Soccer Football - Scottish Premiership - Rangers v St Johnstone - Ibrox, Glasgow, Scotland, Britain - August 12, 2020 General view outside the stadium before the match, as play resumes behind closed doors following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) Pool via REUTERS/Ian MacNicol
This is the time of festive fun, the time when miracles happen. Unbelievable stuff is the order of the day. It’s also supposed to be a season of peace and goodwill, but there’s precious little of that on display across the city.
Let me tell you a story that sounds too unbelievable to be true, but I assure you it is a fact.
In 1955, the Colorado Springs branch of Sears published an advert in the local papers inviting children to call Santa Claus. There are two versions of what happened next. In one, a child dials the wrong number; in the other, a newspaper prints the wrong number. What we do know is that a child picked up the phone to talk to Santa and ended up speaking to an officer at NORAD’s Strategic Air Command at Cheyenne Mountain, just outside the city.
Harry Shoup, the officer who answered the call, saw an opportunity for some good public relations.
He got one of his press officers to issue a statement saying that, for anyone concerned, the North American Air Defence Command was keeping an eye on Santa and his sleigh, protecting them during their Christmas run. The following year, they issued a similar statement, and by 1958 they had set up their own hotline for people wanting to call on Christmas Eve to find out Santa’s exact location.
NORAD continues this tradition to the present day. In fact, they now have a website—NORAD Tracks Santa—where you can log on every Christmas Eve to see his exact position in the world and even track how many presents he’s delivered.
There’s nothing in this world too crazy to be true.
Or so I thought, until Ibrox released its moon-howling press statement today.
There’s no goodwill to all men or Christmas cheer in it—no positive PR or any attempt at it. It’s divisive, shocking, and utterly deranged. Instead of painting their new board in a positive light, it highlights how backward, reactionary, and enthralled to the lunatic element of their own support they remain.
In time, this statement will be remembered as nothing more than a flashing warning sign spelling out one message: avoid, avoid, avoid—this club is nuts.
We all know they’ve dealt badly with the defeat in the cup final. We all know they’ve struggled to get a grip since the deciding penalty kick was missed. That wasn’t just a missed penalty, after all, or the simply relinquishing of a trophy. It was the erasure of the very reason the Survival Lie exists. It was the moment that it could no longer sustain itself, the moment we “officially” went ahead on trophies.
I knew there would be an adverse reaction to that. This is off the charts though. This is far crazier than I thought they’d go. Bad enough that their manager has made so many mad comments in the last week; this came from the new board of directors, proving that they are cut from the same cloth as the ones before.
Because the sense of entitlement in that statement today is mind-bending. The depth of their institutional derangement takes your breath away.
It’s not mad enough that they spent part of last year trying to dictate who officiates their games; now they’re trying to tell the SFA who should officiate ours. The section of their statement where they object to Frank Connor being assigned one of our games over the festive period makes them sound completely unhinged.
It also makes them sound gutless. We’ll get back to that.
But I’m very interested in seeing how some of the talking heads in the media respond to this story and what they write about it. Let’s not beat about the bush here; Ibrox is openly suggesting bias. Everyone who reads that statement recognises this full well.
I’d have no problem with that stance per se; as I’ve said before, if they want the debate then let’s have it. No-one has waited longer than we have.
But that they don’t even have the backbone to come out and say it directly is telling, and it grants the media an alibi to dance around it. I hope they don’t. If the Ibrox club are alleging that certain officials have pro-Celtic sympathies, then let’s have it all out there. Let us put our own grievances on the table.
As far as I’m concerned, nobody in the mainstream media can take a middle-ground position on this. If you think Ibrox has a point, then it’s time to have the wider debate. If no-one thinks they have a point then we’ll see how far this “protection” for officials extends. The media has been indulging in the witch-hunt up until now, one which has taken a sinister turn today. They need to pick a side.
The media’s coverage of this has been a big part of the problem. Whether steered towards certain interpretations by Ibrox or not, their claim that the officials had been “demoted” was almost certainly inaccurate, although Collum certainly aided that interpretation with his own cack-handed intervention. But actually, this might not have been the case, and I never really thought it was.
Last night on the podcast, Joe, Eric, and I discussed this point.
The media, guided by its own biases, has concluded that those officials were demoted last weekend. None of us were convinced that was the case. Officials are always left off the rotation, and it’s not unusual for the SFA to take under-fire referees out of the spotlight after a controversial incident.
But the media spun it as a punishment. And now that these officials are back in rotation, the fury at Ibrox has boiled over into this irrational statement.
There is no organisation on the planet more in need of embracing some Christmas spirit than the one across the city. The civilised parts of this country are aghast at what they released today—stunned by the malice, spite, and pettiness of it, and by the sheer derangement that lies behind it.
It is, without doubt, the worst Christmas media release to come out of Ibrox since Charles Green’s infamous, cringe-inducing personal statement from a decade ago. That, too, was filled with ranting, raving paranoia. The remarkable thing about that club is how little has changed in the years since. A whole decade has passed, and yet their thinking remains stagnant. Growth? None. Reflection? Non-existent.
Everything that happens to them is always someone else’s fault. They are never the architects of their own problems, never the cause of their own suffering. It’s astonishing how deeply ingrained this mindset is.
And since they’ve clearly failed to muster any spirit of Christmas, I must admit—it pleases me that so many of them are spending Christmas Eve roiled in anger and misery. My only hope is that we can extend that suffering well into the New Year.
