Rival fans lose plot with bizarre Celtic loan conspiracy

By Euan Davidson

January 8, 2022

Anyone fancy going down a bizarre Celtic conspiracy rabbit-hole? We’ve got you covered.

Try this one: Celtic have loaned out players specifically to clubs who backed the bringing forward of the winter break, because it benefitted the Hoops.

After Liam Shaw joined Motherwell, and Ewan Henderson made his move to Hibernian, some Rangers fans have been convinced that there’s something deeply sinister at hand. Although 10 of 12 Scottish Premiership clubs voted to bring the winter break forward, the apparently reality is that Celtic used this as an excuse to strengthen other teams.

With, er, a player on an expiring contract, and a youngster who needs minutes away from Celtic.

Putting aside for a second that bringing the break forward was never likely to advantage Celtic, it’s the latest in the wonderful world of Scottish football conspiracies.

And if you don’t think we’re serious, have a look at these:

Wonderful stuff, we’re sure you’ll agree. Makes absolutely no sense as a transfer strategy, right enough, but you can’t argue it’s not entertaining.

Even for a Celtic conspiracy from our rivals, this is wild stuff

Again, this really is something. There’s the temptation to believe it’s a joke, or that it’s “fishing”, the go-to response when something ridiculous is rightly called out.

Alas, no, this seems to be the real deal. What a world.

Of course, Celtic and Rangers exist in a “goldfish bowl”, and it can be difficult to see things from a more rounded point of view when it comes to our football clubs. I get that, you get that, we all do. But this is such an astounding leap of logic that we can’t let this lie.

Fine, both Liam Shaw and Ewan Henderson are decent players who could well strengthen Motherwell and Hibernian, respectively. But the idea that it’s all part of some shady ruse, involving the Omicron variant and the transfer window would get thrown out of even the X-Files writers’ room.

Not everything is a conspiracy. There’s nothing shady about Celtic loaning out players, one with an option to buy. Both the players need game-time, and in Henderson’s case, his contract will run out in the summer anyway. Ewan Henderson leaving the club at some point is not exactly a new idea, we loaned him out to Dunfermline Athletic last season.

And Liam Shaw has only played once for Celtic this season. Motherwell is a great opportunity for him. Rangers loan out players, too, and we’re hardly likely to assume it’s based on anything more than players needing game-time.

In the immortal words of Charlie Brown: “Good grief”.

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