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BLACKPOOL SHAMROCK CELTIC SUPPORTERS CLUB

KEEP THE FAITH'S NOTORIOUS HACKWATCH – A BENCHMARK WEEK FOR THE LAPTOP LOYAL

By Timothy Gumshoe

In my opinion this week has been a pivotal week in the career of the Celtic Manager, Gordon Strachan. It has also been a benchmark week for the Laptop Loyal, who have set new standards - in lying.

There has been a growing trend recently in the media to ridicule our Manager and to drive a wedge between him and the Celtic support, some of whom (unbelievably, in my opinion, considering the press the Club historically gets in Scotland) have been receptive to the seeds of discontent being planted by the Laptop Loyal.

There has been a relentless and concerted pressure brought to bear on the Club by sections of the media. On Monday night, a disgraceful attempt was made by an STV reporter to blacken the Club's name after Celtic's 3-1 win at Aberdeen. Simultaneously the Manager was / is being pilloried for his defence of Garry Pendrey at Pittodrie. Meanwhile, the news of the Club's £15million profit was, by and large, ignored.

These events, especially the attacks on our Club and our Manager, have resulted in Celtic's highly perceptive support galvanising behind our Club and our Manager.

Subsequent to these ‘events', Gordon gave an interview in which it struck me that he understands FULLY what being ‘Celtic Minded' actually means.

Strachan told Radio Clyde's Super-scoreboard:

“Being Celtic Manager and having the chance to take the Club into the Champions League against Manchester United and AC Milan gives me the opportunity to stand shoulder to shoulder with Sir Alex Ferguson or Carlo Ancelotti.

“I'll never forget Ancelotti's face as he watched the Celtic fans singing ‘You'll Never Walk Alone' before our meeting last season. He turned to look back at the people in his dugout and his expression was a mixture of disbelief and awe. That's why I love being the Celtic Manager.”

Those sentences tell me the man is absolutely proud of the Club he manages and the support that idolise it.

I'm fairly long in the tooth hence my paranoia antennae are fine tuned. However, to the untrained or fledgling paranoiac, this week has been a master class on media over indulgence at Celtic FC bashing.

As previously stated, STV have been left with their panties at their ankles in their desperation to shackle us to Rangers with respect to the ‘Scotland's shame' issue. The media are gagging to trap the Celtic support on this and they will not rest until the ‘Old Firm' word can be used. But we ARE smarter than the average Bear.

I was absolutely delighted at the speed of Peter Lawwell's reaction in leaping to the defence of the support at Pittodrie and demanding a retraction and an apology from STV, which was duly forthcoming (though stinted) the following evening.

Meanwhile, according to reports emanating from the Rangers AGM:

“Media adviser's campaigns and legal fees mean the cost of defending the club's reputation has cost 700k in the last year.”

Money well spent by Murray, I'm sure you'll agree? GUILTY – TWICE. More verdicts to come.

Never ones to miss a chance to stick the boot in, the Daily Record the day after STV's lies ran the purposely misleading headline:

“CELTS WILL ESCAPE SECTARIAN FAN PROBE

By Hugh Keevins

THE SFA will not investigate Celtic over the arrest of a fan for sectarian singing at Aberdeen on Sunday.

The club was angered by a television report which said the SPL were looking into the incident and their annoyance was due to the fact it was a Celtic steward who pointed out the offender to police and had him ejected from Pittodrie.”

Interestingly, in the self same article we are informed that the ‘offender' was arrested for “engaging in unacceptable conduct.” That's a fair old leap to being “arrested for sectarian singing” as stated by Keevins.

Of even more interest, later in the Daily Record article we have:

“Record Sport understands the Celtic players were angered by sectarian abuse directed towards Aiden McGeady by Aberdeen fans during the match but the club are adamant there was no audible singing of a sectarian nature from their section of the ground.”

Does anyone else out there in Timdom think that the bigoted abuse of Aiden McGeady by Aberdeen fans has NOT received the same media coverage as the equally reprehensible bigoted abuse of DaMarcus Beasley by FK Zeta fans?

Talking of being silly, what are the chances of the Killie fans getting their blues brothers all hot under the collar this weekend? Or will the microphones at Rugby Park be turned off?

Any of you good folks who had the misfortune to listen to the Ayrshire Huns in Paradise on the opening day of the season will be only too aware that the only song in their repertoire is the Billy Boys…………..That could be a difficult one for the SPL song grass to get his wee head around.

Never fear, Rangers' “fans chief” Jim Templeton has a handle on things. Actually……Did he not get his jotters as “fans chief” for harbouring ‘differing ambitions' to the Rangers supporting collective? Nah? Hugh would be aware of that……..Wouldn't he?

Keevins:

“RANGERS FANS: LEAVE THE BIGOTS TO US GERS

EXCLUSIVE RECORD SPECIAL ON THE HOTTEST TOPIC IN SCOTTISH FOOTBALL

Fans chief Jim says they'll self-police away games to stop sectarian singing

By Craig Swan

Rangers fans chief Jim Templeton has revealed he persuaded the club into a U-turn on their idea of banning supporters from away games.

And Templeton insists the good guys in the stands are close to cleansing the sectarian problems on their own.”

How clean the Huns are after the cleansing is yet to be determined.

Graham Spiers in his Times article reflects on the incident which may result in Gordon Strachan having to buy tickets to watch his team from the stand for the bulk of the season?

“What was the bloke in the stand thinking of? OK, managers and coaches should desist from making any sort of gesture to the crowd, but what kind of mindset causes a marshal in a football stand to rush down a staircase and start jabbing his finger at a dugout? You would almost think the bloke at Pittodrie had a pathological hatred of Strachan or Celtic.”

That's pretty much what my thoughts on this incident amount to. The Manager of Celtic is getting the bad press for defending his Assistant against false accusations (“blatant lies” according to Tommy Burns) made to the police by the Aberdeen steward. The focus should be on the nutter with the official Aberdeen FC jacket and tie.

All good things come to and end I suppose. Sebo has left the building, leaving in the lurch a Celtic support that idolised him, to join French side Valenciennes on loan for the rest of the season.

As one who vividly recalls shouting “Go on McManaman, ya useless Scouse git, shoot” and laughing out loud whilst announcing “That diddy Konterman is going to leather it from way out there”, I have since resisted the temptations to ridicule the game's tubes. That mindset may of course change on Saturday when the first Lithuanian launches one in the direction of the Lisbon Lions Stand.

It appears that Wattie has remained a creature of habit by ramping up the average age of every squad he takes over.

The Record:

“Smith will use the £20,000-a-week wages saved on Ian Murray and Filip Sebo's departures, with Portsmouth defender Dejan Stefanovic (33) among the players being considered.”

When I pen this Hackwatch next week, I fervently hope we are all sitting with hangovers looking forward with excitement to the Friday Champions League draw, whilst hoping Rangers draw a biggie in the UEFA Cup.

Make no mistake, the Rangers game in Belgrade is their biggest ever. Failure to attain Champions League money would be a crippling blow after the admitted “overspend”.

Hail Hail

Timothy Gumshoe