It has frustrated me for some time that pundits and journalists will use euphemisms such as “interesting” and “game of cat & mouse” when referring to crap games in the EPL. Such games in Scotland are simply “rubbish”. Indeed I stopped listening to Clyde 2-3 years ago because it seemed populated by football journalists who hated the game and hated supporters. Writers such as Keevins seemed to genuinely dislike everything about Scottish football with the Celtic v Rangers game getting special criticism: “This is our biggest game and the quality of football is dire” the narrative went. Additionally, the only sellable element to the game was the atmosphere and that was generated by thugs and bigots on both sides. In short the paying customers were stupid bigoted thugs – all of them.
I don’t take kindly to being called a mug, especially by someone who only takes and never gives. Which brings me to these last 10 days.
Not all journalists are in the game of talking the sport down, the likes of Spence and Gordon on Sportsound are always positive on our game but there are far too many hoovers – people I avoid in real life, you know the sort, they have the ability to suck the positivity out of every situation. The hoovers have been decrying our game since the liquidation of Rangers. These hoovers have also been most vociferously peddling the liquidation myth narrative. And those hoovers – the ones who decried the bigotry of the Celtic v Rangers ties are the ones celebrating the game in January.
I don’t know anyone (who pays to watch games) who wanted or is now looking forward to this tie, yet there were some in the media who were absolutely desperate for us to be drawn together and creamed their pants when the draw gave them what they wanted. Ironically it is those who most ran down the old Celtic v Rangers fixture for the vile nature of the fans confrontation who are now most excited by the new incarnation. The very thing they claimed to despise is now the very thing they claim Scottish football misses.
Not content these hoovers like to add shit stirring to their repertoire. Patently they have missed the worst excesses of the Old Rangers games and now they want to ensure the atmosphere is a vile as possible. Immediately after the draw the hoovers and shit stirrers took every opportunity to drag up every issue that may compound grievances of the zombies. When the game comes and trouble starts – these shit stirrers will abdicate all responsibility and blame the dirty down-market football fans. How do I know this? Past form? I don’t even need to go that far back, just look at this week.
The coverage of McGeady and McCarthy playing for Ireland among some in the press has been despicable. The booing of McGeady on Friday evening was anti-Irish. Stuart Cosgrove (not one of the usual hoovers) called it panto. It wasn’t and I am certain he wouldn’t call it panto were England fans to boo a black player who chose to play for the country of his ancestors. I accept people have to accept responsibility for their actions on the booing but for a week the press dragged out every bigoted relic from the last century to promote the booing of the players. These hoovers and shit stirrers even talked UP the possibility of trouble between two sets of fans that are praised the world over for getting pissed peacefully.
Paper sales are dropping and new media is where I get my football news, but the shit stirrers and hoovers are still there. They are difficult to avoid. They take take, take and do nothing, not even promoting the game. This past fortnight however we have seen these people for what they are; relics of a dying time. Bitter that they didn’t get the bigger better job in England and bigots pure and simple – Bigots with keyboards
