ARSENAL according to one rumour today will be looking for a new manager in the summer. That’s the same rumour that emerges at this time every year as Arsene Wenger disappoints their support as his side drop outs of the race for the major honours.
So when that rumour is dusted down and recycled to create plenty of copy in the papers and on the internet, it is quite easy, if you have a platform and an agenda, to latch a second story on to the initial one and that gives your rumour a life if its own.
It will run and run. Even the Celtic blogs will pick up on it, the manager will be asked questions about it, and vernally it will cause unease among the support.
Even though it’s just a rumour. Made up Colin Nish.
On the other hand, Brendan Rodgers to Arsenal would, plausible. Throw in a comment about him ‘wasting his time’ at Celtic and you are a top story.
White, who went to the same school as Craigy Whyte, was as sick as a parrot on Sky Sports in February 2012 when Rangers went into Administration. His channel never reported when Rangers came out of administration, and that would have been news.
On Sunday after Celtic won at Aberdeen to stop any title challenge talk in its tracks, Sky Sports apparently stopped their coverage after the final whistle and before either Brendan Rodgers or Derek McInnes, or any of the players were interviewed. It was a poor show from a broadcaster that treats Scottish football with contempt.
Now one of their top presenters reckons that Brendan Rodgers is ‘wasting his time at Celtic’. Did he ever say that Laudrup or Butcher or Hateley or even Walter were wasting their time at Rangers (the one that went into administration)?
This is what White said on Talksport today:
“Surely Brendan Rodgers would be the perfect fit for Arsenal.
“It would be the perfect time for him. Would Brendan not be wasting his time spending another year in Scotland?
“I think he’d be wasting his time staying at Celtic. He’s won everything. He’s proved himself up there.
“I know Celtic fans will be saying: ‘That’s Jim White wearing his Rangers hat again’. But it has nothing to do with that.”
The Daily Record then produced a story that has Brendan looking at the tactics he employed when managing Liverpool to defeat Arsenal 5-1 in a first v second clash in the league in 2014.
Is the narrative there is sell Rodgers to the Arsenal supporters, who incidentally aren’t that keen on getting Brendan anyway?
Let’s stick to listening to Brendan shall we? In the summer he knows he needs to invest to take us forward in European football. The is his challenge and he has to be backed.
With £30million sitting in the bank and the Virgil van Dijk windfall to go on top, Celtic have the resources to back their manager. If they have the ambition to match his then there’s every chance that Brendan Rodgers will be here for ten in a row.
NEW – The Celtic Star Podcast: How The Rebels won, David Low lifts the lid, listen now!
DAVID LOW, who played a crucial role in the struggle against the Old Board and helped Fergus McCann gain control of Celtic and transform the club from top to bottom, is the special guest on The Celtic Star Podcast, A Celtic State of Mind, this week.
Here are some of the highlights in this week’s pod, which as usual is presented by Paul John Dykes and Kevin Graham.
• That Weisfeld still nipped in at the end, before McCann took over. Weisfeld’s step-son, Michael McDonald, is still on the board.
• That Celtic had 5,000 Rangers shares in 1994 and they were quickly sold.
• Craig Whyte found and sold shares in Arsenal when he took over at Ibrox.
• That it was definitely Michael Kelly and Chris White who held out for a wedge, and that Tom Grant, Kevin Kelly and Jack McGinn didn’t; and they still go to Celtic Park unlike the others.
• That the Masterton / Murray relationship had nothing to do with the hardball tactics from the bank towards Celtic.
• Low gives Celts for Change their place, he describes them as a “street movement” who wouldn’t have forced change without the ‘money men’.
He’s right, of course, but nostalgia and retrospect can often paint a different picture. It’s a remarkable listen…
That video has been available for months. It’s a great watch. A quick look at Arsenal websites shows you the depth of ill will to Brendan. They call him the David Brent of football and a sharked mouth fraud.
North London won’t be his destination when he leaves.
Who wrote this article, please? It leaves much to be desired. Several stupid and ridiculous misprints. Do you not have a spell checker? Does no one look the article over before publishing?
Then the cardinal sin! Criticism of Sky Sports News for NOT reporting that Rangers came out of administration. In which fantasy universe did that happen?
Simply not good enough, Bhoys!
I think the writer was being sarcastic with the out of admin comment. They never reported as it never happened but they still shout the same club.
Take your point, Kevin!