The Daily Record won credit for scooping the off-field story of the week, multiple investigations into singing by Celtic fans, but others are beginning to ask who gave the newspaper details of a police investigation.
The stories broke in an unusual manner, with SFA referee and policeman, Eddie Smith, named as the person who reported Celtic fans to Uefa and the SPL. The officer made what looks like an inexplicable decision after some confrontations inside Celtic Park, without mentioning a word of his concerns to the Celtic security people during the game – the normal procedure for such incidents.
Smith, who has Celtic supporting credentials, was named, providing the perfect foil to deflect accusations that this was some sort of Masonic conspiracy, which it was not. The entire episode is a classic internecine dispute among Celtic supporters, but with the comments made to Uefa, the story was parcelled up for the Record by a Strathclyde Police spokesman.
The Daily Record reported, “A spokesman for Strathclyde Police said: “For Eddie [Smith] to speak to the delegate after the match is nothing out of the ordinary. In fact, it is standard practice””. This is completely irrelevant.
Celtic’s retort in the same article got to the heart of the issue – why the police are speaking to Uefa and the media but not speaking to the club: “This is quite unprecedented as no issues were raised to the club during the match and the police didn’t inform us directly about their concerns.”
Control over media communications from Strathclyde Police falls to Director of Communications, Rob Shorthouse, (pictured on the left). Shorthouse, whose own favourite team have taken a reputational battering from Uefa in recent seasons, despite silence from the police, should be concerned that the force have given newspapers material for three days of screaming headlines instead of addressing the key concern about departure from established procedure. This has only inflamed a volatile situation between Celtic fans and officers on the ground. Shorthouse, who held a similar position at the SFA until two years ago, will be familiar with the sensitivities of football issues.
Perhaps a Freedom of Information request will reveal who leaked a story that laid out details which reflected so badly on Celtic. All we want is equal treatment, as a former chairman once commented.
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Has that chris graham blogg from last night been removed??
Still no sign of my post to the Indo.
Why would they take offence at being told that the quality of their sub editing was on a par with the quality of their “newspaper”?
ibleedgreen
If Lenny didnt say it and im sure he didnt get Galloways legals on to it. We might get the price of a G K or C B out of it!!! Jist go and gettim big time.
Afternoon bhoys, warm and still hun free.
That indo headline is par for the course, what else would you expect from west brits.
the way the police are handling this illicit chanting thingy.
are the police guilty of wasting police time?
thomthethim at 12:55
Maybe they took that as a compliment.
Was once overheard talking about a girl saying that she “seemed as smart as she was good looking”. She took it as a compliment. It wasn’t meant to be. :-)
Mort
NEW PARTICLE TOASTED
Ps to that. They are at it again here. Dont take your eye off the ball Lenny.
S P L- S P L – S P L – S P L -S P L- S P L S P L – S P L -S P L -S P L
NOWT LESS!!!!!!
new article posted.
Aye, thats us Sectarian, Illicit, Bigoted and now Racist.
But lets keep silent eh, it will go away.
Meanwhile, over at Poundland the Famine Song will get belted out without comment by the same media and Political talking heads. Scotland, many cultures.
Mort says:
17 November, 2011 at 12:59
thomthethim at 12:55
Maybe they took that as a compliment.
Was once overheard talking about a girl saying that she “seemed as smart as she was good looking”. She took it as a compliment. It wasn’t meant to be. :-)
Mort
:>)
OR
“She has a voice that has to be heard to be believed”.
I have never posted anything negative about Neil Lennon on a Celtic site in fact the opposite.
But there is a first time for everything and here goes, Neil Lennon was:
Wrong to put his message out through the Sun. The Celtic website or indeed this or any other similar site would have been a more appropriate way that would not have been spun to suit the paper’s agenda as we have seen with the Irish Independent’s view the Neil condemned the GB for their “racist” chants.
Wrong to make no reference to the legal status of the RA chants in question and this will also allow the government to spin his views as being evidence that the Celtic manager also thinks that these chants are illegal but not covered by existing legislation, as Roseanna Cunningham did in parliament with her remarks that suggested that Peter Lawwell through his calls to end the chants was in favour of the bill.
Wrong not to condemn the over-zealous approach of the police driven by, what is at best a political motivation, and at worst a sectarian agenda to damage our club. He must see with his own eyes at Celtic Park on match days policing that would shame a banana republic acted out against those most vociferous in support of the club and Neil Lennon!
Wrong not to comment on the double standards that exist in the treatment of our fans by the press, the police, the authorities. Not whataboutery just plain double standards.
Neil is a highly intelligent individual and could have handled this much better. He is entitled to his views and in this case they are views that I share with him 100%. But he could have argued his case with the Celtic support in person and in private and not added to the media firestorm that is aimed at us by our detractors. Those who would see us in the same boat as their impoverished favourites. And those who have done everything possible to mock and demean him personally.
He knows the impending new legislation and the boost his stance will give that process when spun by our media.
He above all people should have known better.