Sunday Times journo backs Rangers and doesn't like Celtic for "sectarian reasons"

Over to John Reid and Peter L to take action against The Times me thinks?

From the last thread , just wanted to repost my apology to WGS and my comment on John Hughes.

porridgeandbannanas, like you I have only had 1 of my 4 ticket renewals, so getting a bit worried. Decided to give it to Wednesday then go up to CP.

Haven’t posted since the Uefa cup final, amazing how we can go to highs and lows in a few hours. I met Tommy Burns a couple of times but I have been shaken by his death. The last time I met him, I was in the waiting room at the Nuffield Hospital 2 years ago. My son had been referred as the doc thought he had a serious problem. TB was waiting to see a skin specialist.........

My boy didn't have cancer (as we thought) and a simple opp sorted him out, 2 years later he is in fine fettle and TB is dead. "There but for the grace of God go I".

On our friends in the South of the City, I am sure like many of us, I have a lot of Rangers supporting friends. I am also sure like you and I, they are decent lads who love their football. They are as disgusted as you and I and the guys I know are all fed up with these morons showing them up. While the thought of Rangers showing themselves up does not disturb me, like us, they have good guys too and I feel for them.

One last thing, they are a busted flush, the league is ours and the champers is on ice in my house.

One last thing, I asked for Gordon Strachan to go earlier and I apologies, not because of our results (which he deserves great credit for) but his humanity and Celtic class in the day of TB's death, I will never critisise that man again.

Also, did anyone else hear John Hughes (Falkirk) on Celtic TV on Thursday night?, the more I hear that man the more admiration I have for him, he is a fantastic guy, I hope he comes back to our club in some capacity.

Hear Hear

I think The Times journalist is the living emodiment of Rangers problems. Denial is not easily cured.

People with too little to say and too much space in which to say it, intellectual dwarfs, ego-maniacs.

Hell mend them.

embodiment even ;-)

BTW 2nd, best ever ! get in there. What a weekend, 86 in the medal at Balfron and 2nd on a new thread !

liddle is a millwall "fan" of the nick hornby middle class post Sky type - he is objectionable in just about every way - morally repugnant - he looks a right clown in his "I am casual" stone island wear - best to ignore him - just becasue no legs speirs writes for the times does not make it anyhting other than a right wing rag.

benjhyboy,

I think John Reid just needs to change the names and dates of his Sunday Glasgow Herald correspondence and The Times can borrow their apology. The Times to their credit has given Rangers a bashing this week but obviously they are uninformed. Content is king and they are supposedly the best. Yet another indication of the slipping standards and decay within the newspaper industry.

I get the feeling John Reid is just waiting to let fly at someone.

A Millwall supporter, no wonder he supports TFOD. Have away at him John.

he just says he is a bigot - that is all.

I know it's pointless asking, but I'm going to anyway ! I thought I had a ticket lined up for Thursday, but it looks like it's not going to happen :o(

So, does anyone have a spare ???

In the unlikelyhood that someone does, could you drop me a line ? It's my name @gmail.com

Cheers in advance.

pablophanque

would the press complaints commission be a vehicle for complaints on this??more learned and indeed articulate people on this blog than me may have the ability to attend to this matter surely??
over to the wordsmiths..

We must win this league on Thursday - or mibbees tomorrow:-)

That will thoroughly demoralise the darnel. The man with no surname will be out the door quicker than you can say_
STAND UP FOR THE 3 IN A ROW CHAMPIONS!

edb..thursday is a £10m min game for us with automatic champs league group qualification resting on it..imperative that we win it for many reasons..financially...ability to sign players(hopefully) amongst them..

can some one post a link to this odius article pls i cant seem to find it i live in spain and the rangers supporters here are embarrassed to hell i almost fel sorry for them ...i own a "celtic " pub on the costa (Nerja No1 csc) and we have the benifit of being dettached from the bile theat ennsues in the west of scotland however as a seson ticket holder(still) and share holder of our club if this article is as it sounds i hope to see action fron the board..yours siempre celtic

mhark67..

times article

Paul - time for Celtic to show some public anger at this methinks?

Do you agree?

Bhoydell,did respond to you 11.47 last thread.Manager deserves 100% support from us for his performance in front of the cameras on Thursday.Hail,hail to 3 in a row.

All he says in the article is that he does not like Celtic, for sectarian reasons. Silly, but not criminal! In pretty much the rest of the atrticle he slates Rangers and their fans.

He does compare Didagate to this though, which is ridiculous.

The time has come to remingd the world that Celtic was founded of charitable foundations and Rangers founded and constructed out of hatred. We should then show how this has translated into the present day.

