Nancy and the Stenographers

In his inaugural Euro presser, I thought that Celtic’s new manager displayed a certain élan when answering the questions from the assembled media.

 

It is public record that Nancy’s early childhood was spent in Guadeloupe, Martinique, Djibouti, and Réunion before settling in Toulon at age 14.

Consequently, the Frenchman likely speaks several languages fluently.

Let’s say apart from his native French, Arabic, and depending on his linguistic exposure, a creole in one of those parts of La Francophonie.

That, combined with the Stateside variant of Béarla, makes him a widely travelled polyglot answering questions from the clotted cream of the Stenography Corps.

To compare and contrast would be an exercise in cruelty.

Let’s just say if he speaks four languages fluently, then that’s four more than the average fitba hack in Glasgow.

Outsiders, just by being there, carry out a commonsense inventory of the society they’ve stepped into.

If Nancy has paused to reflect on the furore after the match against Hearts, then he might start to grasp that the football club that employs him operates in a hostile cultural environment.

The reaction of the Stenography Corps to the fixtures at the weekend was undisguised glee.

Celtic were defeated in the top-of-the-table clash, and Sevco won.

For at least a moment, the copy and paste commandoes on the sports desks can fantasise that the club formed by Irish immigrants might not be champions at the end of this season.

In fairness, not all of the local media played along.

Yet it was the much-maligned “fan media” that provided context and nuance in the days that followed the defeat at Hearts.

Here, the guys at the Huddle Breakdown focus on the data.

For geographic reasons, Alan and James do not attend Celtic pressers.

However, for example, members of the award-winning ACSOM team do so regularly.

Therefore, I was surprised to learn that they had been denied access to Nancy’s unveiling last Friday.

I made some enquiries and was told by a well-placed source that the club was concerned that the press conference might be “hijacked” or “disrupted”.

For the avoidance of doubt, when so-called “fan media” have been allowed access to Celtic pressers, their conduct has been entirely professional, and their questions have been well researched and delivered appropriately.

In October 2011, your humble correspondent had to come to close quarters with the Parkhead club’s work experience PR operation.

The jobsworth tried to keep me out of the AGM presser.

He failed.

Once ensconced in the reconfigured boardroom, I asked Ian Banker about his first Celtic match and his first club hero.

This should have been easy, as he had just been introduced to the AGM as a lifelong Tim.

Dermot’s new appointee spluttered and stumbled and then blurted out the name of the Catholic school he had attended.

It was toe-curling stuff.

Of course, I was asking him because I KNEW he was no more a Celtic supporter than I was a member of Fianna Fáil.

My gentle questioning then moved to the CEO and, if memory serves, I put the following interrogative to him:

“If Neil Lennon approaches you in January and says he needs two signings to win the league, will you authorise borrowing?”

The answer was a meandering example of obfuscation.

Mr Lawwell reminded this disruptor, who had …ahem… jetted in from Donegal, that the club had spent big in the summer on several players.

He didn’t mention that they had also brought in a substantial fee for academy graduate Aiden McGeady.

I asked a supplementary question about whether there had been a net spend on players.

The Celtic CEO then blurted out, “We’re NOT fixated on zero debt!”

I thanked him for his answer.

As I recall, the assembled stenographers were, at the very least, uneasy with my questions.

I hadn’t travelled to Fair Caledonia to ask nice softball questions.

Dear reader, I’m always suspicious of any organisation that comes up with a pretext to restrict access to their press conferences.

Next up is Roma tonight.

Wilfried Nancy has, like any coach/manager anywhere, to win football matches.

If he does that, then his use of a tactics board in the pouring rain in Paradise will be another sad footnote in the story of a local Fourth Estate that’s not fit for purpose.