Martin Keown accuses Scottish Sun journo of bias, declares 'I'm a Celtic fan'

Celtic fans often accuse the Scottish media of bias…

But it’s not often that it’s an Arsenal legend leading it.

But that’s what Martin Keown did on Monday, in a radio debate about the Hoops’ ongoing Scottish Premiership race with Hearts and Rangers.

He, Jim White and Bill Leckie (of the Scottish Sun) were engaged in discussion about who is the most likely to go on and secure the trophy.

But this was abruptly derailed when Keown refused to believe that Leckie was a neutral.

Martin Keown on Celtic with Bill Leckie

Keown made 447 appearances for Arsenal winning three Premier League titles, including the famous ‘invincibles’ season in 2004.

Born in Oxford, he made 42 caps for England, despite both of his parents coming from Ireland.

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In the debate on talkSPORT, he made no apologies for his own Celtic allegiance, but wasn’t having that Leckie didn’t have a horse in the race.

He said: “Bill, you say you’re a neutral, which I find absolutely massively hard to believe, by the way.”

Leckie instantly replied: “Why’s that? Are you Man United or Man City?”

Keown said: “I just find that massively [hard to believe]. I find that hard to believe that there’s not one team you might have an allegiance with.”

Leckie simply replied: “Why?”

The ex-Arsenal defender insisted: “Well, you know why. Because up there, there’s always an allegiance to one team or another, no?

“Well, I’m a Celtic fan, okay? I want Celtic to win it.”

White interjected: “We’re not talking about you! You’ve just said that you find it hard that Bill doesn’t support one of those three.”

Keown said: “I do.”

Leckie then said: “I can show you my season ticket for St Mirren if you want!”

Leckie may be a St Mirren supporter, but ask any Celtic fan about his employers, and you’ll get a different answer.

After an exhausting week, the Hoops now have to deal with the small matter of a Europa League tie against Stuttgart.

Sandwiched between the two legs – the first of which is at Celtic Park on Thursday – is a home league match against Hibs.

It doesn’t get any quieter after that. In a rare occurrence, Celtic will travel to Ibrox twice in a week, with a game at Pittodrie in the middle.

There’s no let-up after that, either – they head straight into a home clash with high-flying Motherwell.