The Nancy-Martin story reads like just another attack on the Celtic boss.

Last night one of the most bizarre news stories of the year landed in all of our social media feeds. Considering the year in question, that is quite a statement. I am sure you saw it, and I am sure I do not need to explain it in much detail, not least because the story itself contains very little detail.

The claim is that Russell Martin has emerged as one of the final candidates for Wilfried Nancy’s former job at Columbus Crew.

Is it true? I could not care less, as I do not spend any of my time, not a minute and not a second, wondering who the former Celtic manager’s old club hires as his replacement. I never have and I never will. It carries no consequence for me whatsoever.

Even so, the story feels wrong in almost every way. It feels manufactured and grubby.

It feels like something you want to wash off after reading.

Not that there is much to read in the first place.

The report supposedly originated with The Athletic, which usually persuades people to treat a story as credible. It is not a tabloid, and it does not employ the likes of Derek Ferguson, Kris Boyd or Hugh Keevins.

Even then, this one raises immediate problems. First, it makes no sense. Second, it sounds like the opening line of a joke where our club provides the punchline. That alone suggests motive.

Columbus Crew need a new manager. You could reasonably assume they might favour someone who talks the talk, who sounds a little like Nancy, and who appears to come from the same school of thought. However, Columbus hired Nancy when he rode high. Anyone replacing him would logically ride high as well. You would expect someone with momentum, reputation and tangible achievement.

You would not expect a manager whose last act involved breaking the record for the earliest sacking in the history of the club across the city. Extend that record across the broader Rangers history, as many of their supporters like to do, and it becomes even more damning.

This is not the first time Russell Martin has exited a job under those circumstances. Clubs have jettisoned him before after long, joyless runs of form. You might tolerate that if your club values aesthetics over results. Even then, winning still matters. You do not operate a professional sports team in order to lose so often that the entire exercise starts to look pointless.

Put simply, Russell Martin does not belong anywhere near this process. No logic places him on a shortlist or earns him an interview.

No logic elevates him above better candidates.

Almost anyone would represent a stronger option.

Once you accept how implausible the scenario sounds, a different question follows naturally.

If the story is not really about Russell Martin getting the job, what is it actually about?

The answer feels obvious. The narrative fits together too neatly. Russell Martin. Wilfried Nancy. The Celtic manager compared with the man across the city. Russell Martin stepping into the job Nancy left behind. Anyone trying to caricature Nancy’s career arc would reach for exactly that comparison.

The inference does not require imagination.

Who takes damage if people accept the comparison? Martin does not care. He remains out of work and he has no reputation to defend right now. He markets himself aggressively in the hope of landing his next job.

Nancy, on the other hand, has something to protect. Suggesting that Columbus might view Russell Martin as a suitable replacement for him undermines his standing by association.

Whether it happens does not matter. Nancy already owns domestic honours. He has proved himself a winner and he does not need to conquer Celtic Park to justify his time in the dugout. He is a better manager than Russell Martin.

That is not opinion. Results prove it.

He will last longer in Glasgow, and he will come far closer to a genuine title challenge.

That context explains why this tactic sits so low.

If this story collapses, as it almost certainly will, then someone planted it with malicious intent. I do not care whether it appeared in The Athletic, The Guardian, The Sun, The Record or The Beano. Anyone circulating a story designed to undermine the Celtic manager deserves scrutiny. The source matters. The motive matters.

This story carries a familiar smell.

The media would love it to be true. They would weaponise it within minutes. They would deploy it relentlessly. Not because it matters, and not because it reveals anything meaningful about Nancy’s ability, any more than the colour of his boots or the markings on his tactics board do.

They would use it because it destabilises.

That is the entire point. Destabilisation. Another tool drawn from a well-stocked arsenal.

The hunt has begun. They have Nancy in their sights and they will not stop until he proves they picked the wrong target or they succeed in bringing him down. They have committed. They’re now engaged. They feel ready.

They will keep coming, again and again, using whatever they can find.

If Nancy did not understand that before, he does now.

He is in their gun sights.

This is not accidental.

It is deliberate, and it will not stop.

So, he would be wise to be careful.