James Forrest
The Emperor of Ice Cream
For a club that prides itself on being different, Celtic sometimes has a remarkable talent for creating problems entirely of its own making. Not on the pitch. Not in the transfer market. Not even in the boardroom. The problem is often the silence. The endless, maddening, infuriating silence.
Into that silence the Scottish media pours its own theories and rumours and suppositions like water finding a crack in a dam.
Every day Celtic refuse to communicate properly with supporters, another rumour appears. Another “exclusive” emerges. Another source close to somewhere apparently knows something. Another headline is born from speculation, guesswork and imagination.
And whose fault is that? Not entirely the media’s. I know that won’t be popular with some, but it is true. Nature abhors a vacuum. So does punditry.
If Celtic refuse to tell their own story, somebody else will gladly tell it for them.
Right now, supporters are looking for answers. They want to know about the manager. They want to know about recruitment. They want to know about the football structure. They want to know what the vision is going forward.
Nobody is asking for confidential negotiations to be streamed live from the boardroom. Nobody expects every transfer target to be announced on Celtic TV. There are things that must remain private.
But there is a vast distance between transparency and total radio silence.
Yet Celtic seem determined to occupy that barren wasteland in the middle, where absolutely nothing is said. And when nothing is said, people begin filling in the blanks themselves. The media fill them. Rival supporters fill them. Social media fills them.
Every whisper becomes a fact. Every rumour becomes a certainty. Every opinion becomes breaking news. Before long, a narrative has been constructed that may bear absolutely no resemblance to reality whatsoever.
Then Celtic supporters are left arguing among themselves over stories that might never have been true in the first place.
It is madness. Complete madness.
What makes it even more frustrating is that Celtic should understand this better than most clubs.
For generations, this club has had to battle against hostile narratives. For generations, Celtic supporters have watched sections of the media portray events through a particular lens. Whether people agree with that assessment or not is irrelevant.
The perception exists among a huge section of the support.
So if the club knows many supporters distrust large parts of the media, why would it willingly hand those same media outlets complete control of the conversation? It makes no sense.
Every day Celtic remain silent, somebody else gets to define the narrative. Every day Celtic remain silent, frustration grows. Every day Celtic remain silent, supporters feel more disconnected from the people making decisions on their behalf.
That is where the real danger lies. Not anger. Not criticism.
Disconnection. James rightly called it yesterday; it creates apathy.
A supporter can disagree with a club and still feel connected to it. A supporter can criticise a decision and still feel respected.
But when supporters feel ignored, that relationship begins to fray.
Silence starts to feel like arrogance. Silence starts to feel like contempt. Silence starts to feel like people sitting in comfortable offices believing they owe no explanations to the people who fund everything.
Whether that perception is fair or unfair does not actually matter. Because perception eventually becomes reality.
The Ginger Witch in me sees the same pattern appearing over and over again. The signs are always there before the storm arrives. The unease. The confusion. The rumours. The growing resentment.
Little sparks drifting through the air before somebody finally notices the smell of smoke.
By then, the damage is often already done.
The frustrating thing is that this is so easily avoidable.
A statement. An update. A simple acknowledgement that supporters deserve to know where things stand. Not every detail. Not every negotiation. Just enough to reassure people that there is a plan. That somebody is steering the ship. That the silence is not because nobody knows what they are doing.
This club belongs to its supporters. It always has. Long before the current board arrived and long after they are gone. The fans don’t expect miracles. They don’t expect perfection. But they do expect respect. Communication is respect.
Engagement is respect. Acknowledging supporters is respect. And right now, Celtic are making life unnecessarily difficult for themselves.
The media machine will never stop spinning stories. That is what it does. The only real question is whether Celtic are going to continue helping it by saying nothing at all.
Because if the club will not tell its own story, somebody else always will.
Celtic supporters will accept bad news. We will accept setbacks. We will even accept mistakes when they are made honestly. What we struggle to accept is being left staring into the mist while others tell us what is supposedly happening inside our own club.
Every time the club chooses silence, someone else grabs the pen and starts writing our story for us. And as every Celtic supporter knows, when others write our story, they rarely write it kindly.
