After it was reported that BBC Scotland were locked out of Brendan Rodgers’ official unveiling and press conference at Celtic Park on Friday afternoon, despite all the mainstream and the Celtic fan media outlets – including The Celtic Star – being invited along to participate in asking the newest Celtic boss questions on his homecoming, it appears that the national broadcaster wasn’t the only one.
![](https://icdn.thecelticstar.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/new-celtic-manager-brendan-rodgers-press-conference-8.jpeg)
Nope, there was another outlet that was denied entry on the day and that is PLZ Soccer. Headed by former Clyde One Superscoreboard host and Sky Sports reporter Peter Martin, it appears the club have taken a very excoriating view of his outburst via social media platform Twitter when talks of Rodgers returning to Glasgow hit the mainstream media as common knowledge earlier in the month.
The man who is usually hired to host charity events involving the Hoops and other footballing institutions, such as St Roch’s Juniors when they had their Centenary year a couple of years ago, has perhaps been deemed to have overstepped the mark with his personal attack on the returning Celtic boss and this has prompted the heirarchy to render him a threat to unity and an overly dissenting voice.
Taking to Twitter on 12 June when the Rodgers rumours surfaced, he said:
“Some people have short memories. Player revolt, tedious football, European humiliation and a man declaring his love while working his ticket out of the club. #historylesson”
Some people have short memories. Player revolt, tedious football, European humiliation and a man declaring his love while working his ticket out of the club. #historylesson pic.twitter.com/sO62I7pKwr
— Peter Martin (@PeterMsport) June 12, 2023
Martin and PLZ Soccer released a statement online, saying of the denial of access to the presser:
“We are disappointed at the decision to exclude us from the Brendan Rodgers press conference at Celtic Park today. We hope to resolve these issues while maintaining our right to voice opinion and offer our viewers the balanced view they have come to expect.”
We are disappointed at the decision to exclude us from the Brendan Rodgers press conference at Celtic park today. We hope to resolve these issues while maintaining our right to voice opinion and offer our viewers the balanced view they have come to expect.
— PLZ Soccer (@PLZSoccer) June 23, 2023
Did Peter Martin overstep the mark with this one? Banning PLZ Soccer doesn’t come close to the decision to ban BBC Scotland but together it points to a tougher policy that is coming out of Scotland and one that all the mainstream media will be paying attention to.
Go back a few years and it was concerns about letting Celtic fan media into these events that was the subject of debate within the club. A few years down the line and it is the broadcast media, with the red-tops surely next that are the problem for Celtic and not the Celtic fan media who have all had their say and aired various opinions but none crossed a line that Celtic regarded as unacceptable.
Neither BBC Scotland nor PLZ Soccer would have seen that ban coming. It’s certainly an interesting development.
Paul Gillespie
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Was the players in questioned
Not kissing the badge then wanting to leave for lower than Celtic valued them so they and agent get more money out of deal and leaving on the last day of transfer as rodgers says players do it ange says dont get to atatched to players or coaches they live in the moment ange is a big spurs fan now just we supporters take them into our hearts We support Celtic F.C and people come and go but Celtic will always be there not old co or new co we are Celtic F.C.1888 unbroken an thats what it is
I think the ban on PLZ is harsh and they cannot be tarred the same as the BBC. Peter Martin (McGuire) is not anti Celtic and certainly neither is Alan Rough. A lot of fans have expressed the same opinion as Peter on Rodgers returning to Celtic and the green brigade took it even further. Celtic need to be bigger than this and it banning PLZ just looks petty.
Just a guess, maybe Peter talking about a players revolt when Brendan was last in charge might have been the reason he was banned. Never heard of any player revolt at the time, what he probably meant was he knew a couple of players who were unhappy, which is not news, go to any club in the world and there will be unhappy players in the squad for various reasons. Peter was just doing what he does best, talking pish. He will already have apologised in the background, his company needs Celtic far more than the club needs him. The club will let plz back in, no problem with that, don’t think Peter and co are that bad to be fair. The bbc on the other hand are a disgusting organization who should be shut down for ever, anyone who pays to be lied to, deserves to be lied to. Yes, ban the bbc and their propaganda which flows through all their departments, including the sports. Have a look into the statue at their headquarters in London, or to be exact the sculptor, the very reason it is still there tells you everything you need to know about that rancid organization.