As usual, Roy Greenslade’s analysis is impeccable and gets to the core issue very quickly.
A professor of journalism with a long career in the print sector, he is one of the most authoritative voices in the British media today.
In his recent blog he asks people to refrain from ad hominem attacks on me.
I note that the comments section has been disabled.
“I am sorry to say I find it necessary to keep comments off due to the level of unwarranted abuse last time I deal with this subject, which is another important facet of this story.”
One of the reasons Rangers self-destructed was the failure of the supporters to mobilise.
That was partly because they were misinformed by elements within the mainstream media.
However, the truth was out there. Well actually, the truth was here!
Recently I have had a small, but significant mail bag from supporters of the former club.
They could find no fault with the analysis of how Rangers self-destructed contained within Downfall.
When I started to write on this site about the impending financial catastrophe that was about to happen to Rangers I was largely disbelieved by the club’s fans.
I was from the other side of the city and I was just “spouting lies” about their club.
Actually, I was telling the truth.
To anyone still in doubt of that, I suggest they read this and take note of the date.
When I wrote in 2010 about tax problems that would soon envelope the club I was derided as a fantasist by the Rangers crazies.
A year later the Edmiston Drive lynch mob taunted me about their new “billionaire” owner, Craig Whyte.
With a Herrenvolk swagger they told me I had got it all wrong and the mighty Rangers would now spend big on star players.
Ah, bless…
I replied with satire.
[Note: I don’t think they like satire.]
However, all of that is history, and that is all Rangers FC (1872) is now – history; something of the past.
Now, the brave chaps of the fitba Fourth Estate have been told to learn their lines and they have dutifully obeyed.
Liquidation was no big deal, you see. Charlie bought those titles fair and square and the mighty Rangers have an unbroken history.
Yeah…
The hacks mustn’t mention “NewCo” or “Sevco”.
However, now I am in something of a quandary.
I am at a bit of a crossroads.
The thing is, if I uncover anything of interest about Sevco Scotland Limited, will their loyal customers believe me? Or does bigotry still utterly blind them?
I spoke the truth about Rangers.
It was a great story and for long periods of time I was the only journalist that was going after it full on.
Others wanted to, but were constrained by where they worked and where they lived.
The big fear of Glasgow sports journalists is having their press accreditation withdrawn from Ibrox.
Obviously, that doesn’t work on me as I have no interest in being there and regular readers will know that I have had no problem in the past in getting sensitive information out of Ibrox when I need to.
As far as reporting on Planet Fitba is concerned, I’m still on the field of play.
Of course, there are the cyber heroes (always anonymous) who threaten and smear and hope that I will go away.
That hasn’t worked on me so far, but a definition of stupidity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome and subsequently, I reckon that these people just aren’t too bright.
My deepest gratitude goes to all of you who have bought “Downfall”.
In publishing land, people who spend their working lives trying to market books by getting favourable reviews in newspapers and paying for big shop displays must be scratching their heads.
Downfall hasn’t had anything like that level of marketing, yet it sits in the number one position in many stores across Scotland.
Ironically, the reaction by the Scottish media to the book has validated one of the central arguments contained within it.
The people who have bought Downfall in their thousands no longer have to rely on the mainstream media for their information.
This blog has acquired a Samizdat status on Planet Fitba and that is why people are buying the book in such numbers.
The initial success of Downfall is a testament to the extent to which people are dissatisfied with the status quo, with a certain type of craven, venal churnalism that simply doesn’t cut it anymore on Planet Fitba.
The failure of the mainstream media is a huge part of the story in the eventual downfall of Rangers and that is why it continues to engage people of stature, like Alex Thomson of Channel 4 News and Professor Roy Greenslade in the Guardian.
