy, that’s because it is. If it seems suspect, that’s because it is. It screams deflection. It screams, “Don’t look at Ibrox; look at Celtic Park. That’s where the real problems are.”
Now, although I’ve lashed this board mercilessly throughout this window, and I’ll almost certainly do it again before the window shuts, I’m not buying that at all.
We are in a vastly better state and are clearly better run than that absolute shambles across the road, with all the problems they have over there.
Everything about last night’s game screams disaster. The result was terrible, the consequences are momentous, the financial situation is dire, the manager is flailing, the players are fighting with the fans, and the fans themselves … well, that’s the emptiest I’ve seen Hampden in a while, and even the official attendance figure seems artificially inflated to me.
So of course, the media would be trying a little misdirection this morning, and of course Jackson would be the lead-off hitter for that.
After all, that’s his job at the end of the day, isn’t it? Ibrox’s useful idiot.
Naturally, he’d want to focus on Celtic Park.
We may have spent more money than we intended, but let’s face it, we have the money to spend. We’ve sold players this summer, we had cash in the bank, and we’ve got that big Champions League pot of gold all to ourselves. So we can afford it.
We’re not the club benching an international who played at the Euros because playing him in one more game would bump his wages up by £6,000 a week. We’re not the ones who have to find the money for an out-of-court settlement with a kit supplier. We’re not the ones offering our captain around the football equivalent of charity shops, hoping someone will take him off their hands.
Their team is in a truly shocking state. And to fix it, they’re going to need millions of pounds they don’t have. Ibrox itself is still a mess, and the saga there is going to drag on and on. We’ve already seen how much their fans enjoy the National Stadium.
I’m not happy with the way Celtic’s transfer window has gone, and I think a lot of people at our club have questions to answer about how they’ve handled this.
But the story of the day, and quite possibly for a few days to come, is not at Parkhead. It’s at Jackson’s favourite club, after their ruinous summer, and with the abject state they’re in, the future of their manager, the incompetence of their directors, and the anger of their fans.
There is nothing at Celtic Park even close to stealing that news cycle.
It’s the only story any hack in Scottish football should be focused on.
I understand why they don’t want to cover it and why they want to shift attention away, but there is literally nothing they can write that will change the simple facts about where their club is and the enormous challenges it now faces just trying to keep up.
I worry that Celtic lose Matt O’Reilly very close to the end of the transfer window, and with no viable replacement in place. I am happy we are Scotlands only representative in the competition, but with that brings a little responsibility, in the sense that we do ourselves justice in it this time. I think we are needing at least another three players, and perhaps even four to be ready for it. I hope we are all satisfied come the end of the window.
My thoughts exactly…but tell me, can you answer this question James.
When it comes to neutral venues for semi cup and cup finals, if the mordor club are involved, where will the neutral ground be ?
I’m also suspect that VAR is not being used at Hampden….at least that’s how it appears with no lines being shown in their “””home”””game last weekend, and a glaringly obvious offside ignored for their first goal.
If var is in use, why no lines…and again…who’s paying fir the var.
Maybe you can get some feedback fir these questions
Genuine questions. Why do you think they would try to keep the heat off Liebrox? Who benefits? Does Jackson taking a swing at Celtic rather than the obvious target impact us in any way? Shouldn’t we just be laughing at him for the obvious diversion from the road he should have taken?
It screams – “Don’t look at Ibrox, look at Celtic Park, that’s where the real problems are”
Clearly an article aimed at his dwindling Liebrox worshiping idiotic flock…
And to wind up the very odd Celtic supporter that (shamefully for them) financially pays both online and through purchase to keep him clinging on by his filthy crayon scribbling fingernails to his job…
You are exempt James as you bring us his (now twice weekly anti Celtic evil)…
But jeez oh – There are plenty on CQN that buy into his pathological lies and incredibly – actually encourage folks to link onto Scottish Scummy Football Media articles by The Rancid Record !