Rangers problem is NOT Celtic's problem.

Nice tribute to Tommy Burns

courtesy of bad bhoys for life

Rod Liddle writes for Murdoch: not much more to be said really. This is why I am dubious about Spiers - if he had the principles some CQN posters ascribe to him he wouldn't take News International's shilling.

By and large it's good practice to journalists, all journalists, as morally bankrupt: I always do in my professional dealings with them (thankfully few and far between).

Actually, looking back on my first sentence there is more to be said: though not one of Caesar's, Liddel's definitely one of Paul's meretrices

PS i am starting to get peeved off by the journalistic "scandal" of Aberdeen's disallowed goal.

WHAT RUBBISH! It was only scored after the rest of the players stopped because of the ref's whistle! AND Sameras had TWO goals disallowed, one of which was legitimate.

To an extent i am fortunate in that i am a relatively intelligent bloke in a good job – I feel I can look down my nose at your average journo and, alarmingly, I find myself doing this more and more. It is not because they are not writing what I want to read, but clear manipulation of fact – spin – that has become so prevalent in post Blairite Britain.

Don’t get me wrong, I can see its value given certain situations, but for sport it has no place.

Long time lurker.....

Just a quick comment on the disgraceful sentiments of Rod Liddle and to make known, or remind, that he was producer of the Radio Four Today Programme at one time, the broadcast that sets the establishments agenda....does this ring some bells, or am I another suffering from paranoia?

Anyhoo, while you and I know exactly what the inference was in his comment piece, we do need to be careful about press complaints commission, legal action, etc. If you read the words as written in the article he doesnt actually say what we suppose him to say.

He has obviously been quite careful with the use of parenthesis or been advised by the Murdoch legal dept to be careful. What he actually states is that he supports Rangers for sectarian reasons, not that he doesnt support celtic for that reason.

Semantics perhaps, but enough to scupper any formal complaints or legal proceedings.

So this leaves us back where weve always been. Dont buy these publications, they are only there to sell advertising and spoon feed their agendas and controversy.

Can't possibly sign off from this virgin submission without a word or two for Paul.

Now as I said at the top a long term lurker in fact probably from your first month or two, so Ive watched this superb vision of yours develop from the sidelines. Ive been enthralled by it, moved by it, addicted to it, provoked by it, entertained by it, but most of all Ive marvelled at this wonderful creation that you have brought into this world.

Paul, Its a superb site that just keeps on getting better and in this past month or so having 'run it in' you are now effortlessly moving up through the gears and we are only at the beginning of seeing what the full capabilities and performance are. Who needs the old media?

Raudh.

This is also from the same article in the Sunday Times :

The Russians were fluid and confident, playing football as it is supposed to be played; they deserved their win. In fairness, this myth of little Scotland the brave is one imposed upon the sweaties, in somewhat patronising tones, from south of the border.

I take it Liddle is referring to Jocks when he writes sweaties in this piece ? Is calling us Scots this not bigoted ? I absolutely hate it when the English call us Jocks, it gets right on my nerves. He seems to be a little patronising anti Celtic bum hole.

I myself started buying The Times recently as it seemed to tell unbiased stories that the other rags didn't. There goes that theory.

Hail Hail

Newspapers have always been spin machines. It's how most of your wars get started.

Ask not that newspapers be neutral, but that be honest about their prejudices, so that you can read or wipe with them, as appropriate.

Am I missing something here?

By saying he doesn't like Celtic for sectarian reasons all he is doing is tagging himself as a bigot.

I don't see how that infers that Celtic have a sectarian outlook/problem (which we don't).

The real point here is how can a journalist write something like this in a, supposed, quality newspaper? Do articles in this newspaper ever get checked before they go to print?

If so there's more than one bigot at the paper.

Raudh

Enjoyed your well well balanced, thoughtful and informed post.

Agree also that Paul has been playing a blinder recently.

I read that, then reread it in complete disbelief. I said to myself, "Surely not, he did!"

Shocking!

Anyway,

Just a quick question, if anyone could help me out it would be thoroughly appreciated. Does anyone know a good Celtic Pub in Paris to watch the game on Thursday??

Thanks very much guys!

EDB, Thanks for the encouragement, perhaps now I wont leave it another 3 years to venture an opinion!

The thing that Im so ashamed of about my virgin post is that in the focus of getting my thoughts down on the matter in hand I didnt give voice to my passion;

STANDING UP FOR THREE IN A ROW

I feel so much better now Ive said that.

I'm for leaving Rod Liddle be.

