Former Rangers manager Mark Warburton has given a very interesting interview about the media landscape in Scotland and how it relates to Celtic and the Ibrox club.
Warburton, currently at Queens Park Rangers, was a recent guest on Graham Spiers’ Press Box podcast and opened up on his rollercoaster time in charge of our rivals.
With some choice words about Jim Traynor and some of the pundits plying their trade in Scotland, it’s a worthwhile listen in totality.
However, one of the most interesting comments relates to Celtic and our former manager Ronny Deila.
Warburton told an anecdote about what one journalist told him regarding how managers are treated in Glasgow – and he didn’t understand until he saw screaming headlines putting pressure on the Norwegian.
Speaking on Press Box, the QPR boss said: “The best thing I ever learned about Glasgow, I’ve said this many times before, was on my first day.
“I landed at Glasgow Airport and a very good journalist said to me, ‘There’s always a good cop and a bad cop in Glasgow. Right now Ronny Deila is the bad cop and you won’t be able to do any wrong.’
“I couldn’t understand what he was talking about Graham.
“But then I think we’d beat Kilmarnock 1-0 with a very scrappy goal and the headline would say ‘Rangers Storm On Again’ and Celtic might win 2-0 and it’d go ‘Host Of Chances Missed By Celtic In Embarrassing Display’. Anything was negative.
“Of course the following year Brendan arrives and sure enough you win 1-0 at Kilmarnock and it becomes ‘Rangers In A Shocking Display With Last-Minute Goal’. The whole rhetoric changes. It’s a unique environment.”
In the context of this season and how quickly some outlets have tried to put pressure on another Scottish football outsider, Ange Postecoglou, you can understand Warburton’s viewpoint completely.
It seems in the current scenario that Postecoglou is the ‘bad cop’ for much of the coverage of the Scottish Premiership.
He’s dealt with journalists well in his interviews, but there’s still been a cavalcade of wild takes about the Greek-Australian and his start at Celtic.
Something to keep in mind the next time the Bhoys go through a run of difficult results. Trust the process, ignore the noise, as they say.
In other news, SPFL CEO lifts lid on the financial impact Celtic supporters have on Scottish football.
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