“If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you’re mis-informed.”
Mark Twain had a knack for overstatement, but you wonder if there was ever a golden age of the newspapers, and if so, what it looked like. In Scotland, it’s seldom looked like it has this week.
Some weeks ago, Graham Spiers, writing in The Herald, made reference to comments he claimed a Newco director made about the Billy Boys song. Spiers didn’t name the director, but questioned the club’s board’s willingness to tackle offensive behaviour.
The Billy Boys were a Glasgow razor gang from the 1920s and 30s, named after their leader, Billy Fullerton. Glasgow was one of the poorest cities in the industrial world, with high unemployment and mortality rates, squalid housing conditions and what we would now term disaffected young people who drifted into criminal gangs. The Billy Boys were known as a Protestant gang (there were similar Catholic gangs) and started going along to watch Rangers, and singing their signature tune, in the 20s.
So far, so anthropologic. The song, the gangs, the disaffected masses were a product of their time, but the song persisted through the decades, including the “up to our knees in Fenian blood” third line. It was the mood music to employment practices at Ibrox from the 20s until 1989.
Scotland has changed enormously since then. We are a genuinely plural society, not one scandalised by “mixed marriages”. The vast majority of people don’t care who or what you are, boundaries have been pushed back, there is a fairly level playing field, no matter your creed or colour. All of this change brought focus to the Billy Boys song, it’s not the mood music to modern Scotland, or to ANY Rangers fans I know.
I couldn’t care less about the song. For me, it is a millstone around the neck of Newco, as it was of Oldco. It drags them down to a place they can ill-afford to be. It offends (not alone in football), has a criminal legacy (not alone in football), but it’s unique quality is that third line. You can’t say that about any group of people anymore.
Spiers has put his neck on the block over sectarianism at Ibrox repeatedly over the years. He wrote about his recent experience at Ibrox, expressed an opinion, and submitted his copy.
The club complained. Football clubs complain lots about many things. There’s a set answer newspapers give to these complaints: “It was an opinion piece”. They never retract or apologise for “an opinion piece”.
I’m 100% certain The Herald’s first response to Newco was “it’s an opinion piece”. This would normally have been the end of it, but on Wednesday The Herald issued an apology.
Spiers then became a blogger to explain “My opinion – as expressed in my column – was based on a truthful account of my meeting with a Rangers director.”
Who you believe is irrelevant for this topic. The only relevance is that within a 24 hour period, The Herald and Evening Times group changed how they deal with criticisms of an opinion piece – and then used six degrees of separation to drag Celtic into a sectarian headline.
“Ex-Celtic player in dock for sectarianism”, screamed the Evening Times, using the Celtic badge into the bargain. A woman is on trial for allegedly making a sectarian comment on Facebook. She once played for Celtic under-19s, never the senior ladies team. She doesn’t play for Celtic Ladies under-19s (or any age group) anymore, and didn’t a year ago when she made this comment. She never held an employed position at the club.
An amateur, juvenile, registered with the club who are a member of the Women’s Association. Fill your boots, Evening Times. The apology will do them no favours with any constituency, it will cost them more readers in each than sticking to their guns would have. Reacting by grasping onto something so tenuous to drag Celtic into the murky waters was unconscionable.
They do not report in this manner elsewhere. Headlines for court appearances never lead with the person’s club memberships, “Prestwick Golf Club member in driving ban”? You’ll never read this.
One very good political journalist once told me “The football content pays my wages”. That being the case, The Herald’s already difficult job to survive has been enormously undermined. Spiers also explained “the pressure brought upon the newspaper became severe”. They can ill-afford to lose advertising revenue streams, or readers.
Napoleon once said, “‘Four hostile newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets”. He’s been dead a long time, though. Newspapers can now make themselves impotent in an afternoon.
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I think Efe deserves his spot right now as he has obviously upped his game and performed well.
Dropping him would kill his confidence.
Not everybody’s cup of tea but an honest player that luckily we can often afford in our team.
Shocking stat from Huns game.
Fouls: 6 Huns cards none….7 Falkirk cards 3 yellow all in the last 5 mins.
Who’d a thunk it?
Patrick in Paradise
Minceyheidman I’m with you on Efe a true Pro made mistakes -yes – but total Pro. H H Hebcelt
hebcelt
Yes you tell people to get in the first team and play well enough so that I cannot drop you.
He has done that in the last couple.
Feel though that his next may be his last and unless injuries allow him in he will sit on the bench.
However when called upon he will give his all.
Would love to see him do well.
Bournemouth 1-1
Celtic fan McGinn 25 yarder, Hibs 2, St Johnstone 1.
Hail Hail.
Hibs 2-1
An all green final would be very nice.
Good news – finally found an uninterrupted stream of a live Saturday 3.00pm game
Bad news – the coverage is from Govan
Good news – got all my ironing done with the game on in the background
Bad news – Triggers Broom FC haven’t conceded yet
Good news – Triggers Broom FC haven’t scored yet
Bloody Sunday.44 years ago today
John (Jackie) Duddy (17),
Patrick (Pat) Doherty (31),
Bernard (Barney) McGuigan (41),
Hugh Gilmour (17),
Kevin McElhinney (17),
Michael Kelly (17),
John Young (17),
William Nash (19),
Michael McDaid (20),
James Wray (22),
Gerald Donaghy (17),
Gerald McKinney (35)
and John Johnston (59).
Rip.