This is a casually researched(?) opinion piece from a shock-jock writer who'll take comfort from the number of replies he has generated. He is an ineducable fool with only a passing interest in football.

Kenny Hodgart, a poor deluded Aberdeen fan, got sacked by the Sunday Herald because of our complaints. I'd have preferred it if he had debated his reasoning and demonstrated he had learned something from our responses. I believe he was young enough to do so.

Rod Liddle is not. A caricature of a drink-sodden cynic who believes people still listen to him. A brain that stopped working.

Yes, there have been a few recent examples of the media indulging in casual anti-Catholicism and anti-Celtic remarks. We have to pick our battles carefully, however. If we are always reactive it will be too easily explained away as our paranoia or our ingratitude toward our host community. What we need is a more positive espousal of our virtues. We should constantly demonstrate our good behavior and constantly commend it. We do not need to compare it to any other set of fans.

Either we act as we do because it's right or we act as we do just to be different from them. I'm for the former.

The Times article has been written by a sad and pathetic little man. Comments, such as the one highlighted by Paul are a big part of the problem. The Sunday Times is now as bad as The Sunday Herald in permitting bigotry.
It is not just time for Celtic to take a stand against this sort of thing, but also our MP's. It would appear that too many journalists seem to think themsleves absolved for any responsibility for what they write. They usually fall back on that old excuse of 'It's the public's right to know'. Well sorry, but that doesn't wash in any way. This story by the Times was muckraking just for the sake of it. Some people will read that article and assume that all Scots behave in that way. If you read some of the comments on the article page itself, you can see that some have bought into it, hook, line, and sinker. The truth of the matter is that the Rangers fans were drinking for many hours before the game started. But let's get this right - Rangers supporters, not Celtic, Dundee Utd, Hibs, Motherwell etc. Some argue that the local Tesco's shouldn't have been selling beer at the front door of the store at 6 o'clock in the morning. They may have a point there, but nonetheless, no one forced the Rangers fans to drink themselves into a drunken stupor. Then we have the incident where the screen failed in Piccadilly Gardens. The company responsible did attempt to get 2 engineers to the screen, but these guys were pellted with bottles and cans thrown by what was now a very nasty crowd. Again though, the crowd was Rangers supporters.
However, the upshot of all of this is that all supporters of Scots teams will be tarred with the same brush. Mr Liddle's diatribe is unfortunately all too predictable. The next round of verbal assault on all things Scots is just around the corner. Apparently there will be no screens at Piccadilly for the Man Utd - Chelsea game. You can imagine how well that has gone down with the Man Utd supporters, and who they will blame for it. Not just Rangers, but Celtic as well.
Articles such as this are divisive, and stupid. It beggars belief that this story was not checked out by a senior editor before being published. It is now way beyond time that newspaper owners were made far more publicly accountable for the articles in their newspapers.

Hail Hail

der kaiser..from cetic bars..

FRANCE - THE HARP, 118 BOULEVARD DE CLICHY, PARIS (Tel: +33 (0) 43 87 6499) (Metro: Blanche or Place Clichy www.harpbar.com (Paris CSC)

Der Kaiser

I recommend very highly The Harp Bar, 118 Boulevard de Clichy, Paris (tel. +33 (0) 43 87 6499).

It is close to Metro stops Blanche or Place Clichy.

website is www.harpbar.com

Thank's very much guys. Sadly i will not be in Paris myself but it's for three relatives. They will be really chuffed!

I'll get back to you with how they enjoy it! Hail Hail!

During a visit to Namdeamun market in Seoul over the weekend, there was a stall selling football strips from every team imaginable, numerous "Nakamura" Celtic jerseys were on display (sorry I can't link the photo), I went over and with the help of my Korean friend asked if they had a Ra*gers top, Huh?, I asked again - blank stare from the stall owner.
Happily he knew all about the Celtic.

As for the league decider, Hopefully Mr. Levein will remind his team who cheated them in the Cup final and with the help of corrupt (and reverend) officals cost them a place in Europe!
Hope he tells them not to try a leg!!!

Oregonbhoy

Paul, I'm sorry to say that I think you've got this one wrong.

While Rod Liddle isn't my cup of tea - smart arse who delights in trying to ruffle feathers by using his cleverness to annoy people - I think you are perhaps forgetting that the UK quality media has a higher standard of literacy and somewhat different frames of reference to the vast majority of those who write for what would once have been the Scottish equivalents.

I doubt very much that Liddle is claiming to like Rangers or dislike Celtic in the narrow sense of the word "sectarian" with religious connotations as it is commonly used in Scotland. Rather, I suspect that he means he chose to back Rangers as a sect purely because he dislikes an opposing sect - Celtic.

