Celtic will welcome their favourite media partners into their Algarve training base today.
Step forward the Daily Record, Scottish Sun and the Herald/Glasgow Times.
Three of the titles that led the national outrage over Celtic winning last season’s SPFL Premiership.
Every angle was was used to trash Celtic’s 56th title.
Anything spouted by Ally McCoist, Kris Boyd, Derek McInnes or Pat Nevin was repeated as gospel.
The handball from Sam Nicholson after elbowing Auston Trusty in the face never happened.
Lawrence Shankland and other Hearts players were assaulted at Celtic Park.
Match 38 wasn’t played to a finish.
On and on it went.
BBC Scotland and TalkSPORT were on it 24/7. But no-one was as obsessed as the Record, Sun and Herald/Glasgow Times.
Celtic, led by Michael Nicholson sat back and did nothing. The long established position of the club.
Unless there is direct criticism of Dermot Desmond, Peter Lawwell, Nicholson or Brian Wilson.
Celtic’s media partners know the boundaries.
Today, just outside Albufeira Iain Jamieson will welcome his friends from the Record, Sun and Herald/Glasgow Times.
Close friends say that Celtic’s Communications Manager has now fully recovered from the stress of the final day of the SPFL season.
Those three publishers will get to sit down with Martin O’Neill and a couple of players for exclusive content for their ailing outlets.
Unlike the usual pre-match routine there will be no coverage put out on You Tube.
CELTIC MEDIA POLICY
Of course none of the most pressing questions will be asked to O’Neill.
Such as
- What is causing the delay in resigning Marcelo Saracchi and Kelechi Iheanacho?
- What changes have been made to the Recruitment Team on the back of three horrific transfer windows?
- Do you think that Michael Nicholson is a skilled negotiator capable of securing the players needed to improve a threadbare Celtic squad?
- Will there be a net spend on players this window bearing in mind that the Celtic bank balance floats between £70-100m?
- Do you expect to have a squad capable of getting past unseeded opponents in the Champions League Play Offs on August 18/19 and 25/26.
O’Neill will get a few soft questions with no follow ups.
The answers given by the two players put up to speak will be virtually pointless. You could swap the quotes around and not notice the difference.
Only one issue matters with the players. Will club captain Callum McGregor be put up to deliver an upbeat message about the season ahead?
To remain informed Celtic fans will listen in to podcasts and scan social media to find out what is really going on.
Having signed one player in the seven weeks since the Scottish Cup Final it is clear that nothing has improved at Celtic.
It will be more of the same for fans over the coming weeks.
This time there is one twist. With Brendan Rodgers no longer around a new scapegoat will have to be found for the failing Celtic master plan.
Don’t know how Michael Nicholson manages to walk upright when he is totally spineless.