Minceyheidman on 30th January 2016 4:18 pm
Minceyheidman on 30th January 2016 4:18 pm
Shocking stat from Huns game.
Fouls: 6 Huns cards none….7 Falkirk cards 3 yellow all in the last 5 mins.
Who’d a thunk it?
*Warbo putting pressure on the MITB.
“Warbo, still angry at the dismissal of halliday against Morton, has questioned the wisdom of appointing a referee with limited experience – Barry Cook – for such a high-profile game involving his team.”
Morton – High Profile game. FFS . He’s scheidting himself that they won’t get automatic promotion and then his phony rep will be in tatters.
Jobo,
like your idea of carrying out a boycott as a Celtic fan and goin as an Ek fan :-)
have a great night Celts
job to do tomorrow,go to work Celtic 3-1
:-)
HH
An tearmann
Bloody Sunday
One of the darkest days in irish history. Not only for the events of the day but for the effect it had on future events.
Dreadful day
An Tearmann
Dougie Breslin – Jackie Duddy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDnPJHObems
Tontine
Had the radio on in the car pre match. .. every person on clyde states ref made a bad mistake … halliday did nothing wrong ( again )
Turned over to shortbread … same drivel
Cd in and listen to Bocelli instead
Bad news
King billy endears himself to the people
An Tearnann
I’ve got a raft of “paranoia” type articles, it’s only when you see what’s transpired over the past 4/5 years you accept that we were not paranoid enough.
Let me know your mail address and I will send you what I have, I have put them all into a document as I had intended publishing, but Tony Hamilton beat me to it!!
Any one else want a copy get in touch
King Billy scores winning goal for huns in added time.
ShockeronnyCSC
So the Hibees won, I wonder if there’ll be any mention of sevco upsetting the saints preparation for this game by tapping up one of their players. Naw neither dae aye, it’ll be hell mend them for no allowing him tae join the new” side.
I was hoping for ST Johnstone win as it
would have made it easier for me to get
a ticket for the final……..if we get there
of course.
CQN Saturday Naps Competition
Lads, for those in the CQN Naps competition, Week 27 results are updated here :
http://www.celticquicknews.co.uk/as-big-a-game-as-well-have-for-the-rest-of-the-season/comment-page-12/#comments
Cheers, fleagle1888
(–Beirut CSC–)
Well done Hibs. A shame that they face their usual good humping in a final from Celtic in the final (if we can get past Ross County), but it’s another day oot of auld reekie for them……
Lol Dr Shuggy,
Cheque in the post.
:0)
HH Dan
Commentators there were terrible.
“Upon Ibrox is born a King” “The King of Ibrox”, “The King of Glasgow”.
Waiting for the Scotland remark but never came.
Derry’s walls heard all round the ground as they say now the fans have found their voices.
10 mins prior it was boos all round.
They are only going to get worse in my opinion.
Celtic need them? Nah not me.
Had to laugh at a hun earlier, saying that Mick O isn’t worth £500k.
Of course totally oblivious to the fact that his super duper team are therefore in the market for players in the £200k range.
Ambition?
Good result for Hibs today and a confidence booster for them in their quest for the Championship, always good to see Alan Stubbs doing well, decent bloke and get wind up merchant:))
Well done Hibs, bad news for those who will try and sneak a cheeky wee ticket for the final though.
* Drat and double drat!*
So king Billy scores the winner in the Diddy division top of the table clash … warbos magic hats still works
Great news really as they are convinced their current team and strategy works well
http://bellacaledonia.org.uk/2016/01/29/scottish-media-failure-exposed/
So a Championship team reach the final of one of the two prestigious national cup competitions.
On the way they beat the unbeaten Premiership leaders (Aberdeen), then Premiership team Dundee United and then at a neutral venue ANOTHER Premiership team in St. Johnstone.
or to put it another way. Alan Stubbs has got the better of every Premiership club he has come up against.
No doubt the national press will be raving about a manager who is a visionary, a genius who of course has some sort of magic hat.
Luckily Hibernian did not have to face the rampant St. Johnstone at home in the third round.
The hun will be back next season,we are doing
more transfer business in this window than I
thought we would have done,put them tae the
sword on the field of play,they will not put up
with playing second fiddle tae Celtic.
Are there any cqners joining me at Hampdump
tomorrow or is there a bhoycott on?
Commented on the yellow cards for Falkirk before.
Saw 2 of them that happened at the same time.
Very strange to say the least.
Ball knocked in from the left and it does hit the centre half on the hand as it is going through to centre forward, ref decides no handball and continues as they still have the ball scramble 19 yards out and Falkirk player goes to ground and handballs.
Ref gives handball and deems it deliberate and gives them direct free kick.
Wall gets lined up around 7 yards out but then, assistant calls ref over and has a long chat.
Ref proceeds to book the other Falkirk player whom he deemed not to have handled.
Ref was 10 yds away and assistant 30 yds away and in a bad position when it happened to deem it to be deliberate.
If it was deliberate as he has now cautioned him then why not a red for DOGSO?
in all this confusion the ball is placed around 25 yds out for the free kick giving a better chance of up and over.
Maybe nit picking but love to see the referee report on what transpired as he will have to lie.
Now that this mobs under the cost and getting it tight from all angles, let’s hope our supporters are on they’r toes tomorrow, constabulary hordes will be huckeling Tims by the dozen, they have previous, they need a distraction, don’t let it be us, be cool, be street, and on your toes, and be safe.
Cost= cosh