In effect, he is just using the word as a synonym of "factionalism" but with a more provocative air. Had he written, "For good factional reasons (I don’t like Celtic) I was cheering on Rangers at first...", the whole piece would look a lot less sinister.

His Dida reference is idiotic, ill-informed garbage of course, but then the man's prime objective is to be noticed by any means necessary and on this occasion, unfortunately, I think you have played into his hands.

I sincerely hope that nobody at Celtic is tempted to get into this. Frankly, the reaction here already is surely enough for him to sneer at our outraged sensitivities in another piece.

I really think that we need to choose our targets more carefully. As I said previously in relation to a couple of issues Celtic fans are getting vexed about, if we start issuing calls for action when the facts are wrong, we undermine our credibility in pursuing legitimate grievances.

Further proof that it's a institutional, if more often than not latent, problem. A bit like thinking racist thoughts but not articulating them. Except in this case, they have been articulated in a national newspaper. Whoops.

Big favour to ask. Would anyone going to the Dundee Utd game be able to purchase me a programme? Of course I'd reimburse cost and postage to sunny Melbourne.

Good news is that Setanta have confirmed they are showing the Celtic game live out here.

We're gonnae win the league!

one star....
intresting stuff..but where do you draw the line??
leckie,hodghart,liddle and their ilk have to drag us into it..these people have to be challenged..

deliasmith: The reality is that unless Spiers is to either abandon sports journalism altogether or confine himself to writing for the Church Times, he is going to be hard pushed to follow his profession without working for capitalists.

We all enjoy getting on the anti-Murdoch bandwagon now and then but the notion that any newspaper is NOT run by right-wing multi-millionaires is pretty thin.

You might as well berate anyone on here who works for a financial institution or earns their corn by taking the Wal-Mart shilling packing shelves for Asda.

Spiers has integrity, courage and talent - I'm glad we've got him.

awalkacrosstherooftops: The point I'm making is that Liddle has at worst set a booby-trap for people who don't fully understand the meaning of the word "sectarian". I've read reports of "sectarian" fighting between monks of different Tibetan monasteries - I doubt that the Pope or King Billy were mentioned.

The term can also be used to describe, for example, political in-fighting amongst party factions.

Hodgart was different - he stupidly used a crude, demeaning religious stereotype. Liddle is just using a term that can be interpreted in many ways depending on the context you choose to view it in. If we all start complaining about Liddle, within a week he will be telling Britain that Celtic fans are illiterate.

But more seriously, I'm afraid the reactions to the piece are already likely to serve to undermine the real campaign against religious bigotry. We now have the perfect cue for the FF barrack-room lawyers to indulge in endless semantics about why being "sectarian" should be wrong if we understood the word fully.

"Sectarianism" and "bigotry" are not interchangeable as words.

one star..you are totaly correct in what you say and many will lose the plot on this..

but as has been used on various sites.."the unseen fenian hand" may come into play here in the form of the good doctor and laporta..

sharper people than me, maybe better placed to deal with this,but if it was slanted the other way you can imagine the reaction from minty and co..editors would be getting calls galore asking them to consider their journos position on their paper..just ask speirs..

That was the week that was.

Celtic and Scotland lose a Prince among men.

Sir David fails in bid to eclipse Seville friendly invasion.
Media publications north and south divided on reasons for Rangers’ fans hooliganism.
Scottish outlets of London based newspapers attempt whitewash and defend the indefensible by pointing wine stained fingers at Manchester authorities and English agents provocateurs.
English newspapers publish blinding truth but fail to be precise about the exact source.
SFA officials fall into void returning from Manchester.
All sources, including UEFA, blind to the sight and sound of criminal sectarian chanting.
Bride has to renounce Catholic faith to marry royal loser.

Motherwell is the venue for yet another twist in the league race.

TWTWTW.

awalkacrosstherooftops: I totally agree - and some of the other attempts to drag Celtic into this have been as risible as they were predictable.

one star..not surprised at all by the ones as bad as the other bit..shamed country etc..too many apologists looking for a way out methinks..

some are trying to rewrite history here

Does Raskolnikov post on CQN?

From comments on Scotsman.

Raskolnikov,19/05/2008 00:26:25
I effectively threw in the towel on this forum after Rangers beat us at Ibrox. Who would have believed then that Celtic would be in a position to clinch the title on the final day. I have a big bet riding on Celtic winning the title and had given up hope of seeing a cent, so right now I am floating on air.

