Ex-Celtic man Si Ferry rubbishes shock jock claims

By Euan Davidson

January 8, 2021

Former Celtic player Si Ferry has blasted back at Billericay Town flop Jamie O’Hara.

O’Hara’s absolutely wild take yesterday was that Fulham would win the Scottish Premiership, in another proud moment for football punditry everywhere.

The former Tottenham man’s main highlight of the last decade was competing in Celebrity Big Brother. Before the series aired, the Radio Times felt compelled to run an article asking who he was.

It seems reductive to actually share the former midfielder’s views, but they’re important for context.

“In terms of the quality, I don’t think [the Scottish Premiership] is anywhere near the Premier League. I think both teams would struggle to stay in the Premier League, they’d find it tough.

“Would they survive over the course of a season, are they better than West Brom, Sheffield United and Fulham?

“I think Fulham would win the league in Scotland. I look at it, I played with (Moussa) Dembele, who left Fulham and went to Celtic. He was good at Fulham, he was decent, scored some goals.”

Simon Ferry of Celtic (Photo by AMA/Corbis via Getty Images)

Former Celtic man Si Ferry tears TalkSport dafty a new one

Formerly of Celtic, Si Ferry didn’t have to bat for Scottish football. We all know how fun it is, from the soap-opera antics to the fast-paced play. We love it, and it’s not us comparing ourselves to the English top-flight.

Still, it was great to hear the Open Goal presenter defend our national game.

On the Go Radio Football Show (8/1/21), Ferry said:

“The game up is here is so much harder than they think. We’ve seen it this year with guys like Ajeti, Duffy, Elyounoussi, Joey Barton and Niko Kranjcar – who were all good Premier League football players.

“When you think of Kranjcar and Barton, it’s the pace thing. I think that’s why Scottish guys do so well when they go down to England.

“They’ve grown up here with that fast-paced game.

“When you go down there you get that extra time on the ball and think: ‘This is brilliant’.

“You look at Stuart Armstrong against Liverpool, he was one of the best players on the pitch for me.

“I’ve no doubt that’s because he’s played up here. You need to make quick decisions up here.”

For what it’s worth, we’d argue that even entertaining some Premier League has-been and his shock jockery is time wasted. However, a Si Ferry takedown is always entertaining.

It’s in these moments that we can take stock of the wonderful world of Scottish football. No matter who you support, we’re surely all united in saying “sit down, Jamie O’Hara”.