Monday, December 23, 2024

Inconvenient truths in the Blue Room and a genuine journalist

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A few days ago, a trusted source told me of a recent dignified conclave at the Big House.

Apparently, the Transcendental Chairman had a rather pointed question for a marketing underling at the basket of assets.

I’m told that the Tranquil One wanted to know why that lot across the city made so much more in commercial deals.

It is never a happy task to tell the boss something that he probably doesn’t want to hear.

However, in the absence of alternative facts, the marketing person stated a few inconvenient truths.

Here is the gist of what  was stated to the Dalai Lama of the Blue Room:

Celtic have been at this stuff for a long time.

Moreover, they’ve become good at it.

In the best-case scenario, Celtic is between 15 and 20 years ahead on the commercial end of things.

They don’t end up in court facing their partners.

Ouch!

In fairness, it IS a fair question.

Why does Celtic make SO much more money from commercial deals?

Moreover, when did this happen?

We can probably point to that iconic moment when Brian Dempsey announced to the waiting crowd, which included your humble correspondent right out front, that the Rebels had won!

The wee man immediately set about overhauling Celtic’s commercial department.

As Bunnet once famously observed, as per the featured image, that a lack of money is a real problem.

Once pre-season training begins, it will become apparent, to anyone with the facility of reason, which side of the city is better resourced.

At Celtic, all the Anas Platyrhynchos are in alignment to implement a substantial squad rebuild.

Brendanball 2.0 might test even the… ahem…“battle-hardened”.

Currently, it is a fact-free zone for the shills in the Stenography Corps.

Consequently, this is what passes for journalism at the Daily Radar.

Oh dear…

Some of the Stenography Corps are just at the back of the bus for a quiet life and a paycheque, while others are on the Ibrox spectrum and are, therefore, incurable.

It would be wrong to think that all of those involved in footie journalism are cut from the same cloth.

Some of them actually have an affection for the truth.

Today I’m thinking of one who was definitely a cut above.

Brian McNally

It was with great sadness that I learned of Brian’s passing.

We got to know each other in the summer of 2012 and finally met at the NUJ Delegate Meeting in Newcastle in October of that year.

When Big Mike briefly had his guys in the building (October 2014-March 2015), Brian was very generous with his encyclopaedic knowledge of the Ashley years at Newcastle United.

Brian, a committed trade unionist, was, like your humble correspondent, a member of the NUJ.

We both took Rule 24 against another union member, David Leggat.

The matter was concluded in our favour, and Mr Leggat left the union in 2013, the year after Rangers died.

You can read about it here.

Brian was one of the good guys and an excellent journalist.

He made it clear to me that he fully approved of what his fellow NUJ member in Ireland was doing with this blog.

The views he expressed to me that day in Newcastle, apropos the journalistic credibility of those on the sports desks in Glasgow, were essentially unprintable!

I’m sure it would not have surprised him that last night, those on the Ibrox spectrum were using the anonymity afforded them on a messageboard to openly celebrate his death.

Always believe people when they reveal themselves.

Brian was a better human than all of his detractors.

May he rest in eternal peace.

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