Well done Strachan and the players for turning this around. 3 in a row coming up.

Can I have my towel back?

What's going on with html tags?

'GG

gg..stevies link working fine..

all am out..will c u monday night

awalkacrosstherooftops: The old Scottish media as we know it - and with it its power - is dying. They have served us poorly and we can best protect Celtic by contributing fully to the Scottish newspaper industry's descent into irrelevance.

The last week has been Rangers and the Scottish media's Suez - when Eden realised that Britain was no longer a dominant power.

The trouble (for them) is that the tactics of Rangers and their friends has remained the same in the face of rapid changes in the shape of modern communications.

For years they scorned and taunted all things Celtic, told the most outrageous lies and conspired to withhold news that didn't suit the common agenda.

Now, we don't need them for news - the facts cannot be suppressed - and the people can read what they want presented as they want it. The Daily Record, for example, has gone for a last roll of the dice - conspicuously (rather than surreptitiously) siding with Rangers in much the same way as a paper would take sides in a general election.

They know they have alienated Celtic fans beyond the point of reconciliation over decades when there was little choice but to get some newspaper if you wanted to know what was going on in your back yard. In those days it was a straight choice between roughly equivalent competitors.

But their tactics can't work. In these times of critical circulation drops, anyone who gives up such a sizable proportion of its potential customer base is ultimately doomed. The only thing uncertain is the time scale.

We can help. To abuse the words of Mr De Valera, "We defeat the Scottish media by ignoring it."

This is the time to squeeze the conventional established media until the pips squeak.

Leckie, Broadfoot et al are just more writers with opinions. The only things separating them from people who write on the web are salaries and contacts. When they stop getting a readership, their influence wanes. When their papers stop getting sales, their salaries become unjustifiable.

The London media, on the whole, is now serving us far better. They are far more savvy to new media trends and they are distanced from the stultifying culture that exists in Scotland. In the meantime, we have CQN along with one or two others - and there will be many more in future.

Leckie, Traynor, Jackson, Broadfoot - effectively they will soon be talking amongst themselves.

awalkacross.....

It seems that the bold and italic tags are only effective for a paragraph.
I had to put the italics at the beginning and end of each quoted paragraph.

'GG

Paul67

AKA King Arfur...

Are you reading your Knightshift?

I must concur with One Star Means More. Normally if a CQN poster is in NYC I will offer them a beer and hospitality... If OSMM chooses to visit...He can have rent free for a month...
We are Soul Mates. Nae doubt!

Sorry Paul67 but it seems to me that like One Star suggests....And for all the reasons he says.... You are over-reacting a tad.....Think how the Journo is thinking...And how you are reacting?

CQN is a Public Forum. Methinks you underestimate your own Amplification.....Among the Herd!

Do you really believe that the fourth estate do not watch and read? It is a Scottish problem we face... The English journos are simply getting in on the act IMO... To quote your Wise Words of The Past.....Ignore Them...Do Not Buy Them.....Why acknowledge them..
They need Sales & Attention.... Or they are DEAD!

PJ... Too Drunk after the Mets Demolition Derby to Converse More on a FASCINATING topic related to your SUCCESS...

'ROLL' ON GORDON ( & Paul67....As shrewdly as the Gaffer Please...)......

One star....

You can add the toadies on Radio Clyde to the marginalised media men and Murray's Winalot muppets.

My only concern is the lack of effective opinion shaping journalism from within Celtic Park.
We are far too cautious in our public utterances.
Years of being dependent on the local newspapers to provide news and perspective, has produced a compliant attitude that does not yet comprehend the power of the internet and the opportunities it represents.
Insiders should be driving the agenda of web content on the official site and should be making more use of sites like CQN, ETims etc to shape the perceptions of the Celtic support.
Too many views on other Celtic web sites are influenced by what is written and spoken on unfriendly outlets. Too many views then become slanted against the club fulfilling the objectives of our enemies.

Step up John. You of all people should be well practised in projecting a positive view of Celtic affairs.

'GG

Forgot the sounds....

'GG

Without opening up an auld wound..... JR is like any politician who has been to successful at his job..... Friendlesss.....Except in the good ol US of A......

Watch this space......

Yu might hear PJ say I was wrang....

But I doubt it.

Roll On Four.......

;0)

PJB

Regardless of his past, he now has a duty to represent Celtic.
He needs to stir up the cosy coterie at the View, Channel 67 and Celtic TV and have them produce insights and opinions into our affairs.
It pains me to see Celtic fans repeat the contents of scurrilous, unfounded and unsourced fancy that is papped daily to them by people who toe the Murray line unquestionly and produce the patent propaganda we've seen in the last four days.