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The post Celtic’s stony silence allows our enemies to fill the information gap. appeared first on The Celtic Blog.
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Into that silence the Scottish media pours its own theories and rumours and suppositions like water finding a crack in a dam.
Every day Celtic refuse to communicate properly with supporters, another rumour appears. Another “exclusive” emerges. Another source close to somewhere apparently knows something. Another headline is born from speculation, guesswork and imagination.
And whose fault is that? Not entirely the media’s. I know that won’t be popular with some, but it is true. Nature abhors a vacuum. So does punditry.
If Celtic refuse to tell their own story, somebody else will gladly tell it for them.
Right now, supporters are looking for answers. They want to know about the manager. They want to know about recruitment. They want to know about the football structure. They want to know what the vision is going forward.
Nobody is asking for confidential negotiations to be streamed live from the boardroom. Nobody expects every transfer target to be announced on Celtic TV. There are things that must remain private.
But there is a vast distance between transparency and total radio silence.
Yet Celtic seem determined to occupy that barren wasteland in the middle, where absolutely nothing is said. And when nothing is said, people begin filling in the blanks themselves. The media fill them. Rival supporters fill them. Social media fills them.
Every whisper becomes a fact. Every rumour becomes a certainty. Every opinion becomes breaking news. Before long, a narrative has been constructed that may bear absolutely no resemblance to reality whatsoever.
Then Celtic supporters are left arguing among themselves over stories that might never have been true in the first place.
It is madness. Complete madness.
What makes it even more frustrating is that Celtic should understand this better than most clubs.
For generations, this club has had to battle against hostile narratives. For generations, Celtic supporters have watched sections of the media portray events through a particular lens. Whether people agree with that assessment or not is irrelevant.
The perception exists among a huge section of the support.
So if the club knows many supporters distrust large parts of the media, why would it willingly hand those same media outlets complete control of the conversation? It makes no sense.
Every day Celtic remain silent, somebody else gets to define the narrative. Every day Celtic remain silent, frustration grows. Every day Celtic remain silent, supporters feel more disconnected from the people making decisions on their behalf.
That is where the real danger lies. Not anger. Not criticism.
Disconnection. James rightly called it yesterday; it creates apathy.
A supporter can disagree with a club and still feel connected to it. A supporter can criticise a decision and still feel respected.
But when supporters feel ignored, that relationship begins to fray.
Silence starts to feel like arrogance. Silence starts to feel like contempt. Silence starts to feel like people sitting in comfortable offices believing they owe no explanations to the people who fund everything.
Whether that perception is fair or unfair does not actually matter. Because perception eventually becomes reality.
The Ginger Witch in me sees the same pattern appearing over and over again. The signs are always there before the storm arrives. The unease. The confusion. The rumours. The growing resentment.
Little sparks drifting through the air before somebody finally notices the smell of smoke.
By then, the damage is often already done.
The frustrating thing is that this is so easily avoidable.
A statement. An update. A simple acknowledgement that supporters deserve to know where things stand. Not every detail. Not every negotiation. Just enough to reassure people that there is a plan. That somebody is steering the ship. That the silence is not because nobody knows what they are doing.
This club belongs to its supporters. It always has. Long before the current board arrived and long after they are gone. The fans don’t expect miracles. They don’t expect perfection. But they do expect respect. Communication is respect.
Engagement is respect. Acknowledging supporters is respect. And right now, Celtic are making life unnecessarily difficult for themselves.
The media machine will never stop spinning stories. That is what it does. The only real question is whether Celtic are going to continue helping it by saying nothing at all.
Because if the club will not tell its own story, somebody else always will.
Celtic supporters will accept bad news. We will accept setbacks. We will even accept mistakes when they are made honestly. What we struggle to accept is being left staring into the mist while others tell us what is supposedly happening inside our own club.
Every time the club chooses silence, someone else grabs the pen and starts writing our story for us. And as every Celtic supporter knows, when others write our story, they rarely write it kindly.
Choose The CelticBlog as a ‘Preferred Source’ on Google News for quick access to the news you value.
The post Celtic’s stony silence allows our enemies to fill the information gap. appeared first on The Celtic Blog.
Continue reading...
