I HATE TO SAY I TOLD YOU SO, BUT... EVERY CELTIC FAN KNEW THE ANCELOTTI STORY WAS NONSENSE
- BY LIAM CARRIGAN
- 36 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Smugness is something of an occupational hazard in the writing game.
I try my best not to get caught up in it, but I’m not going to lie, seeing this Rangers Ancelotti story play out exactly as I predicted has left a very big smile on my face.
The Media, Rangers Fans Went All in On Ancelotti, Celtic Fans Tried to Warn Them
So, for those who haven’t heard yet, Davide Ancelotti has decided against taking up the Rangers manager’s job. We knew this was on the cards when Keith Jackson tried so hard to play the “we never wanted him anyway” card in his column this morning.
As usual, hype, attention-seeking and catchy headlines received priority, with journalistic integrity, evidence gathering and basic fact-checking cast aside. Celtic fans have seen it all before, and we all knew how it would end.
I won’t apologize for feeling just a little bit of smug satisfaction at seeing it all blow up in their faces.
They never learn, they just never learn.
I certainly didn’t have any inside track on this story, nor did I have to apply any of journalism’s mystical arts. And suffice to say I didn’t employ any dodgy handshakes either!
All it took was common sense. None of this story added up from day one.
Why would any manager looking to build a reputation, least of all one with as big a name to live up to as Ancelotti, possibly even consider going to club as toxic as Rangers.
The combination of unrealistic expectations, little to no money, and a pressure cooker of an atmosphere, generated and propagated by a sycophantic media, who will inflate those expectations to even more extreme levels, only to stick the knife in you when, inevitably, Rangers fall to Celtic yet again.
It’s all just more trouble than it’s worth. Especially when the alternative is going to work at the World Cup, with Brazil, who regardless of current form will always be amongst the favorites to win it.
Brazil: five-time World Champions, 9 times Copa America winners or Rangers: proud winners of one pandemic-assisted League Title, one Scottish Cup, one League Cup and the Petrol Drinkers trophy or whatever that lower league challenge cup was called.
Which one would you choose?
The Rio Carnival or the Orange Walk? Samba Drums or the Sash?
Ok, I’m probably going overboard here but you get the point.
Ancelotti was never a serious option for Rangers. We all knew it.
Of course, in the days ahead the media will pivot to their latest “sure thing” for the Ibrox hot seat. Don’t listen to them.