BACK in the glory days of hot metal, when I was a boy setting-out to climb the greasy pole to the heights of journalistic fame, life was easy - you found the story, wrote it, if it was good enough, it got into print or on-air. If the story wasn't good enough, it was "spiked" and you tried again.
Speaking to one of our leading sports writers recently, he was telling me how much things had changed. Nowadays, the by-lined "top" talent has to not only perform the basics as above, they are expected to generate internet traffic, tweet in support of their stories and attract on-line followers.
With the traditional print media increasingly switching over to online content, the need to generate "page views" is now paramount. This has resulted in what is known as "clickbait", a story so-outrageous as to generate on-line comment from readers. And, in Scotland the easiest form of clickbait is to come-up with an Old Firm story, which, as with all OF stories since time immoral, doesn't necessarily have to be true.
This morning, my old mucker Stephen "Doc" Halliday produced a belter in The Hootsman; well, Doc's by-line was on the story, but, credit for this excellent piece of clickbait has to go to whichever sub-editor came up with this:
Ronny Deila looking forward to Rangers’ top flight return
Simple as that, a two-deck heading over a picture of the Celtic manager: cue uproar, as "The Greatest Fans In The World" rush to point out that "Sevco" is a new club and cannot therefore make a return to the SPLF Premiership.
The Celtic Family's outrage at the suggestion the "Newco" can return to a league they have never played in is matched by the indignation of Ra Peepul at any suggestion that the entity which I delight in calling "The Rangers Tribute Act" is anything other than a near-seamless continuation of the glorious institution which dominated Scottish football from around 1872 until a little local difficulty with the tax man and company law in 2012.
As I have said before, in the world of big business, and Celtic and Rangers as a single entity - The Old Firm - is big football business, companies change hands frequently. Take Rolls Royce for instance; from memory, that company has had at least three owners in my lifetime - but, car buffs still trace a direct timeline from the original 1903 cars built by Messrs Rolls and Royce themselves, to today's BMW-produced models.
Likewise, the leading Scottish newspapers; The (Glasgow) Herald's original owners sold-out to George Outram, which in time was owned by Sir Hugh Fraser's Suits combine, then by Tiny Rowland's conglomerate and today The Herald has American owners, but, that paper still claims continuity back to its roots 200-odd years ago.
Across in Edinburgh, The Scotsman is owned by Johnston Press, who bought it from the Barclay Brothers, who bought it from someone else, who bought it from Roy Thomson, who bought it from - ach, who cares, again that continuity is claimed.
OK, "Rangers" went bust under Craig Whyte, since when chaos. Indeed, when all the on-going legal cases are concluded, we might well find, wee Craigie fiddled his way to ownership, by duping Sir David Murray - or, perhaps Mr Whyte was simply a misunderstood and put-upon business genius with wealth which was "off-the-radar". Who knows how it will all end, other than in tears for someone.
One thing is certain, whether Oldco, Newco, Sevco, no matter how you label it - there will still be a football team, playing out of Ibrox in predominantly royal blue shirts, white shorts and black stockings with red tops.
That club will continue to attract supporters who are, in the immortal words of my old Gaffer, the late, great Ian "Dan" Archer: "A permanent embarrassment and an occasional disgrace", until such times as the management of that club find it worth their while to do something about those fans.
Similarly, across the city, the claim to be "The Greatest Fans In The World" does not stand-up to forensic examination. Back in the dark days BS (before Jock Stein returned as manager), if anything, the Celtic fans behaved worse than the Rangers ones. One can recall for instance, their efforts to have a Celtic v St Mirren Scottish Cup semi-final abandoned, because the Saints were giving their team a football lesson.
A Glasgow Herald book, of nothing more than their match reports of every Old Firm match between 1945 and 1995 makes hard reading for TGFITW. In the sections covering the dark days, there are frequent references to misbehaviour, and at time serious disorder, in the ranks of the Celtic fans.
To the rest of us, who follow our own "diddy" teams, they are the Bigot Brothers, twa cheeks o' the same erse, yin as bad as the ither.
