It doesn’t take a regular radio listener to know Simon Jordan’s opinion on the Green Brigade.
In fact, his coverage of this season as a whole has made his agenda on Celtic fans (and many other topics) very clear.
It’s safe to say that the club’s announcement of the Green Brigade’s return on Tuesday has drawn a positive reaction from most Celtic fans.
In indicating that this isn’t the case in the show on Wednesday, Jordan was very much wide of the mark.
Your thoughts on the news?
Simon Jordan wrongly claims that Celtic board think higher of Green Brigade than fans
The ex-Crystal Palace owner said on talkSPORT on Wednesday: “It doesn’t seem that they actually want [the GB] to do very much.
“Ultimately, what they’re suggesting is that they’ve got to adhere to these season ticket policies, they’ve got to accept the safety and security operations of the stadium, and they’ve got to accept game-by-game review.
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“Now, the game-by-game review is the caveat, isn’t it? Because obviously, they’ve brought the attention upon themselves with their previous behaviour.
“It would appear, judging by calls that we have in this show, that the Celtic board regard them differently than, perhaps, the fans do.
“The Celtic board seem to regard them as a necessary evil to serve a greater good, and maybe that’s because they want the dissenters inside the tent rather than screaming from outside in, I don’t know.
“For me, it almost feels slightly whimsical to watch a grown man talk about a group that calls themselves the Green Brigade. It’s almost like talking about the cub scouts in a serious nature.
“But, I guess, it’s different in that part of the world. I look at it and say: ‘The SAG, the safety and advisory group, which comprises of the council, comprises of the police and comprises of a football representative from the football club, which will be the stadium manager of some description, and a fan representative.
“It’s those guys that have decided whether these guys should be allowed back in again. So the police are involved. So you would’ve thought, given the fact that there’s been a lot of trouble and issues inside stadium…
“We’ve had guys phoning in and saying ‘these guys are just a pain in the backside. They have no respect for anything around them, they do as they want, both inside Celtic Park and at away grounds.’
“It’s not just Celtic, it’s their participation in behaviour around the country at other football stadiums which, to some extent, Celtic have less control over.”
How do Celtic fans get the board to listen to their concerns?
Let us know in the comments below…
talkSPORT’s one-sided coverage of Celtic and the Green Brigade
The lack of balance in their coverage is made clear by their refusal to give the simple caveat that the group have consistently denied Celtic’s allegations of “serious and threatening behaviour.”
As is the case in most disputes, there is not just one agenda at play here – despite Jordan indicating so – but two.
When the ban was initially imposed, Celtic emailed a vague video of “evidence” to every supporter in an obvious attempt to turn fan opinion against the Green Brigade – this evidently hasn’t worked.
In the absence of balanced reporting on the dispute, talkSPORT have conveyed it as a simple case of one reasonable side against another unreasonable one.
In reality, most Celtic fans know that it isn’t as simple as that.
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