Who Wants To Tell Abdullah Sima That Celtic Won Last Season’s “Title”?

As someone who works with language, I have a few odd obsessions. I often find myself frustrated by how other people use language at times.

For example, I wrote a piece earlier this week about Jeff Stelling’s comments regarding how there isn’t a level playing field in Scottish football.

Now, I understand what he meant by that. But it was a poor choice of words, to say the least. When we talk about a level playing field in football, we mean that the same regulations and rules apply to all clubs. Everyone starts with the same opportunities; on the surface, everyone has a fair shot at winning games, trophies, and titles.

The natural meritocracy doesn’t itself create an unfair advantage—that’s the point of the exercise. Clubs sign players to improve. The best clubs sign the best players to remain at the top. It’s not Celtic’s fault that the floundering joke across the city can’t get its act together and stay competitive, even when we aren’t signing players to improve.

Today, I read some unbelievable comments from Abdallah Sima.

He finally acknowledged that Skintco won’t be signing him this season and that Daddy Phil couldn’t find enough change down the back of the sofa to get a deal done.

The whole thing was ludicrous. Did they really expect to find £8 million or whatever it would have taken to pry him away from Brighton on a permanent deal? Did he really believe that the club was going to cover 100% of his salary instead of the fraction they paid during the loan? Did anyone believe that, other than a few deluded lunatics in the Scottish sports media and a handful of Ibrox’s rabid fan site posters?

The deal didn’t happen, and it was never going to happen.

But Sima can console himself with a move to another English club and the promise of even more money. If he impresses them enough, they’ll have the funds to buy him on a permanent deal. So, he’ll have a new home, new fans, and a new daddy.

Honestly, if this sounds sarcastic, why shouldn’t it be?

The whole Sima saga over the summer has been preposterous, from the manager’s comments about seeing him as a son to the Ibrox fans getting excited every time there was a blip on the radar suggesting they might have cobbled together enough ginger bottles to make the deal happen.

No one outside of that fantasy bubble ever believed it.

It’s been a source of amusement during what has otherwise been a fairly bleak transfer window for Celtic fans, with little news from our own camp to enjoy.

But the reason I’m writing today has nothing to do with the laughter Sima has generated during his short spell at their club—a spell notable only for two injuries that kept him out of crucial parts of the season and for offering very little in many other games. So much so, that people began to wonder what the hype was about.

No, the reason for today’s post is his social media farewell to the fans, which reads like an over-emotional fanboy crying his eyes out because his band broke up. In that statement, he shared something curious:

“Thank you also to Michael Beale for giving me the chance to play for this great club, and thank you to Philippe Clement for allowing me to realize my dream of winning a title with this magnificent club.”

When I saw that reported today, I did a double-take.

He realized his dream of winning a title? When was this? Is he hallucinating? Did someone inside Ibrox convince him they had won the league after all? Maybe he thinks that 3-3 draw was the title decider and they actually ended the season as champions?

I understand the language gap. I get that different cultures and countries view these things differently and might refer to a cup win as a title.

But if I were an Ibrox fan reading that, I’d be banging my head against the wall because it just gives people like me more reason to laugh at them—and their continuing inability to avoid putting their foot in their mouth.

The lack of coherent messaging at that club is staggering. Even after players leave, they still fall victim to these stupid unforced errors. Daft comments like that are commonplace.

You didn’t win a title at Ibrox, mate. Celtic won the title last season.

You won a trophy, the lesser cup competition, and only because Celtic were already out. On the occasions where your team came up against us last season, you lost four out of five and drew the other one.

And after that draw, your team celebrated like they had just been crowned champions.

I can understand the confusion, but someone needs to tap you on the shoulder and say, “Listen, lad, you made a mess of that one.”

Because, Abdallah Sima, you did.