Everyone on Planet Fitba knows that it is usually Statement O’clock at Ibrox.
Yet, since Sunday, all has been quiet down Edmiston Drive.
That is even though there were TWO bottle-throwing incidents aimed at the visiting team and their staff.
One that made the goalmouth of the Celtic keeper dangerous and the other that ended up with a physio needing a head wound stitched.
I must have missed the statement coming out of the well-oiled Ibrox PR machine publicly apologising for the shameful behaviour.
Indeed it must have been Statement O’clock quite quickly after the final whistle on Sunday.
No?
Perhaps there is no word for “sorry” in Ulsturr Scatch.
I must check that on Duolingo.
This is what Sky Sports put out the day after the match.
Note the immediate deployment of the beloved “Old Firm” trademark.
“We are assisting Police Scotland regarding both incidents and can confirm that stadium CCTV is being reviewed.
“We strongly condemn both incidents and the perpetrators will be banned.”
“Strongly condemn” but no apology on Monday.
We had to wait until today (Thursday) for that…
The Daily Radar has just reported that Celtic’s supporter liaison officer John-Paul Taylor has confirmed that the Ibrox club had “issued an apology to their rivals”.
However, no public apology.
Unsurpassed dignity?
Really?
Unimpressive, more like…
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I have to confess. The ONLY thing to me, that is surprising about the silence on the missile throwing last Sunday, is that ANYONE is even remotely surprised. It’s been happening on a weekly basis for years!! At EVERY match at the crumbledome, AND a helluva lot of away matches. It’s NEVER been mentioned before. Why would anyone mention it now.
Perhaps the board were afraid that a grovelling public apology would be seen as a sign of weakness to their hateful, uber staunch 99% minority.
Oh dear.
What use is a PR expert if he has been muzzled?
Or, he simply doesn’t know how to publicly respond?
Perhaps they should get Traynor back… 🙂
There is so much any humble observer could say on the clusterous fuck that is rangers but I feel it would be pointless (no disrespect meant in any way to your most enjoyable and informative reporting)
However, I will say that one of the rules I was told to follow solidly when studying PR is to say nothing till the storm blows over. Now from here it looks like the super DUP man has got his old college jotters out, and then went for the number one stiff upper lip scenario with some HP, just to make it a wee bit more palatable… Ignorance is bliss as they say…
Unimpressive indeed. Can you just imagine the racket if it was a Celtic fans throwing bottles? Pffffft 🤬
Don’t forget the two other incidents when objects were thrown at Jota taking the corner and the players celebrating at full time.
We should also add the signing of banned songs. Plenty of videos uploaded on line and in FF or RM and from the main stand behind the dug out.
Have to think these incidents will increase as the title ribbons become more green than blue. The semi-final at Hampden has the potential to be another Hibs Final should Rangers lose.
People should cast their minds back to Sevco playing Hibs in the championship playoff the year the toxic club came up. The amount of crap thrown at any Hibs player, when they went to take either a corner or throw-in absolutely beggared belief!!! It was not mentioned in a single paper or any media news outlet.
There were also missiles (one looked like a mobile phone, not sure about glass bottles but potentially dangerous none-the-less) flung at the players when they went over to celebrate with the fans at the end of the game.
Also, as per usual, lots of missiles, including glass bottles, were thrown at the Celtic fans, especially from the upper tier of the Broomloan, which ‘normally’ would be filled by other Celtic fans and hence a safe space for all.
This was met by the usual indifference from police and stewards who only got exercised when those under attack remonstrated and were thus in the double jeopardy of being ejected or even arrested.
As well as the non-apology from the decadent club the press have been similarly unconcerned and simply pass it off as the usual ‘communal’ issue.
Compare and contrast the reaction with the ‘scandal’ or Celtic ball boys (and girls?) flicking the vickies at Allan McGregor.
Mind you what can you expect from a press, one of whom’s leading lights thinks its “more than plausible” that theRangers will win a domestic double,
No, seriously.