We all enjoyed a good chuckle before the bells rang to herald a new year. We all have plenty to look forward to as the hoops continue their surge towards six, seven eight nine and ultimately ten in a row.
Yet there was a more sinister side to the game and the reportage that had celtic not won, would have had us transported back into the days of Jim Farry, Bobby Tait and anyone else you can think of who crosses the road when they see a catholic.
Not just on the pitch, but off it, the old goat bothering brigade were in full swing before, during and after the game, and perhaps we have let it go a little due to the fact that this time, it didn’t work.
Lets start with the hidden agenda behind the build up. Perhaps the biggest slur of all.
Celtic supporters were expected to disrespect the hastily arranged minutes silence for the Ibrox disaster. Even to the extent that we were pleading with our own not to do it. The media had convinced us that there were supporters going to Ibrox on a mission to disrespect the dead.
With the eyes and ears of the world on the game, still marketed as the Old Firm despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, even Celtic supporters were relieved when nobody said anything that would bring shame on the club, and yet really, did any of us question the campaign that set up the silence, and waited with microphones turned up for something to happen ?
No. somehow they’ve managed to convince us that we’ve surprised everyone by behaving ourselves.
Aren’t we good little boys and girls ?
Was it to give them a story should their favourites, as expected, be beaten on the park again ?
Was it to remove attention from the inevitable singalongasectariansong that the media continues to ignore ?
Or were they just rebuilding the brand with Old Firm reputation, the one which says we are two sides of the same coin ?
Matthew Lindsay, the ursine ginger who covers Ibrox for the Herald seemingly didn’t bother with the game, and said in his match report..
Even the fears about the minute’s silence in memory of the 66 Rangers fans who lost their lives in the 1971 Ibrox Disaster being disrespected amounted to precious little. Sure, a couple of empty vessels among several thousand Celtic supporters proved themselves incapable of remaining quiet for 60 seconds, but they were in a tiny minority and were quickly slapped down by those around them.
Such was his expectation of the disrespect, he couldn’t hold himself back from reporting on it, whether it happened or not, and when challenged on the veracity of his statement, he became his own chief witness.
@Dempsey1888 Serious answer. I heard them with my own ears. But, as I say in my article, it was one or two eejits in a crowd of 7,500
The reporter’s last port of call. He’s no other witnesses, so he decided he’d say he saw it.
But hey, they told us we’d do it, right ?
On the pitch we saw a couple of laughable decisions, the throw in awarded to “rangers ” when the ball somehow skipped out of play and back in again, the offsides against whichever Celtic player looked likely to score, and the first example of real cheating since the days of Dallas.
In fact, I can’t remember an instance as bad as the one where McLean pulled the ball back for a free kick when the Ibrox side failed to score after he’d played advantage, the final ball ending up with Craig Gordon.
The referee made a conscious decision to allow the chance, and then when no goal resulted, he pulled the game back to give them another go.
Of course, had “rangers ” scored, he would have cancelled the goal and brought play back…wouldn’t he ?
Then there was the clear shout aimed at Moussa Dembele when he scored, which pointed out his colour and questioned his parentage.
Anyone who knows anything about the football in Scotland knows that the Ibrox crowd sing about paedophilia, they sing about sending the Irish home and the disfiguring of landscapes by chapels.
Now they are targeting blacks will the media take notice ?
Which support needs to be monitored ?
Which support could be expected to offend with their chants and tunes ?
The media knew, so they thought they’d better make sure all eyes are on the other side of the ground. And they managed that quite nicely.
The old firm is back, and isn’t it great to be a part of it all ?
You know, maybe the real reason that there’s no money coming into Scottish football isn’t down to the useless double act of Regan and Doncaster. Maybe its that no one wants to be associated with the stench bile that comes from one of its biggest clubs.
Remember when Doncaster paid BT sports to cover games when the new club were in the lower tiers ?
Maybe they had to. Maybe the broadcaster was hesitant about putting the language of the gutter into peoples homes.
Celtic don;t want to be associated with them, thats clear from the abandonment of the brand in all official communications, began roughly at the same time New Balance came in to do the shirts, and we broke away from the dual contracts of shirt sponsorship.
Perhaps the business world wants nothing to do with the old firm brand after all, and its being kept alive by a few enthusiasts in a position of influence.
Would that surprise you ?
No, me neither.
Celtic made their views quite clear a few years ago.
Presumably there is more money to be outwith the brand than in it.
Mind you, we have to own up ourselves.
Stop calling them monkeys.
Stop saying the SFa and the ibrox club are in collusion …
“rangers” are a big club, with impressive facilities..
They look after their players..
But most of all, they have their legends…
Yesterday , we showed you this picture..
which generated this response..
Caption:
‘I’m going to eat a hot-dog for every point we finish above the Huns’,
‘have we got anymore?’
From the 1970’s, can someone explain this ?