‘lead-off hitter’… are you a closet baseball fan like I am?
There is no way to avoid the shambles at Ibrox, it’s there for all to see and for us to enjoy wallowing in their misery.
I just read through a topic on Rangersmedia titled “Shambles from top to bottom” and it was delicious reading. That lot are at the end of their tether, suicidal even, and there is bound to be a queue now at the Erskine Bridge for would be Olympic high diving enthusiasts.
As always, their pain is our gain and long may it continue.
I am not sure any sort of deflection from jackson will make a blind bit of difference….
Things are stacking up against the manager, he is one excuse from being marched out the door never mind the NEW contract nonsense. The Belgian buns must be loving that.
We will see the tide turn against him when jackson is instructed to get the pitchforks and torches mob started. The board will be hoping the Belgian waffler will run but his contract will be water tight as he has experience of the boards duplicity especially now the big pot of gold has been withdrawn. Things could get nasty, real quick.
I think we have seen the last recruit come in at Ibrox. I don’t even think Clemente will be given a loanee either, adds to the wage bill.
Tough time ahead for the rangers. Now if St Johnstone put them out the wee cup at the weekend… Could be the catalyst for change.
This will fool no-one, even those he’s trying to appease will see right through this nonsense for what it is, and most of them won’t like it one bit.
Why are we not being told how much it’s costing rangers for using hampden.or will this be another swept under the carpet incident
Probably because ‘Rangers’ are a twelve year old rotting corpse Jack…
But aye perhaps they should say how much it’s costing Sevco all the same –
So ‘Rangers’ gone twelve years plus then…
Aye now and again you get a glorious twelfth coming around –
Rangers booting their (very sick) bucket is one of these moments for sure !!!
Inaction’s lazy piece today ,smacks of a severe hangover rush job ! One of those dull ones where you’ve been on the lash constantly with lagers for breakfast ,but there is a deadline fast approaching that you need to meet ..tout suite ! One so bad that clicking a letter on a keyboard sounds like a freight train passing by with the window open and the horn being constantly blown ? Any Paracetamol ? Hair of the dog .. more like!
The Adam Idah transfer costs are nothing like what Celtic paid for Odsonne Eduard if you convert the 2018 pound sterling into today’s value.
Eduard would cost £11.5M now. John Hartson’s cost in today’s money would be maybe twice Idah’s transfer. I think the Board have realised that today’s Pound will get you only a couple of wee packets of dry noodles.
Agree that we are clearly in a better state than that bag of cnts and a much better run club. I may be wrong but I’m still hopeful of further additions that will improve the spine and the squad to help rotation in the event of injuries like last year to players like CCV and Hatate and not given up hope in retaining MOR
We should not be surprised by Jackson’s and the rest of the media’s deflection tactics; it has been going on for years.
This morning the real problems all lie at Parkhead, deflect the poor performance by their team and their manager and pin it on the Italian referee Marco Guida. It’s the ref’s fault, the decision to show a second yellow to Jefte was scandalous and cost Rangers a Champions League pot of Gold. A pot of gold reported last week to be worth £60 million to Sevco, which had the press salivating like Pavlov’s Dogs.
However, that pot of gold, is this morning is quoted by Jackson as being worth £40 million to Celtic.
They were reporting last week that beating Kyiv was worth £5 million alone, today it is only a loss of £4m.
The stream of ex Ibrox players lining up this morning to slaughter the referee and mitigate any impact on Sevco was staggering. Surprisingly, the Village Idiot commented on Sky that ‘they should have substituted Jefte at half-time, as he had a few heavy challenges after his first booking’. So, here are some facts for the press to try mitigating against.
Since they had their lap of honour when they drew with us at Ibrox in April, they have played 19 matches, competitive and pre-season, their record reads, Won 5, Drew 7 and Lost 7, a win rate of 26% and the manager is handsomely rewarded. It’s only a matter of time until the demonstrations start at ‘The Big Hoose’.