Celtic pull PR stunt

Last game: Celtic 1 – 0 Dundee Utd

Celtic form after 5 games:  LWWDW

By Séan Walsh

The “leak” that Celtic had officially complained to the SFA regarding refereeing decisions and the inability of certain linemen to keep up with Robbie Keanes pace was a master stroke in PR by the East Glasgow side. Celtic have over the years developed a very introverted personality which has seen the club attacked in the media, in decisions and even by its own fans. The lack of reply or action from Celtic PLC during the oppositions campaign of slurring the name of our greatest manager deeply frustrated the Celtic fan base, and this seasons consistent barage of questionable decisions from referee’s had Celtic fans demanding the club make a stand.

Celtic, very cleverly have not openly complained, nor have they made rash accusations that would inevitabley end up being penned as “paranoid” by the so called “media” in Scotland. Instead, they have obviously leaked that they are unhappy, thereby not giving any concrete evidence for the media to stamp on their reputation – not that has stopped the media from doing so anyway.

It is a tactic that the other team in Glasgow has been doing for many seasons now, tactically bringing in the reputation or reliability of a referee just before an important game through the “after school magazine club-esque” media – would usually put the officials under pressure and give them something to think about in the split second they might decide to give a red card or penalty. Do they really want all that grief? Maybe they are not up to standard? Maybe I am biased towards Celtic because of my religion (See Steve Conroy, who was even accussed of being related to a Celtic youth player – incorrectly!). Too often, Celtic sat by and let this happen, but now, they have snatched the perogative and putting the media and officials under pressure ahead of the big game on Sunday.

And I for one, salute them.

Worse case scenrio, Celtic play badly then we deserve to lose. Celtic lose game based upon a poor decision, we are proved right and the media either retracts its statements and agrees with us, or as I would suspect, makes up some other nonsense to focus on. Best case, the referee gives a good performance and shows no quarter to any team on the field, we outplay an aging and uninspiring bunch of elbow smashers and hackjob merchants and win. We’ve played our cards, now its time to show yourself [SFA and the media] what you really are.