To begin this story, I must take you back 8 years. At a time when Rangers were in peril, Celtic fans rejoiced. Shoe on the other foot, Rangers fans also enjoyed 1994 when Celtic were in turmoil. In Scotland, there is no place for second best. It is more than just football; it’s an underlying hatred for each other. We simply take great glee in the failing of the other on and off the park. As Ally McCoist said in May of 2012 “Enjoying kicking us while we’re down … cos we WILL be back.”
However, the events of 2012 bred a new type of Celtic fan, one who refused to accept their team’s failure on the park and instead would use Rangers’ downfall to look for any reason to sell the narrative that they were cheated. This was despite a Law Lord’s (Lord Nimmo Smith) ruling that Rangers gained no sporting advantage from the use of EBT’s.
What followed was 8 years of madness. We saw Celtic bloggers offering pay per view bedtime stories about how Rangers were about to go bust, again, and again, and again… I say bedtime stories as it was what was helping them sleep at night. And that is the truth now is it not? Every focus has been on Rangers’ financial position rather than focus on how their own club has been run. Why would that be? Logic would tell you the fear of a resurgent Rangers was their biggest concern all along.
“Terry Munro Syndrome” This really needs to be recognised as a legitimate illness. To convince yourself enough that you have been cheated, that the only way you can find solace is to obsess over going that one better than your rivals achieved. At all costs, even if it means counting 6 without your rivals in the League and a ¾ season ended early due to a global pandemic. For Celtic fans sporting integrity no longer matters, the Terry Munro Syndrome tells them “We wur Cheated, so we must do 10”. Like it is some kind of deserved accolade that they are owed.
For many years Friends and I have discussed, why are there so many Ex-Celtic payers with media jobs compared to Ex-Rangers players. Well, the truth is, Rangers Players were paid better they could retire comfortably.
But with that came an unhealthy Celtic dominated media. One which helped sell the narrative Celtic had been cheated as it glossed over their own failings on the park. For over 8 years they talked down Rangers and talked up big-money moves for Celtic player. Kris Commons is a prime example of someone who fed Celtic fans heads with nonsense, “Rangers need to spend £100m to catch Celtic.”
Remember Rangers spent under £25m and are 11 points clear in the league and still in Europe and all Cups. Clearly, Kris does not have the scouting eye for value that Messer’s Scoulding and Wilson have at Rangers. Glen Kamara, an early contender for Player Of The Year, cost Rangers £50k. Shane Duffy takes nearly that a week in wages. And this is a prime example of former Celtic media men filling Celtic supporters heads with the nonsense that their club were untouchable to Rangers.
While all of the above was going on, Celtic were on a continuous downscaling exercise. Selling off their best players and reinvesting it in the like of Koussai, Klimala, Shved, Bolingoli and much more. But Celtic fans and Lennon’s pals in the media never questioned the signings, “Celtic are signing them they must be good and will be sold in a few years for £XXM” now why was that?
Because they were too busy talking about Rangers finances and talking down Rangers signings. Celtic fans took such great glee in Lennon’s pals in the media mocking Rangers’ financial position and players in the media. And those same pals are now throwing his signings under the bus and deflecting everything away from Lennon, and now Celtic fans are suddenly annoyed with them?
I have heard a lot over the last few weeks about how bigger changes are needed at Celtic: the managers, the coaching staff, the players, the Chairman and the Board. But really Celtic fans need to take a hard look at themselves first and decide if they are Celtic Supporters or Rangers Historians because the reason it has got to this stage is that they took their eye off their own back garden.
They allowed themselves to believe nothing could stop them? They believed Lennon’s pals that they could not be caught. They believed the Bloggers that Rangers would not be around long enough to stop them. And they believed their own Board’s talk up of players values and wealth which has been decimated by Covid. Really they should have been using that Resolution 11/12 time to ask questions of their own club’s issues.
If the league title were handed out for financial returns on players they would have won 10 in a row already. But the harsh reality is it’s not. The harsh reality is Rangers are run by wealthy investors who ruled with the heart first and then their head. Can the same be said for Celtic? Peter Lawwell took home £2.3m in a Christmas Bonus last year and Dermot Desmond took his dividend while asking other Share Holders not to do the same. And the cherry on the cake, an AGM where no questions will be allowed to be asked.
The moral of the story is those in green houses shouldn’t throw stones.
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