Tiegate? It’s an example of the nonsense that surrounds the Celtic boss.

Once again today, our board proved that when it comes to staying just ahead of the curve, they’re lucky rather than good.

There’s an old saying that it’s better to be lucky than good. Well, they’re lucky – because our media here is, frankly, lamentably bad. And we got a sterling example of that today when Brendan faced the press pack.

I’ve already written about this narrative that’s being pushed – that Rodgers is not unhappy with the squad. Rodgers is unhappy with the squad. But because he’s been more conciliatory in public, because he’s acted like a professional by saying that he wants to knuckle down and work with the players he has rather than complain about what’s going on elsewhere, it’s been spun that way in some circles.

That’s an example of Rodgers’ critics looking for any stick to beat him with, even using moderate, diplomatic public statements.

The media is another thing entirely.

Is there a worse sports media anywhere in the world? Right now, there are 50 stories circulating around Celtic – transfers, lack of transfers, and all the other issues we’ve been discussing here for months. What nobody is seriously talking about is Brendan Rodgers’ tie – or lack thereof. Yet that was one of the questions put to him today: was he sending a subliminal message to the board by not wearing one at Aberdeen?

These press conferences aren’t exactly filled with the brightest and best at the moment. But even by the debased standards we’re used to here, that is an absurd question and an even more absurd proposition.

Look, it’s not the fan who suggested this on a local radio phone in who needs to go for a lie down in a dark room. It’s the hack who bothered to bring this to the manager’s attention who needs shamed.

Whatever Rodgers is, he is not the kind of guy who sends subliminal messages in the form of wardrobe choices. His gift is in his ability to communicate through words.

I’ve talked before about his background in neurolinguistics, and there are enough smart people in Celtic social media who always get the message he’s trying to send when he speaks.

A man that good at communicating in the traditional way doesn’t need to send coded signals. If something’s on Rodgers’ mind, he has no problem saying it. If this transfer window has taught us anything, it’s that he won’t shy away from expressing his frustrations in public. He’s a straight talker – that’s all he needs to be.

Imagine having to do that once a week – sit in front of our media yahoos answering questions about nonsense like that?

Now, imagine those are the same people second-guessing your transfer strategy, your signings, your team selections. Why would you put up with it? The truth is, if he wasn’t required to do those briefings, Rodgers wouldn’t set foot in that room. For a guy that smart, it must be painful to deal with people that daft – people who obsess over fluff like this.

There have been similar claims around his team selections. Is picking (or not picking) a certain player meant to send a message to the board? No. It’s Rodgers working with what he’s got. It’s him prioritising. And yes, sometimes that highlights the glaring holes in the squad – but that’s not the same thing at all.

Honestly, the body-language “experts” are bad enough. But reading meaning into every little gesture or choice Rodgers makes? It’s tiresome – but predictable.

This is what happens when you go into a season with so much uncertainty hanging over the club: the manager’s future undecided, the future of key players unclear, the transfer strategy in chaos, and no meaningful communication at all. In that vacuum, some people – in the media and beyond – will simply create their own reality.

There’s a big, empty space where actual news should be, and that space will get filled with something. This is the immutable law of the information era, and it’s why the busiest people at senior levels in major organisations are often those in media relations. Our board is lucky our media is lazy and incompetent, because otherwise it wouldn’t be filled with fluff like this – it would be filled with serious stuff, designed to make people uncomfortable and to expose just how badly certain things are being done here.

That’s what I mean when I say this board is lucky. They are lucky our main domestic rival is a shambles. They are lucky we operate in a media environment that’s rancid, hopeless, and gutless. That luck gives them a free ride – because if it wasn’t for that, they might be squirming in their seats a little bit right now, as they should be.

Instead, the media focuses on the manager’s dress code.

That sums them up, and it sums up the nonsense that surrounds Rodgers 24/7 right now. It’s all a consequence of this club’s inability to control the news cycle – to fill it with positive stories, with hope, with optimism for the future. Instead, there’s stony silence, which breeds resentment and gloom.

This window has been a failure on every level. But in terms of its communications, this has been an apocalyptic shit-show on a whole other level. This is what happens you don’t feed the beast.