Celtic fan media can’t be collectively blamed for one disgraceful comment
While having no particular interest in engaging with the board friendly happy clappers who have emerged on social media in recent months to attack the Celtic fan media on a daily basis, there comes a point when you really have to say something and call out their nonsense…
Yesterday some obscure podcast (no idea which one it is) made a disgraceful remark regarding Dermot Desmond. It’s possibly one that he will regret when he gets a chap at the door, if they bother to knock, when the Police coming calling. If that doesn’t happen he’s a very fortunate guy indeed but in the current climate when the focus is very much on disorder at and around football, this looks like an easy one for Police to deal with swiftly.
What was said has nothing to do with us or indeed any of the other sites who were banned by Celtic at the end of last year pending a review that never happened. Indeed it has nothing to do with any other Celtic supporter except the one who made the shocking remark.
Celtic are aware of all the fan media sites and podcasts who worked with them and the numbers were under ten outlets, there were a few news sites, some podcasts and one fan TV channel. If any fan media outlet stepped out of line (in the club’s view) Celtic would immediately act.
For instance you could be assured of a phone call if you even mentioned Mark Lawwell and the shambolic 2023 transfer window, or in one case I experienced, you could be threatened with a ban for ALL fan media outlets if you didn’t delete a perfectly reasonable article that didn’t suit the behind the scenes manoeuvres going on at the club in the late summer of 2021. Join the dots on that one yourselves.
Here’s a thing, all contributors to fan media sites don’t need to endorse every word written or spoken by others in the Celtic fan media. People can and should be judged by their own actions. But it is only the fan media outlets that were formally involved with club that were banned, for reasons unknown.
Of course you can speculate. Didn’t all of the outlets on the rota back the formation of the Celtic Fans Collective? We also heard that a rumour that a few things were said on a podcast, not sure which one, that the club took offence to. We all know that Dermot Desmond is rather thin skinned when it comes to criticism but that may be a rumour with no substance.
I got the email from Celtic advising me not to travel to Lennoxtown that day as the club had removed all access for Celtic fan media pending review. I have contacted the club a few times about the status of this review but have not had a reply.
Since the ban came into force plenty of water has passed under the bridge, and if anything the Celtic fan media has got stronger. It’s not going away and most of the sites are members of the Celtic Fans Collective, who also have the main supporters groups and many individual CSCs as members.
There’s very little that’s been published on The Celtic Star or more recently Celtic Shorts that isn’t reasonable and can be regarded as fair comment. If anything we could be accused, with some justification I may add, of giving Celtic the benefit of the doubt on more occasions than was probably sensible.
They know all about the times I fought their corner because it suited the club to use Celtic fan media. Once or twice it involved lawyers after taking the baton from the club and fighting for Celtic. Like the null and void stuff in the most recent 9IAR season or the fiasco that was the trip to Dubai in the middle of a global pandemic. You all remember the poolside photos.
Can’t say much more about this other than when a top firm of London lawyers came calling and the veritas (the truth) defence was given, those feeding the story immediately suffered from a crashing bottle, quite pathetically. I certainly wasn’t in Dubai so you can join the dots again.
One of the podcast chaps at a media conference for a new signing asked if he could get his photo taken with the player. That’s not allowed as you are there in a media capacity and not as a fan so the request was denied, and righty so.
The conversation around that was enlightening though. Something like ‘isn’t (podcast owner) paying you enough to be here’…’no not really’…’well he’s making enough from talking about Celtic.’ That’s really just an insight into the way Celtic think and that was before all the turmoil started. A case of the mask slipping.
Celtic would frequently ask for things but would never give anything back. Requests for a photographer to have access to Celtic Park were always denied, or more accurately ignored. We held a Celtic Star Books event at Celtic Park where all the door taking were going to Celtic Foundation. It as a brilliant night with loads of former Celts there, including John Fallon, Tommy Callaghan, John Hartson and many others.
As we covered the women’s team extensively on The Celtic Star, I asked Fran Alonso to come along and Stephen McManus was coming too – until Celtic PR heard about it and stopped both coming as they were Celtic employees.
Fran was coming to talk up the women’s team but was denied the chance because it was we were told, a commercial event. The next day the money raised was given to Celtic FC Foundation and that will be the last time we hold an even at Celtic Park.
This is just some of the behind the scenes stuff we can tell you and every other Celtic fan media site on the rota and working with the club has their own stories which they may be encouraged to share. They should.
The Celtic fan media – collectively – are not the bad guys. Celtic supporters can choose which sites they read and which podcasts they listen to, whether they were on the Celtic fan media rota or not. More that half had left or drifted away from the start of this back in 2021 as he club looked to pick up the pieces after the Covid season fiasco.
Now the Scottish Sun – the vehicle for the outrageous personal attack on then Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers from an anonymous boardroom source – are allowed in. So too the Daily Record who have a long history of anti-Celtic stories including of course Thugs and Thieves.
Some Celtic supporters still read these red tops but nowhere near as many as was previously the case. In Celtic’s own fan survey with 50k responses the support for the Celtic fan media was clear.
Recently one Celtic fan media podcast has produced an outstanding four part documentary on the story of last season. Another has booked Brendan Rodgers to appear at the Royal Concert Hall next June to finally have his say after the disgraceful events surrounding his departure from the club.
The Celtic fan media is getting stronger and stronger all the time but remain are locked out by the club. Is that to Celtic’s advantage? I doubt it very much. Do the fan media sites really need to get back in to thrive? They certainly don’t.
At the end of the day the Celtic supporters can choose where they get their media content from relating to the club.