So we see stories of unrest in the dressing room, speculation about who else is leaving CP, Artur this week, Nakamura last week, Brown next week, the manager at the end of the season.

Let us get out ahead of them.
We know their tactics.
We have seen their playbook regularly, headlines are often predicted here.

Let them dance to our tunes.
React to our agenda.
Sulk when they fail to capture the lead story.
Let them eat the crumbs and bones from Murray's increasingly spartan table.

Nightly prayer for the repose of Tommy Burns' soul.

Faith of Our Fathers

'GG off to bed.

I have booked Friday off, hopefully for the start of a weekend of great celebration. It's a 4:45am kick-off here in Australia and thus far, Setanta has not confirmed which game will be broadcast live, presumably waiting for the result from Love Street. If it's not on Setanta, I will tune into Channel67.

In the middle of this great fightback, my Rangers supporting friend and I watched the two Celtic v Rangers games at Celtic Park on Setanta. With the scores level at 2-2 half-time, my friend remarked that Celtic entered the field of play for the second-half with a veritable swagger, running out in a line, while his heroes kind of sauntered on languidly in dribs and drabs. He reckoned Celtic looked more "up for it" and was of course, proved correct.

I think Rangers will draw 0-0 at Love Street, leaving us requiring only a draw at Tannadice, unless Rangers can put 7 past the Dons.

If we can pull this off, Strachan will be a legend.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man.

And how about rounding off a great week with a penalty shoot-out victory for Queen of the South on Saturday.

One can but dream.

I agree with One Star Means More..

When i first read the line " for good sectarian reasons (I don't like Celtic) I was cheering on Rangers at first" it looks like he is saying he doesn't like celtic for sectarian reasons. However this is not what he is saying.

He says that the reason he was supporting rangers was because he doesnt like celtic. He might dislike celtic for any number of reasons but he doesnt say why.

I think he's saying that liking one football team and disliking another is a form of sectarianism.

If he had said 'I dont like Celtic (for good sectarian reasons)' then that would have been bang out of order, but that is not what he said.

Hail Hail

FTS

A journalist being deliberately sensationalist?
Who'd have thunk it?

RST Head Monkey Attempts To Drag Celtic Into " The Rangers Problem".

The 1st time this bloke has raised his head above the parapet since Wednesday nights disgusting scenes-

maybe that's him just out of Strangeways........

Onestar is absolutely correct on this one. It's an odious, lazy piece by Rod Liddell, who obviously has an axe to grind against Scottish football fans generally, and resents the positive image which the Tartan Army has in comparison to England fans. He appears to have been waiting for an opportunity to put the boot into Scottish football fans, and to declare that they are just as bad as England ones.

Further, his point that Celtic also have a thuggish following, as exemplified by the Dida incident, embarasses him. Really, if that's the best he could do....

However, Liddle is also a clever man, and a pretty good writer. What this article is definitely not is a confession of sectarianism, at least not in the sense that Paul is concerned about in his post. He's playing with the reader, turning the word on it's head to make the point that he doesn't like Celtic, presumably for football-supporting reasons.

By all means have a go at the guy for his poorly thought out, ill-judged article, but leave the sectarian aspect out of it, otherwise he'll laugh at you.

David Edgar saying everyone needs to get together to sort this "problem" out yet I seem to remember him not being quite so keen on negotiating before the game when he issued a "We're Coming - Deal With It" type statement.

He also says"We encourage aggressive drunken behavior" which I would agree with but I guess he is talking about society and not his own behavior on national radio proclaiming "We Are The People" or the pseudo Nuremberg Rally flag and music display before every game at Ibrox.

I would love the good people of Manchester to witness pre-match at Ipox and ask if it reminds them of the sort of attitudes they witnessed in their fine city last week.

Has the constant sectarian singing been mentioned by any media outlet in Scotland yet ?

Your excuses are your own Edgar, the world witnessed exactly what your beloved support is all about.

Feast of Corpus Christi this Thursday, hmmmm

Kano -

about to email you

WG

I don't think we should be getting too het up about this. Liddle aims to shock and uses the word "sectarian" for laughs - maybe ill-advised but there's nothing too sinister in here.

I like the man and apart from his lazy "they're all the same" last paragraph there's not much wrong with the article.

H

Morning all,

My take on the Rod Liddle article was that he was using "sectarian" in a tongue and cheek way, to mock Rangers, or mock our rivalry as petty and beneath him. I doubt he knows or cares a jot about Scottish football. Furthermore, I am convinced that RL is an out and out atheist, and certainly not a run-of-the-mill bigot, the kind who writes sports pieces up here.

