Yesterday’s article about Brendan Rodgers being tipped to replace Ange Postecoglou at Spurs hit a new low for our already dire sports media.
This one takes the biscuit. It’s a masterclass in finding an anti-Celtic angle, but I must give them credit for at least showing some originality in digging up their nonsense.
For once, I found myself tipping my hat to a truly awful story, purely because someone used a bit of metaphorical shoe-leather to find the “angle.”
Some enterprising hack trawled the bookies’ websites until they stumbled on the “gem” that Ange is one of the favourites to be sacked early in the Premier League. And if that happens, Brendan Rodgers is supposedly the front-runner to take over at Spurs.
You could practically hear the glee in the newsrooms.
Not only would their beloved Ibrox club no longer have to face Ange, but Celtic would lose their manager in the ensuing domino effect. Not that this scenario would help their cause much; Rodgers would be just as likely to batter them as Spurs boss as Ange.
And Celtic? Well we’re in the best position we’ve been in for years … it’s not an unattractive job at the moment, unlike the one across the city.
This is pure garbage though. It’s scraping the bottom of the barrel.
But, hey, at least someone actually went out and found this information themselves, which is more than can be said for the usual copy-and-paste job we see from sites like Football Insider.
You can’t deny that a bit of research was done – pity the same folks were too lazy to fact-check the Ibrox club’s supposed profit in recent accounts. It wasn’t any more difficult to uncover the truth there, but they decided to skip that.
It’s mind-boggling how desperate some of these Peepul are to dig up something negative for us, while clutching at straws for their club.
The second one outlet runs a story like this, their tabloid rivals – who, twenty years ago, would have laughed this nonsense out of the building – rush to repackage it. This business has become an insidious little place where recycled rubbish gets churned out repeatedly under different bylines, but it’s the same nonsense all the way through.
Then there’s the embellishment! I do love when these journalists at least try to sprinkle a bit of imagination into their thievery. The second article came with the added drama of Rodgers’ supposed release clause. As if all Spurs would need to do to get him is offer us some money.
There’s no mention of whether Rodgers would even entertain the idea of leaving, as if the man would just up and walk out on Celtic for a second time after promising he wouldn’t. That’s assumed, and no more thought is given to it than that.
So let’s not pretend this is an actual story. It’s not.
We’re talking about bookmaker odds here. Odds that fluctuate with the weather. A few heavy bets on a particular outcome and the odds shift. Even a headline in a paper can change them. And let’s not forget that this entire narrative depends on Ange being the first Premier League manager to get sacked. There’s no guarantee of that. Other bosses in England’s top flight are under just as much pressure, if not more.
The story completely ignores the latest murmurings out of the Tottenham boardroom, where, for once, the talk is about giving their manager time. Of course, results can sway that intention, but it seems like they’ve finally realised they can’t keep sacking managers based on a few grumbles in the stands or a headline or two.
I’ve said before that Ange has walked into a club not fit for him, and yes, the media drums are already beating against him. There are probably people at Spurs who have doubts. But nothing is imminent. He’s got time to turn it around. The idea that this Rodgers-to-Spurs fantasy is anything but a cynical effort to unsettle Celtic is laughable.
This whole story is designed to lift the spirits of the club across the city, as they stumble around in chaos. They’ll cling to this fantasy that Rodgers will bolt the moment a job in England opens up. But Rodgers is in a much stronger position now than the last time he was here, and by the end of the season, he’ll be even more secure in his role. That reality is what really scares the folk over at Ibrox and their friends in the media.
But this article won’t bring them any closer to their dream scenario. It gives them a fleeting moment of hope, and as we all know, hope is what does the most damage. It’s what makes the eventual despair that much worse. A feel-good story for them today only turns into another scar tomorrow.
I do object to anyone calling this journalism though. It certainly isn’t that.
We endured years of
“O’Neill to Liverpool/Leeds/Newcastle”
every other week a generation ago. The hacks go into complete meltdown when we have a manager and a team capable of embarrassing them. Then as now, all these sort of articles reek of is desperation and above all, fear – but it’s a new strain of fear this time around….. the fear that things have fundamentally changed and this situation is now permanent. It’s a well-founded fear too.
Scotland’s so called football ‘journalists’ makes me physically sick. How the owners of these failing enterprises can allow a situation to develop where a massive potential readership is effectively defranchised in favour of fanboy reporting on a massive scale.
Thank God for this blog and other Celtic online media!
Its the media that get mgrs sacked, not results directly, the pressure is on far sooner than it should be on every one of them, quite ironic really, when there are players who can be chronic for as long as they want without fear of the headlines mgrs get. It would be great just to hear a chairman or 2 just tell these rags to eff off and make it clear the club will decide when the time is right, not the copy n paste numbskulls that inhabit the press.
They know nothing else but sensationalism.
A couple of points here James…
1) Brendan is clearly in sole control here now – absolutely no question about that – This transfer window proves that beyond all doubt…
2) ‘Sonny’ Lawwell has gone from the building – Thank goodness – His Record was every bit as appalling as ‘Daddy’s nepotism…
3) Lord Lucan-Nicholson is quieter and doesn’t seem the type to “work against and ‘tackle’ Brendan so to speak…
4) Any Celtic supporters that buy these rags of evil clearly need some time and serious therapy in Surehaven or Leverndale Hospitals…
5) You are exempted James for giving them financial aid as you need to give them even £0.0000001 pence to provide them with their poison pen Lies for Liebrox !
Fuck it – Mistake in Point Five !
5) You are exempted James for giving them financial aid as you need to give them even £0.0000001 pence to provide US with their poison pen Lies for Liebrox…
(And not ‘them’ where US should have been !
I heard that Spurs directors spoke in very disparaging terms about Brendan when they were looking for their new manager as he was one of the mentioned names for the role that Ange took. I’ve often said that Ange’s success at Celtic was in bringing the 3 Japanese bhoys that still shine today. Guchi was unlucky with injury and the victim of a malicious tackle but Ange’s power and influence was waning as the 2nd season was coming to its conclusion. That 3-0 defeat at the midden highlighted to me that the extent of his powers had been reached. I believe the board felt that too and were reluctant to back him financially and he saw the writing on the wall. Strangely enough just like they treated Brendan first time around. BR has promised to see out his contract and I believe he will unless of course the board see a large offer of a fee from Spurs for his services
Even if it were the case that Spurs were interested. Circumstances are far different from BR’s previous spell at CP. There’s no way ah could see him doin that tae the Celtic support now. The ibrox club are skint, they have a delusional, stat freak for a manager. Their teams as poor as it has been for a long time and there’s a very real threat, probability, that we’re about tae take over their trophy haul and smash the myth, the lie. State theyre in, they’ll grab at any crumb of comfort.
I doubt Spurs holds any attraction for Brendan, to be honest. He knows the EPL well enough to know it’s a cursed role.
I also don’t think he wants to leave us until he’s made a mark in Europe (whatever that means to him).
Tottenham 3 v Brentford 1…
So Ange lives another day then –
The sick bags will be out in every room in The Scummy Scottish Football Media buildings then…
Choke on your stinking vomit please ya shower of Scummy’s now that Ange has blown your Scummy prayers to smithereens !
Theiy cant do their job properly fue to their incredible bias. Its great. Fcuk them and their favourite club
The entire basis is nonsense obviously but with a shrewd business man like Dan Levy, he will not go to the same well that he has deemed to have stung him. Even though BR has shown he has a strong Premier League pedigree I think it will take some time for prem teams to consider spfl managers going forward. Gerrard was an complete failure, & Ange picked the wrong club to go to as you’ve said previously.