DAILY MAIL JOINS THE CHORUS OF CELTIC SCARE STORIES: WILL THE TABLOIDS EVER LEARN?
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- 2 days ago
- 4 min read
In keeping with their history of backing the wrong side (just read some of their editorials from around 1939), The Daily Mail was at it again today.
Their sportswriter Gary Keown alleges that Celtic should be scared not only of a revitalized Rangers under Andrew Cavenagh, but also Tony Bloom’s nominal investment in Hearts.
Daily Mail Celtic Story is Hopeless Rangers Optimism Blended with Straight Up Fiction
Yes, the newspaper that famously proclaimed “Hurrah for the Blackshirts!” as my grandfather and millions of others in his generation were preparing to go and give those same fascists a good skelping, has once again backed the wrong horse.
In an editorial dripping with glee and more false dawns than a chronic insomniac, Keown claims that investments at both Hearts and Rangers this summer will heap “even more pressure on Brendan Rodgers and his recruitment team.”
Let’s go through why exactly this is complete nonsense.
We’ll start with Brighton owner Tony Bloom’s recent acquisition of almost 30% of Hearts. His investment is just under 10 million pounds, no small change, but Celtic spent more than that on one player last summer.
Bloom is also looking at investing in an undisclosed Ligue 1 side in France. We don’t know who it is but suffice to say it won’t be PSG!
What this tells me though is that Brighton and Hove Albion clearly remains his main focus. These other clubs are merely side-projects to him.
I don’t know much of Bloom’s background but let’s be honest, he wouldn’t be the first English multi-millionaire to grossly underestimate the cost of making a Scottish Premiership team competitive.
This investment will probably lead to some kind of relationship between Hearts and Brighton, and will also provide the Edinburgh side with some much-needed long-term financial stability, and maybe a few decent young prospects on loan from down south. And good for them.
I may not like Hearts as a club or a certain subsection of their supporters, but I do have a lot of respect for them.
Their fans rallied round and actually saved their club during its time of crisis, as opposed to throwing tantrums and blaming everyone else whilst the club they claim to love suffered a series of self-inflicted financial mortal wounds, only to then come back as a zombified imitation of its former self.
And talking of Rangers, let’s move onto the next part of The Daily Heil’s nonsensical drivel, the idea that this fresh takeover at Ibrox is going to spur some kind of new arms race between Celtic and Rangers.
This will not happen. This isn’t just my opinion, it’s factual. Rangers cannot spend more than they bring in. They also have 26 million of debt (soon to exceed 30 million once they pay the required fee for Oscar Cortez). The 20 million initial investment from the new owners, which will be underwritten by issuing more shares on top of existing ones that already have a value akin to confetti, won’t even clear their debt.
The Daily Mail, much like fellow right-wing enablers The S*n, seem to imply that at least the majority of this 20 million will go on transfers. It won’t.
The oft-cited example of “well, look at much money they’ve spent at Leeds” is a total and willful misrepresentation of facts.
Reports in local media down in Yorkshire talk about a 150 million pound “transfer war chest”.
Apparently its not just the Daily Record that likes to grossly overuse that particular cliché.
Leeds United brought in over 150 million in transfer fees last season, and only spent a little over 30 million.
Going on last season’s figures, which will probably increase this year, mere membership of the EPL, the most well-marketed but certainly not the best league in the world, should guarantee Leeds at least 100 million in income even if they finish last and go straight back down to The Championship. That’s before we factor in shirt sales, merchandise, season tickets and so on.
So, the 150 million war chest is nothing of the sort, it’s merely an allocation of some of the revenue they are guaranteed to generate.
I expect a similar approach at Ibrox, though on a far, far smaller scale. Rangers cannot command anything like the money of Leeds United, as a newly promoted EPL side, with a significant fanbase, and a stadium soon to be upgraded.
However, with Leeds United CEO Paraag Marathe now on the Rangers board, I expect a similar fiscal approach. Spending within their means and trying their best to generate more income to eventually, probably several years down the line, obtain some parity with Celtic.
This depends on the one thing which I’m guessing our American friends haven’t factored in to the equation. Fan loyalty. Say what you will about Leeds United, and as one of the most unlikeable teams in British football, there’s plenty I could say, but they’ve always had a strong supporter base.
These are supporters who consistently turn out regardless of how mediocre or sometimes utterly abysmal the product is on the park.
Leeds fans, like those of many other decent sized but not massive English clubs, are conditioned to accept mediocrity as a necessity to being back in the top flight. Rangers fans do not have that patience.
They expect to be competing with Celtic immediately.
That sense of entitlement has, and continues to be, the source of their ultimate downfall.
Celtic will continue doing what they are doing, quietly, in the background. We should not be complacent. As recently as 2021 we saw that financial superiority alone does not guarantee league success. It does however put you in a far stronger position than anyone else in the league.
Next season will be the same as always, Rangers and the rest will be as competitive as Celtic allow them to be. So long as we keep our own house in order, we have nothing to fear, no matter what the Fuhrer fanboys at the Daily Mail have to say.