The article also does not imply that Celtic are sectarian- he is saying HE is the sectarian. Which reinforces my belief that the whole inference is self-mocking as much as anything.

As for "sweaties"- this is Cockney rhyming slany (sweaty sock = jock), no? I think we'd be well advised not to get too upset about that.

The Dida bit is terrible, and is the only thing that anyone at the club might want to pick up on. However, again, as that was not our finest hour I'm not sure whether we really should be revisiting that particular incident.

I think onestar got it bang on. This clown is referring to sectarianism from the point of view of self-indulgent political posturing, rather then the variety we are all too familiar with.

IMHO, having come across the guy's stuff in a variety of contexts over the years, he is truly boring slacker shock jock who make Glenda Slag of the Private Eye seem informed and consistent. Tne guy really will write the first thing which appears into his head. Amazing really that he gets airtime and space in the media. Well, maybe not!

WalpoleGladstone- today is the feast of St Dunstan, who used his legendary cunning to outfox the Devil.

I think we may need to invoke the good saint this week, as the Shame and their catamites in the press do their utmost to bring discredit to our club.

After the Manchester Shame-bles last week they will be hurting, and as you know their first response to this kind of adversity is to lash out at us.

As for the STimes- stop buying it. Stop buying them all. Hell mend them.

Just watched some guy, a bookie called Nigel Seeley on Setanta Sports News talking about the likely outcome of the SPL.

Cue predictable hand-wringing and gnashing of teeth over Rangers' "working their wat through the terrible fixture pile-up".

Back in the real world their last Seven games have been

Saturday 17th May
Thursday 14th May
Saturday 10th May
Wednesday 7th May
Sunday 4th May
Thursday 1st May

Hardly unprecedented stuff, but nevertheless the myth continues.
Seeley goes on to say "the SPL have to have a look at it [true but not in the sense Nigel means], this just wouldn't happen in the Premiership it wouldn't be allowed to happen".

If he means, the Premiership would allow a team to postpone their own game for no good reason and then not schedule it at the next available opportunity to gain an advantage over their rivals or give a team exceptional treatment in the national cup competition to play replays out of sync with the rest of the tournament - he would be right.

Otherwise I would refer him to Middlesbrough's fixture list in 2006.

The blonde bint also got in a wee bit of moaning about the situation then Nigel says to her "I know you've got ties with Rangers but the situation has to be looked at..."

As if to prove her neutrality she then comes up with a new angle on why the Orcs are so hard-done by "But there must be health concerns about the players, the strain on the heart through playing all these games".

Haven't heard that one before. Laughable. Well, actually quite sick really, to allude to a player dying on the pitch as a reason to wangle your team a competitive advantage in a football competition.

Are the media just thick, ill-informed, biased or all three?

Re Rod Liddle - I don't think we should overraeact but it is worth highlighting as it demonstrates that this kind of mentality exists in the press despite the prevalant attitude that the press, like referees, favour both halfs of the O** F*** equally.

Also, if this guy ever gets round to writing something defammatory about Celtic [quite likely it would seem] we can always come back with "Well this is the guy who doesn't like Celtic for sectarian reasons".

I`m not too bothered what this journalist is saying, I`ve got enough trouble sleeping as Thursday`s game draws nearer. Come on the Celts!

Guys anyone know of a Celtic Bar in the Cadiz area of Spain?
Need to find it for Thurs/Fri at the latest.
Any help welcomed.

Welcome Raudh Bhoy and thank you for your very kind words. What took you so long to get involved?

One Star, I’ll give that some thought.

I think we're all majoring in the minor stuff at the minute. Rod Liddle? Who he...sounds like one of those childish made up names anyways (Hugh Jorriface, I P Freely, hoof hearted minty moonbeams).

two priorities now. 1) go on and do this Celtic, never will the champagne taste sweeter. and 2) keep the pressure on re the awful events at Manchester...don't let them allow it to fade away. Make sure Duffield and Peat are exposed for the apologists that they are (where are they now? seemed to be rentaquotes when the SPL refused fixture rearangements).

Don't buy the garbage and don't post or discuss it. Turn your back on the bogey man...he is not so scary then.

HAIL HAIL

One Star, that's how I read it immediately. The whole article is designed to raise the ire of different groups of (non-English) fans. Potentially the most offensive thing in the article is the reference to Scots as 'sweaties' and even that's not really derogatory as it's rhyming slang (sweaty socks = Jocks, for those of you that don't know).

