Celtic Diary Friday August 21: Some Things Never Change

We might be in the middle of a global pandemic, often portrayed in Hollywood as an end of the world scenario.

We might also have seen the national debt top two trillion pounds for the first time in history, which will inevitably lead to a depression that will rival that of the nineteen thirties.

Not only that, but we are led by the two western leaders who will never be desrcibed as leaders, indeed history will look upon them as walking talking tragedies, only it’s us who will have to suffer.

We might even have seen the arrival of aliens, as UFO reports seem to be on every social media page…they could be here to help us, but once they start asking questions as to why we keep making films about fighting them, that could perhaps make them feel awkward enough to forget it, and leave us to our own devices.

Even that mainstay of our lives, the one constant, our football club, could be taken away from us as the harsh econimic climate worsens, and with the hanging dagger of season’s end over our heads, we might not even be able to watch it on the telly.

There is talk that the upcoming Motherwell game being used as a tester for limited crowd presence, but the simple fact is that although we can sit fairly well apart in the stadium, the social distancing rules will be impossible to keep to in the pubs and on the buses before and after.

Don’t get your hopes up.

So it was not only refreshing and delightful to see that the producers of the world’s longest running pantomime have stepped up to the plate to put a smile on the face of the nation.

Well, when I say smile, it’s more of a belly laugh with tears flowing, ribs cracking and pants wetted.

When Mike Ashley decided he wanted only what his agreed to be his, by and large the dodgy chaps at Ibrox ignored him, and  signed up with Hummel to supply and distribute kits and merchandise, and this went quite well until Ashley said no, and hummel duly walked away, leaving “rangers ” to deal with the fall out.

Aided and abetted by the Scottish media, as they had been when Hummel entered the fray, little attention was paid to the detail, the detail that charles Green had agreed to with Ashley that meant the likeable-well, he is now- businessman had them by the short and curlies, and all that was left was for their minds to follow.

Except their minds are a fairly vacant space over in Rangersland, and if they weren’t going to accept that their club was in liquidation and their history ended, they sure as hell weren;t going to take any notice of anything else they didn’t want to believe, and so it was fairly easy for the media, who had to try to keep the same old Rangers narrative going as the vacant minds of the hordes needed something to fill them, and as long as it was what they wanted to read, everybody was happy.

Rangers fans had their club and their position on society as “the people ” …a line they have stuck to for years because everyone else thinks they are animals… was assured.

They weren’t encouraged to stop and think about reality.

They had discovered that there was life after death, and so nothing else mattered.

When Hummel walked away, there was the real danger that no one would supply them with a kit to wear for the upcoming season, and let’s face it, who the hell would want to have their name on a shirt that is associated with so many lies, and so much toxicity, all documented elsewhere, except, of course, where it would matter, over in the mainstream media.

Thise involved in the sportswear industry watch each other, and other firms would have noticed that Hummel didn;t get what they wanted from Ibrox, and so all reputable firms decided not to get involved.

Ibrox was a no go area, with it’s own particular stench putting everyone off.

Then, luxury sportswear firm Castore were announced as the new suppliers.

A small but ambitious firm from Liverpool who supplied tennis superstar Andy Murray with his gear, which gave them credibility. After all, you can;t move in certain circles for people wearing replica Andy Murray tennis tops, yet somehow the hordes, and the by now desperate media swallowed everything that was read out to them by the Ibrox board, and despite a track record of being impervious to the truth, yet again it all became fact.

Though you only had to visit the  Companies House website to see that the two brothers didn’t own Castore at all…

No one asked them to explain this, and no one wanted to, becuase then they would have to ask who is in charge, and the finger of suspicion was pointed at Mike Ashley, who isn’t actually all that likeable if you get on the wrong side of him, and with an army of lawyers ready to do his bidding, he sent them the signal.

“rangers ” have made more court appearnaces than, well, Andy Murray , recently, and unlike the tennis start, they’ve lost every time.

Where Murray makes millions, they lose them.

And they haven’t got millions to lose…so that means they need to perhaps cut corners to make some fast cash, especially given that no one, of any repute, at least, will lend them any money.

Which brings us back to Castore…

They had a reputation as a luxury sportswear firm, and to be fair, they must have earned it somehow.

But they are under different ownership now, and standards have gone out of the window.

Actually, out of the window, along the street and onto the first bus that comes along..destination anyfuckingwhere.

They have churned out tat to a rough template in China, India, Turkey and anywhere else they can find poor people with their own needles and thread in an attempt to satisfy demand for the merchandise of a club/company that was always going to outstrip their capabilities.

There are differences in the kits depending on where they are made, basic errors such as colour and desing, and the fans are not happy.

From this….

to this…

There are countless other complaints about poor stitching, letters and numbers falling off and even different shades of blue…although to my mind they’ve all been stitched up expertly by whoever has spotted how easy it is to get away with skimming the blue pound, again,aided and abetted by free advertising in the media.

But the straw that broke the camels back was the introduction of the new golfing style jumper, which carries the Ibrox badge…well, the new badge, they can’t use the old one as it is associated with the old club.

Quite how they can link the colour brown to “rangers ” is beyond…oh , wait….but the real problem is that the jumpers appear to be the cheap school jumpers that retail for around £5.

Castore seem to have got on board with the Going For 55 campaign as that is what they are charging for this tat, and it does look like they are actually school jumpers …there’s space for the name on the label…

Though I reckon one name fits all….. thanks to Mark Bradley on Twitter for this

And so perhaps they will begin to realise that they have been taken for fools by venture capitalists and anyone else who has their eye on a quick buck for minimum effort.

I only wish I’d had a quid on me when David Murray, who started all this years ago, needed a fall guy.

I’d make Jeff Bezos look like an amateur if I’d have had a marketplace like the gullibillies.

I’d have been able to pay that national debt of by now…and still have enough change for chips on the way home.

Maybe they have realised, as a moderator on one of their forums pointed out…

There is a serious point here, and that is that football fans..albeit in the loosest possible meaning of the words…have been fleeced for a decade and more by shameless businessmen and as a result , our game is in trouble.

When will those in the media realise that it’s their job to call this out.

Why won;t they give credit, joking apart, to supporters who could easily come to terms with their club being dead, but reforemd in it;s image.

At least then they might actually get someone who would invest in a fresh start, with all the old baggage gone.

Then again, I’ve got a shiny two pound coin in my pocket. They could double their money…

Are they open to a takeover bid ?