It’s so typical of the media here to try and conjure up some bizarre Ibrox connection to Celtic’s Champions League campaign. Today’s desperate headlines claim Malik Tillman did us a “favour” last night by scoring for PSV Eindhoven, giving them a victory to keep their Champions League hopes alive.
The only scenario where Tillman’s actions benefitted us would be if PSV were somehow holding back a team poised to knock us out. But are we on the brink of elimination this morning? Not at all. The stats currently give us an 87% chance of progressing. Yet these shaky narratives from certain outlets are based on the notion that we won’t earn another point. What nonsense. Based on how we’ve been playing, we’re more likely to secure several more.
It’s pathetic, really—the lengths some will go to in order to fabricate a tenuous Ibrox connection where none exists. Tillman’s story itself is almost comical when viewed through the lens of their club’s bizarre affairs. This is the player they had on loan but couldn’t afford to sign permanently. Then they had the gall to claim a “transfer fee” when he went to PSV. The whole thing is absurd.
Celtic’s Champions League fate rests in our own hands. It’s as simple as that. Nobody did us any favours last night—that’s not how group stages work. Success comes from amassing enough points and finishing as high as you can. The only “favours” happen on the last day, and even then, they’re usually accidental. We’ll be fighting until the final whistle of the last match to determine our position, and with a few more points, we can guarantee progression.
The key question is whether we qualify as a seeded team or not. That’s what it comes down to, and no other club’s results will influence it. Every team is out to secure their own position because higher finishes mean higher financial rewards. We’re already guaranteed at least £5 million in extra prize money for reaching the top 15. That should be our goal: a top-15 finish and seeding for the knockout stage.
To achieve it, we’ll need to win at home against Young Boys, take something from Zagreb, and possibly get a result in Spain. If we manage that, we’ll have earned our position. Nobody will have handed it to us.
I’ve said it before: no club and its fans cling to the past as tightly as those from Ibrox. It’s almost self-inflicted torture. After PSV’s previous game, there was an entire thread on one of their forums obsessing over Tillman, with fans asking “what if?” What if they could have afforded his transfer fee (which they couldn’t)? What if they had a chance of convincing him to stay (which they didn’t)?
These hypotheticals make the idea that they somehow “got a fee” for him from Bayern Munich laughable. Tillman had made it clear he didn’t want to stay permanently, and they lacked the money to sign him even if he had.
This ludicrous “Tillman theory” comes courtesy of Ronnie Copeland at the Daily Record and has also appeared in the Daily Express. Is this how journalism works now? Are these writers passed around between publications, churning out the same drivel? Even a decade ago, this would’ve been considered a shady practice. No respectable newspaper would have accepted recycled articles.
It’s a complete non-story—pure clickbait rubbish. It’s yet another attempt to imply Celtic somehow relies on Ibrox for success. That narrative is as laughable as it is wretched, and this latest piece is one of the worst examples yet.
*/#% them. The standard of journalism in this country is frankly appalling. The thing is it aint even a joke anymore! Such crap can influence so many people to believe this nonsense and it can be a danger to society. Editors should be called out to answer why they allow such lies (some could be serious) to go to print!
Copeland – His name says all one needs to fuckin know !
“To achieve it, we’ll need to win at home against Young Boys, take something from Zagreb, and possibly get a result in Spain.”
Might want to change that last bit… it’s Aston Villa we’re playing, not Villarreal… 😉