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The Village Idiot lost it at the Celtic game yesterday. Man, oh man, is he hurting.

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The other day, I published a post about our good friend The Village Idiot, highlighting how his recent meltdowns over his own club have made him must-see television. Yesterday, he appeared on the panel for the Celtic game against Ross County, and in the aftermath, he delivered another spectacular meltdown—this time over us.

The outburst was so unhinged that even the panel members openly mocked him.

My favourite moment came when Chris Sutton asked if he had a hanky. As I mentioned in a recent piece, one of the best things about the past few months has been watching Sutton treat him like a dancing bear, needling him, and laughing at his antics. Yesterday, Sutton was in his element as The Village Idiot started to unravel.

He wanted an offside for the McCowan goal and a red card for the Johnston penalty.

The idea that Alistair Johnston should have been sent off is absurd. By that same logic, the Ross County player should have been red-carded at the end, yet that conveniently escaped his notice.

Sometimes, it’s hard to watch him.

Listening to someone so bitter makes you think the best place for him might be locked in the attic with Mrs. Rochester. He’s a category-one loon ball when he’s in the sort of headspace he was in yesterday.

And yet, I can’t deny how entertaining I find it.

In my last piece on this guy, I wrote that his unravelling over the crisis at Ibrox and Celtic’s continued domination in this league has made him unmissable. Some people found his antics yesterday irritating; others were furious. But to me, it’s the kind of craziness that has become oddly enjoyable.

The more Celtic steamrolls ahead, the more desperate he’ll become, and the more unhinged his behaviour will get. We’re in for some quality television from him this season.

I hope his mad theory becomes the big story of the week. I hope the press dissects the incident thoroughly, along with the penalty we were awarded—because, predictably, people are already denying it should have been given. It feeds into the long-standing belief that the media only makes a fuss when decisions favour Celtic or go against the club from Ibrox. It’s hilarious and pathetic, but entirely expected.

For the record, I thought it was a penalty. The second-half penalty Celtic received was a stonewall, incontrovertible decision as well. It was the easiest call the officials had to make all day. The referee initially got it wrong but, upon review, corrected himself, realizing how bad it looked.

In some ways, it’s understandable that The Village Idiot lost his mind over the Johnston incident. By then, he would have known the results of the Patrick Stewart press conference: the manager is being given more time but little money to spend, signalling a period of radical downsizing and austerity for the Ibrox club.

I can see why he might feel like everything he values and hopes for at his club is slipping away—because it is. Their entire support is moving through the stages of grief as they come to terms with that fact.

What made his meltdown yesterday so incredible was that he understands the situation at the club he supports. He’s been vocal and, at times, insightful about it.

But his hatred for Celtic blinds him, and yesterday’s nuttiness revealed just how close to the edge he’s teetering. He’s not alone.

We’re going to see more of this anger erupt over the next few weeks and months, especially if Clement remains in charge. His self-detonation yesterday needs to be seen in context: these people are hurting. At first, it was because things weren’t going well, and they hoped for improvement. Now, it’s because they can’t see where improvement might come from—or how it ever will.

Frustration has turned to despair, which is feeding the anger. The real danger for the Ibrox support is if that anger tips over into apathy. If you look closely at their forums, you can see the seeds of it already.

The Village Idiot might be foolish, but he can read the writing on the wall. When he says the Ibrox fanbase won’t stand for this, he’s correct. Where he’s wrong is in believing that giving them their way will lead to a happy ending.

It’ll be fascinating to see how he handles it when reality starts to sink in. It may take a while—he is, after all, a fool—but even the biggest fool eventually sees the truth.

Photo by Rob Casey/SNS Group via Getty Images

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8 comments

  • Clachnacuddin and the Hoops says:

    “All of ma love, all of ma kissin, you don’t know what you’ve been a missin” – Oh Boyd !

    If only, If only, If only – It could go back to the good old days of fiver spent, tenner spent by The Taxpayers Biggest Ever Thief Void Boyd…

    But it ain’t happening – We love you’re tears – Or as Big Sutty said ‘Hankie Pankie’ !!!

  • PortoJoe says:

    My only issue with the penalties yesterday was how long it took them to review the Celtic penalty. On first playback it was pretty clear cut (especially the view from behind the goal). Why it took what appeared to be an age is beyond me.
    I only saw the last 10 minutes of the game live so don’t know if they were as slow with the Ross County award (another clear penalty). As I said on an earlier comment, loved AJ’s post match interview and honesty on Sky.

    • Brattbakk says:

      Agreed mate, the time it took was unbelievable, you might not see exactly what happened the first time but in both instances it was obvious after a couple of replays. Even if they had stuck with the refs decision and awarded the pen I’d be moaning about the time taken over the decision rather than the decision itself. Way too long, needless.

      • Brattbakk says:

        * not awarded

      • SFATHENADIROFCHIFTINESS says:

        Sevco are coming again… 3-0 at half time against St Jokestone.
        So will the Bearz still walk out on 55 mins?

        And The Void isnae there tae see it.

        He’s commenting on the Dons V Farts game.

  • Wee Jock says:

    The BBC mob were just as bad with soup taker McCann leading the howling. Any sane person in the country must be pissing themselves never mind the Celtic supporters. It’s deeper than the odd penalty, they see the whole bigoted superiority lie thing disappearing and us looking downn on them. I blame the schools myself

    • micmac says:

      Aye Neil Doherty McCann is a little rat, I can accept Boyd’s rants and where it comes from he grew up an Ayrshire Ibrox fan, wee McCann is from a Celtic supporting family, and can’t hide his bitterness at Celtic not signing him, when his namesake Fergus baulked at the price Hearts were asking for him. That was in the days when Murray was throwing the Bank of Scotland backed Rangers money around, and at the same time leading them towards Liquidation.
      McCann is BBC Scotland’s star turn when it comes to anti Celtic punditry. he revels in sticking the knife in when commenting for the so called national broadcaster.

  • Brattbakk says:

    The threat of apathy is very real over there. A lot of them simply won’t be able to accept that they are fodder and the prospect for the next few years is to downsize further. Boyd’s livelihood forces him to watch the unraveling and comment on it while having a personal meltdown. Tv gold

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