He thinks he's being very clever, using a set of terms that people will rise to, either in ignorance of words' dictionary definitions or origins of language.

I wouldn't respond to this, it just gives him the attention he craves.

Rod Liddle, surely he must be calling our bluff??? (badum tish)

Not the same Rod Liddle from this article here surely?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=429051&in_page_id=1879

Glass houses......stones...Rod?

I haven't read all the posts on the Liddle article yet. However I don't think his comments will carry any great weight even down south. He is a notorious boor and rentamouth. He used to write in the Guardian until they saw the light and "failed to renew his contract". Suffice it to say, his articles were completely out of keeping with that esteemed journal. His wife also wrote about his rather (even by modern standards) sordid affair with another woman. Best not to repeat the details here, Paul. I am sure Inkybhoy could tell us more. Liddle is yet another ill-informed English journalist who neither understands nor wants to understand the true situation in Scotland.

Having now read through all the replies to his article he seems to be achieving his aim. Celtic, Rangers, Scottish and Irish National team fans all commenting against him.

Good Sectarian reason - I could not believe this statement when I read it?

What is a good sectarian reason? Someone please tell me!!!!!

Astonishing statement to make. This "supposed" human-being needs to explain himself.

Anyway. Great result at weekend. I did not expect that one. Watched until reaRangers scored and turned it off. Came back in with a minute to go and sat biting my nails with my stomache chruning for that minute. Excellent. Bob Malcolm did not look as if he was enjoying the lap of honour.

My neighbour who is a devout reaRanger came to my door later that afternoon to ask a favour and I obliged. Then he piped up "Did you hear the score?" Not letting on I said "No, what was it." To which he informed me it was 1-1. The look on his face when I shouted "Ya beauty" was superb. Then I informed him that they better watch out as QOS know how to attack. He walk off at that point without comment.

So one more win.

3-in-a-row-we-know-we-know-we-know.

Hail Hail

sorry Paul meant to say thanks for welcome the other day.
Re liddle I too sat down with papers read his column and was mad for minute or two,but to be honest nothing was going to spoil my mood after saturday,
Has anyone else noticed lack of rankers tops around.
surely they are not embarassed (not Possible)maybe just finding it hard to clean vomit off from wednesday,i live in rutherglen/cambuslang area usually like last night of proms,so a bit surreal.

voguepunter

Maybe they haven't got them back from their friends in England who wore them on Wednesday.

new article posted.

voguepunter, you're welcome.

Can anyone remember the deadline date for the 700m stadium announcement?

is confidence in the media still high that SDM can deliver further investment into the club considering the stock of the club now?

Just testing liky thigwy
shark

see none of our fine scottish journos felt it necessary to send their mobile phone footage of the carnival of hate to uefa

This guy is a no mark, failed hack.
Its about time that all these editors of the papers, start to look more closely at what is being printed. These comments are becoming far more frequent against Celtic.

BTW....first time posting.....hail,hail to all

Rod Liddle is a wannabe shockjock, using his column to stir the pot.Let him stir up apathy,and ignore the ill-informed clown.I've watched him on TV a few times,and he's no intellectual, believe me.He's the sort who will read Richard Littlejohn, and he tries to copy the format for himself.While Littlejohn can be obnoxious,he's usually obnoxious about people like the Blairs,or "The man who stole your old age" dear Gordon Brown.He can also be quite funny. The picture of Liddle should tell you all you need to know about the man,looking like a half-assed hippy trying too hard to be hip once more.
By the way,I wonder how many of the orcs watched "Braveheart"and went out and waved their Union Jacks at the next Rangers match.

Afraid I can’t agree with Paul67 about the serious nature of Rod Liddle’s comment that for “good sectarian reasons” he had supported Rangers against Zenit.

I agree with other posters that this part of his statement could simply mean “valid tribal/ethnic/traditional/national….. reasons” or whatever other words that in a broad sense could be said to define his genuinely coming from or having connections with a group associated with Rangers, the traditional foes of Celtic.

Of course he is flirting with controversy in his choice of words but then what journalist does not do this. As I see it there is no case for complaint as to his choice of words, which he can easily justify.

Liddle’s comparison of the lone, over-exuberant Celtic supporter who could not contain his joy at Celtic Park—when he playfully tapped Dida—before contritely surrendered himself to the police the following morning, and the Rangers mob of feral hate-filled savages who almost succeeded in killing several policeman in Manchester and have now gone to ground in their rat-holes is something else.

This comparison is simply ludicrous, and perhaps it, and his too-rye-ay anti-Irish racist dig gives one an inkling as to his sectarian (in the narrower sense) leanings.