Wat er laugh as numbnut McGarry of The Herald whitewashes Cerny and The Billy Boys

Graeme McGarry has produced a chin stroking masterpiece in The Herald reflecting on fan incidents at Celtic Park on Sunday with no reference to the repeated singing of The Billy Boys.

In 2006 UEFA banned the song after it was initially defended by the SFA as part of the culture of Scottish football, when the origins and inspiration for the song were explained UEFA banned it instantly, there were no warnings, fines or settling in period.

McGarry shares all his laddish good humour and banter as he goes through the Vaclav Cerny incident before going on to focus on missiles thrown by Celtic fans.

Curiously, the opinion piece was published the day after Charles Green’s Tribute Act highlighted missiles in a statement as they attempted to deflect away from THREE Uefa charges for the actions of their fans against Fenerbahce including missile throwing incidents missed by Newsquest reporters.

The once proud Herald now sells less than 10,000 a day, being propped up by digital subscriptions at £20 a year. Today’s edition of the Herald can be bought for £2.60 from a supermarket, garage or newsagent.

Now part of the Newsquest Group, big Jonny McFarlane is the Head of Digital Sport, bringing with him the experience of being an overage tea boy at Record Sport soaking up the old school yarns of the glory days when Dave Murray fed his messengers on a strict rota.

Sharing his wit and wisdom from Sunday’s events in The Herald McGarry writes:

This has been a worrying trend in this fixture over the past few years, and actually, across football in general. We’ve seen lighters, vapes, coins, bottle-openers and even a pie thrown at Hearts striker Lawrence Shankland, who caught it rather impressively all the same and took a bite.

At Ibrox a couple of years back, the second half restart had to be delayed because some numbnut had thrown and smashed a glass bottle in Joe Hart’s goalmouth.

Only a numbnut would think that a glass bottle would smash into tiny pieces when landing on a grass pitch.

Only a numbnut would think that a glass bottle could be thrown onto a football pitch at that fixture and not be noticed by any police officers or stewards.

Only a numbnut would believe that the CCTV wasn’t working during the half-time break when the Ibrox ground staff were in the penalty area.

The Celtic physio was also hit on the head by a bottle, needing four stitches and being left with a permanent scar, while the perpetrator received a jail term and a five-year football banning order for what the judge called his ‘reprehensible conduct’.

It was good then to see Rangers condemn such behaviour so strongly in a statement released yesterday, after the club were hit by a UEFA sanction for the throwing of objects in their recent match against Fenerbahce.

No action was taken by the SPFL or SFA over the broken glass in the penalty box or the glass assault that resulted in the permanent disfigurement of a Celtic physio in April 2022.

McGarry is a lifelong Motherwell fan.