Crash and Burn
Like many Celtic fans I enjoy a good read
about the club and the many issues which surround it. The internet has been
very liberating and democratising in that context as it has given a platform
and a voice to many ordinary Celts who reflect on all things Celtic on a
variety of sites. For the more mature Celtic fan, who traditionally relied on
the mainstream media or the rather bland Celtic View for information, the new
technological advances have been a breath of fresh air. When one considers that
Facebook was launched in 2004, YouTube in 2005 and Twitter in 2006, it really
must be astonishing to the younger generation, so enmeshed in the web, to
imagine that a mere 20 years ago all of this was the stuff of science fiction.
Of course all is not rosy in the cyber world as the internet has also allowed
some more unsavoury sorts to vent their bile to a wider audience but
intelligent people soon sort the wheat from the chaff and figure out who talks
sense.
Consider the role the internet played in
discussing the looming financial crisis at Rangers in the years before their
demise. Sites such as Phil McGiollabhain, Rangers Tax Case and Thoughts on
Scots Law were well ahead of the mainstream media in warning of the consequences
of the fiscal madness going on at Ibrox and the likely outcome. Such sites were
branded the domain of ‘Internet Bampots’
who clearly had an agenda. If they did have an agenda, it was to seek the truth
as the MSM were clearly failing to pursue the developing crisis at Ibrox with
any vigour. It wasn’t that some of them didn’t know what was going on rather
many chose to ignore it in the ‘succulent lamb’ atmosphere of the time. You
simply didn’t write negative stories about Rangers lightly in those days as Mr
Murray would soon cut off the supply of pro Rangers ‘scoops’ which filled the
tabloids at the time. From Superstar signings and the Super-Casino to Hover
pitches and master plans to dominate Europe, we were fed a diet of utter tripe
and only the financial crisis in 2008 when the banks started asking for their
money back did the whole edifice begin to crumble. Only then did we see that
the whole Rangers Empire was built on a bubble of unsustainable debt and
bluster. After the arrogance and hubris of the Murray years came an inescapable
nemesis in the shape of an utterly humiliating liquidation. Of course the media
had no choice but to go with the story once it was staring them in the face but
few will forget their dereliction of duty as the Ibrox edifice began to totter.
It was as if they thought Rangers, the establishment club controlled by a
‘financial wizard’ was too big to fail. History has demonstrated that it wasn’t
and the reverberations of the collapse of Rangers are still being heard.
Many clued up Celtic supporters led the way
in exposing the goings on at Ibrox. I recently read Stephen O’Donnell’s book
‘Scotball’ which cleverly uses the character of media savvy ‘Peter Fitzpatrick’
to explore not just the world of Scottish Football but also the wider webs of
media manipulation which snare the unwary. O’Donnell’s character ‘Fitzy’ could
be a cipher for any one of us who wants to get at the truth. Fitzy returns from
living abroad to find Scotland in a fevered state with the independence
referendum imminent. He also encounters the turbulent aftermath of the death of
Rangers FC and the media inconsistencies which surround it. He gets a break and
hosts a topical football discussion show and in this section of the book he cleverly
demonstrates the inconsistencies, agendas and lies surrounding the demise of
Rangers FC. In return his bosses make it clear that he must tow the party line
or face the consequences.
O’Donnell’s book is not simply another
sneering dig at Rangers FC, although it does satirise and expose the
manipulation of the media by vested interests. The allusions are clear when he
talks of ‘Radio Kelvin’ or Specific ‘Quay’ but crucially his main
character ‘Fitzy’ is given scope to be intelligent and enquiring. He says at
one point… “I’m aware that it’s all too easy for someone
in my position to fall into the trap of the lazy-minded, who’s thinking on any
relevant subject amounts to little more than Celtic good, Rangers bad.” The book doesn’t fall into that trap and is
both very readable and plausible. In some sense it may have been born out of
frustration at the lamentable levels investigative journalism has fallen too in
Scotland. This after all is the land where a sports ‘journalist’ once said that
investigating Rangers financial affairs was ‘above my pay grade.’ The biggest story in the history of Scottish
football and he couldn’t be bothered to lift a phone and get some advice on the
goings on at Ibrox?
Stephen O’Donnell’s book is a well written
exploration of the media culture surrounding aspects of Scottish football. It
may well be a work of fiction but there can be truths in parables and O’Donnell
asks us all to think for ourselves and not be led by media agendas. Such books
allied to the many intelligent voices on the internet, has enabled a more
balanced debate about what is happening in our national game. The new breed of
Celtic oriented authors and bloggers have in the main done an excellent job in
keeping the support informed and entertained. They also provoke thought and
raise awareness of many important issues affecting Celtic and the support. We
may not always be unanimous in our opinions but at least we now have forums to
discuss them out-with the control of a largely discredited sports media in
Scotland.
One section of ‘Scotball’ which had me
nodding in agreement centered on Dougie Donnelly exhorting all of Scotland’s
football fans to get behind Rangers in a Champions League Qualifying game, ‘Fitzy’
listens as his rather drunk friend Melly outlines why he could never lend his
support to Rangers…
‘I’m no fuckin cheerin they
cunts on, no matter who it is they’re playing!’ It pains me to admit it but
strip away the drunken overstatement and partisan prejudices in Melly’s
assertions then broadly speaking I must agree with much of what he’s saying.
Which I suppose is a fairly damning indictment in itself on just what a low ebb
Donnelly and many of his colleagues in the mainstream media have come to…and if
Rangers lack of success on the European front has an added effect of putting a
check on their recklessness and overweening arrogance then that might be an
added benefit for the Scottish game as well. Who knows it might even persuade
the media to start taking their responsibilities more seriously and adopt a
more even handed approach on issues such as impartiality, although I’ll not be
holding my breath on that score.’
History will look at the early years of Scottish
Football in the new millennium and come to the conclusion that most clubs realized
the ‘borrow and spend’ model was unsustainable. That one club failed to see
this and continued on a reckless course until it crashed and burned will also
be judged as no one’s fault but their own. No doubt those intelligent and
courageous authors and bloggers who exposed the sham will continue to be
branded ‘obsessed’ or ‘Bampots’ by those too thick to get the
point. The whole narrative wasn’t about kicking Rangers, it was about attempting to lift the lid on some very murky
goings on and the dereliction of duty by some who had forgotten the meaning and
function of real Journalism.
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