It’s been barely two days since Celtic lost the Glasgow Derby, and thanks to the usual willful ignorance of the Scottish Press, very little has actually been said about the football played on the park.
Pundits and Press Go All-in on Rangers Love-in
Scotland’s Shame reminded us on a number of levels on Sunday why they shouldn’t be allowed anywhere near ever Celtic Park again. Yet even by their usual standards of brown-nosing the tabloid press’ interpretation of events is astounding in its tone deafness to anyone who isn’t “staunch”.
Current and former players disgraced themselves and their club with their actions, and an all-too compliant media didn’t just report these events, they actively glorified them.
Shaming the Memories of Legends
Years ago, I had the privilege of meeting the late Walter Smith. He was an absolute gentleman, a polar opposite to most of the characters around Ibrox today.
Maybe I’m old-fashioned, but I think Rangers legends of yesteryear like Smith had far too much class about them to ever spray stuff at the crowd or call an opposing stadium a sh*thole, at least in public.
Smith earned great respect among the Celtic support for his friendship with the late Tommy Burns and the role he played in Burns’ funeral. Certainly he could teach this current incarnation of Rangers a thing or two about dignity and respect.
Were Smith still with us, I think he’d be furious at Sunday's events.
Making Light of Player Aggression
Ally McCoist, also a good friend to Tommy Burns back in his Scotland managerial days, continues to tank his own reputation among those outside the Rangers fanbase with his childish antics.
During a ridiculous exchange on his Talksport show, discussing Vaclav Cerny spraying water at Celtic fans, McCoist just couldn’t help himself.
Almost crying with laughter, he described Cerny as “the ultimate master of (sh*t)housery.” He went on to tell his co-presenters that he’d watched the scene “about 411 times” before closing out his monologue of buffoonery by calling for Cerny to be knighted.
A Pantomime that Isn’t Funny
The Daily Record presented this as a humorous sideshow, and described Cerny as the “pantomime villain” of the piece. Honestly, they don’t even try to hide their obvious biases anymore.
McCoist is what he is, and to be fair he doesn’t pretend to be anything else. I have no problem with a Rangers fan making jokes at the expense of Celtic when we lose. But this was too far. You don’t make jokes about players almost causing a riot with their sheer stupidity. You don’t cheapen the utterly poisonous atmosphere on Sunday by trying to turn it into a meme.
I used to like McCoist. I found his punditry entertaining, if obviously biased. But, like I said, by going all-in on being the ubermensch of Rangers supporters, he’s lost all credibility in my eyes and the eyes of many others too.
Contrasting Attitudes to Social Media
Social Media plays an ever evolving part in the conversation around Scottish football these days. Indeed, many of you reading this article probably found it on our Facebook, Twitter or Blusky accounts.
I’ll be honest and say I don’t like social media, even if I accept that engaging with it is a mandatory part of writing about Celtic for a living.
It is interesting though to observe how Celtic and Rangers react differently to their players posting questionable content on their personal pages. It’s also interesting to note how the media covers these kinds of stories differently, depending on the club involved.
Two Recent Case Studies in Media Bias
When Odin Thiago Holm joined Celtic in 2023, The Scottish Press couldn’t wait to draw attention to a series of allegedly transphobic and homophobic tweets he made months before he was even linked with a move to Celtic.
Despite it having nothing to do with Celtic at all, the club acted quickly, spoke with the player and the offending comments were removed.
I don’t have a problem with the press highlighting discriminatory behavior. I just wish they were as vocal when its 50,000 rabid Rangers supporters singing about Irish genocide and not one immature halfwit sharing stupid twitter memes.
Fast forward to today. Not a word in the Daily Record about Dujon Sterling tweeting that Celtic Park is a “sh*thole”
Inconsistency Shows Bias
For the avoidance of doubt, I don’t actually have a problem with the player saying this. I write far more derogatory things about Rangers, their fans and their stadium on an almost daily basis. What he said was insulting, dumb, but ultimately not racist, or bigoted in any way.
My issue is with the media coverage. One was cast as an outrage, one was dismissed as banter, yet both were similar cases of players posting inappropriate comments on their social media.
Rangers, usually ever eager to grasp the crayon between their cloven hooves and fire out a statement, have, funnily enough, said nothing.
No Pyro, No Party (Unless it’s The Rangers)
Celtic issued a stern warning to fans about the prohibition of pyrotechnics in the stadium the day before Sunday's game. This followed on from another warning issued by the SPFL just a couple of weeks ago.
So, with all of Scottish football’s establishment seemingly onside in opposing pyro, you’d think The Daily Record would, likewise, hold anyone who broke the rules to account.
Did they? Of course not!
They didn’t just fail to condemn Rangers fans’ use of pyro at full-time, they actively glorified in it.
Calling it a “pyro party” the Record said that the firecrackers “illuminated an otherwise bleak season for Rangers”. Again, we can have differing views on pyro, but the media coverage needs to be consistent.
All Part of the Plan
And yet, in the days ahead the likes of the Daily Record will probably do a series of meandering, nonsensical thought pieces condemning the “violence and hatred from both sides of the Old Firm”.
Expect the “just as bad as each other” card to be played several times a day in the mainstream from here on out. But next time you read one of these pieces, remember, when all this chaos actually happened, who the cheerleaders were, actively encouraging it all.
Once again, the tabloid press think we are idiots. We are not, and we have far longer memories than they realize.