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Haven’t actually read it and don’t know if ah even want to. Ye can take any ‘goodwill’ from that establishment with as many pinches of salt as you wish. Tho we know in reality, it relates to every institution except one and thats ours. Nae use bein hypocritical about it, it is and always will be the case. Don’t worry, any ‘goodwill’ will go out the windae as soon as somethin else crops up that upsets, or displeases them and that means from any other club as well and that disnae take much. Just made up my mind, not even goin tae read it. Merry Xmas & HH.
No need to read it – I bet they’re saying “Sack the boy with the Fenian-sounding name.”
James you know and I know the media in Scotland will not come out and strongly criticise this statement from The Rangers Board. I despair for Scottish Football, we are in a very dangerous place. That the Rangers board come out with this inflammatory statement just 9 days before a The Rangers v Celtic game shows that this Ibrox Board do not give a shxt for the safety of players, backroom staff, officials and even the people of Glasgow.
The pussyfutting about with this new club by the football authorities over the past 12 years, has resulted in this team and its fans having a resentful huge chip on its shoulder, along with the arrogance it inherited from the the previous Rangers FC.
Jan 2nd could be a very dangerous day for the Celtic players and backroom staff, The Celtic Board should go public on the situation, if they don’t then they will be failing in their duty of care for their employees.
Even Willie Collum’s apologetic statement last week reeked of knee bending acquiescence towards Ibrox. As I said I despair for Scottish Football, In this respect it’s about time the Celtic Board grew a pair, or they are just part of the bending the knee to the madness down Ibrox way.
I’ve read it and it’s off the actual fuckin scale so it is…
Utterly off the fuckin scale –
But Madden and Collum have brought it to this level…
Do you really think that in a high pressured job (say a cop or army staff in dangerous conflict locus’s) would trigger deranged enemies to the destination of their colleagues doorsteps…
Of course they wouldn’t !
But The Madhun started it all off aided and abetted by his media mates undoubtedly spunking themselves to see the ex cheating bastard in the top chair…
Then Collum comes out with sick bag after sick bag after fuckin sick bag of emotive apologetically worded language – And this is his thanks…
They (Sevco and The Scummy’s of The Scummy Scottish Football Media) want Madden or Beaton in there in place of Collum and the quicker for them then the better – They will likely succeed as well…
At one time one might even feel a degree of sympathy for Collum but after last week there’s not a fuckin chance…
Take what’s coming to you Willie from The Sevco Huns and The Scummy’s of The Scummy Scottish Football Media – Take it all for you deserve it you cowardly little dickhead…
They (seem) to run this ‘peculiar’ little country as Stewart Regan called Scotland off the field of play –
He (Regan) didn’t get much right, but he was bang on with that ascertation for sure…
But they (Sevco) don’t rule on the field of play – Thank Fuck !
# Celtic 119 v Sevco 3 #
Marry Christmas to one and all involved with Celtic and every Celtic supporter out there…
Merry Christmas to most football lovers as well –
But certainly NOT to Madhun or Collum or The Scummy’s of The Scummy Scottish Football Media for sure !!!
Willie Collum should never have apologized to them. They are a malicious, nasty and small minded lot who will try to bite every hand that goes near them. Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile. Hopefully Collum learns from this and never buckles to their screaming hordes again. They should actually look into charging them now for bringing the game into disrepute for insinuating corruption.
Their lack of sportsmanship and professionalism will surely light a scorching fire under Rodgers belly, and his time talk at Ibrox will do the same for the players.
Wish this had an edit function to fix any typos.
Given that they charged Rodgers for his comments after the Hearts game last season, their statement should have their new CEO in the dock. It is way beyond the pale. I read the statement to my wife today (who is English and humours my football obsessions) and she immediately saw it as implying bias and undermining their own comments that mistakes happen. What they are really saying is, don’t give “them” people who might make honest mistakes, put our place-men in charge.
What I would like to see/hear is the footage from last weekend with crowd noise excluded to hear exactly when Beaton blew his whistle. Seems to me that he has been excused without any evidence being presented.
But if Sevco want to right historic wrongs (in their eyes) then let’s play this game… ok, the Joe Miler Cup Final, it was never our throw-in. Now… Cadette’s goal? Cadette’s clearance? EBT’s and financial doping? I reckon we are at least 10+ on the trophies without trying too hard (and that’s without looking at Hugh Dallas – remind me why he lost his job?
MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EVERY HOOPS SUPPORTERS !
One Hundred and Nineteen Presents Please to us all Please Father Christmas !!!!!
The majority of officials in this country will support either the tribute act or us. Almost all of the biggest games in this country will involve either side so to deny those officials those games will only lead to them lying about allegiance and more conspiracy talk. If the debate ever fully happens then that’s the outcome.
I was thinking the word just before I read it in this article, ‘derangement’, watching the huns take shaky steps into what they think might actually be the moral high ground is hilarious. The arrogance that the problem couldn’t just be that they’re shite and must be down to huge corruption is as astonishing as their tiny memories.
Merry Christmas to all the Celtic family all around the world and good health, much happiness for 2025 (and 2 more trophies please)
Peace to all.
Hail, hail always?
History repeats itself. Walter Smith called out a ref with an Irish name without having the guts to actually say what he meant; merely putting the emphasis on MURPHY was enough, but everyone got the message.
It was and is anti Irish racism, and the klan is too cowardly to come out and say what we all know they mean.
Cowardice, racism and hatred is all they have left.
I said this last night when someone posted about it. the SFA should grow a pair and tell them they run Scottish football not them.