Of course, back then, if you were a diddy team fan, who wanted to bring the permanent embarrassment, or even the occasional disgrace, to the attention of the newspaper-rading public, it took commitment. Ditto, if you were an aggrieved member of the Celtic Family, or Ra Peepul. You had to get out the pen and paper, write down your point of view out, put it in an envelope, purchase a stamp, put it in a post box, then rely on Royal Mail delivering it, and, whichever journalist got to read it at the other end, deciding it was worth printing.
Today, while your blood is still boiling, you simply fire-up your computer, lap top, iphone, or tablet, compose your rant and press send. Hey presto, seconds later, unless you have over-stepped the increasingly fluid bounds of propriety, the world is able to see what a total plonker you are - simples.
Your views may not advance the cause of human understanding, or even peaceful co-existence on the streets of Scotland, but, it builds-up the relevant newspaper website's tally of page-views, and, in the increasingly insane world of 21st century media - that's the name of the game.
But, if you seek a sober, sensible analysis of Scottish Football, and where it is going wrong - well, I am making no promises, but, you could start here.
Likewise, the leading Scottish newspapers; The (Glasgow) Herald's original owners sold-out to George Outram, which in time was owned by Sir Hugh Fraser's Suits combine, then by Tiny Rowland's conglomerate and today The Herald has American owners, but, that paper still claims continuity back to its roots 200-odd years ago.
Across in Edinburgh, The Scotsman is owned by Johnston Press, who bought it from the Barclay Brothers, who bought it from someone else, who bought it from Roy Thomson, who bought it from - ach, who cares, again that continuity is claimed.
OK, "Rangers" went bust under Craig Whyte, since when chaos. Indeed, when all the on-going legal cases are concluded, we might well find, wee Craigie fiddled his way to ownership, by duping Sir David Murray - or, perhaps Mr Whyte was simply a misunderstood and put-upon business genius with wealth which was "off-the-radar". Who knows how it will all end, other than in tears for someone.
One thing is certain, whether Oldco, Newco, Sevco, no matter how you label it - there will still be a football team, playing out of Ibrox in predominantly royal blue shirts, white shorts and black stockings with red tops.
The late and much-lamented Ian "Dan" Archer
That club will continue to attract supporters who are, in the immortal words of my old Gaffer, the late, great Ian "Dan" Archer: "A permanent embarrassment and an occasional disgrace", until such times as the management of that club find it worth their while to do something about those fans.
Similarly, across the city, the claim to be "The Greatest Fans In The World" does not stand-up to forensic examination. Back in the dark days BS (before Jock Stein returned as manager), if anything, the Celtic fans behaved worse than the Rangers ones. One can recall for instance, their efforts to have a Celtic v St Mirren Scottish Cup semi-final abandoned, because the Saints were giving their team a football lesson.
A Glasgow Herald book, of nothing more than their match reports of every Old Firm match between 1945 and 1995 makes hard reading for TGFITW. In the sections covering the dark days, there are frequent references to misbehaviour, and at time serious disorder, in the ranks of the Celtic fans.
To the rest of us, who follow our own "diddy" teams, they are the Bigot Brothers, twa cheeks o' the same erse, yin as bad as the ither.
Of course, back then, if you were a diddy team fan, who wanted to bring the permanent embarrassment, or even the occasional disgrace, to the attention of the newspaper-rading public, it took commitment. Ditto, if you were an aggrieved member of the Celtic Family, or Ra Peepul. You had to get out the pen and paper, write down your point of view out, put it in an envelope, purchase a stamp, put it in a post box, then rely on Royal Mail delivering it, and, whichever journalist got to read it at the other end, deciding it was worth printing.
Today, while your blood is still boiling, you simply fire-up your computer, lap top, iphone, or tablet, compose your rant and press send. Hey presto, seconds later, unless you have over-stepped the increasingly fluid bounds of propriety, the world is able to see what a total plonker you are - simples.
Your views may not advance the cause of human understanding, or even peaceful co-existence on the streets of Scotland, but, it builds-up the relevant newspaper website's tally of page-views, and, in the increasingly insane world of 21st century media - that's the name of the game.
But, if you seek a sober, sensible analysis of Scottish Football, and where it is going wrong - well, I am making no promises, but, you could start here.
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