It's been fairly obvious for a long time that Scottish Football is absolutely barking, and the last week has proven this beyond all doubt.

Over the last few weeks, Craig Whyte has appeared in court accused of fraud regarding his takeover of Rangers in 2011, defended by former Vice Chairman (and friend of David Murray) Donald Findlay QC, receiving extensive coverage in the media salivating over the exchanges in court, while ignoring the arrest of Frank Cairney on fresh allegations of sex abuse of children while at Celtic Boys club.

The front page of the Daily Record on April 27th tells you all you need to know about where the media in modern day Scotland believe their priorities lie. The front page lead is not the growing evidence of what appears to be a decades long paedophile ring operating at Celtic Boys Club, but court exchanges on financial matters about a business entity that used to own Rangers FC.

It's really rather absurd.

The same newspaper allowing a quote from Celtic FC on the ongoing abuse scandal distancing the football club from the boys club without challenge or correction on the disingenuous claim that the boys club and the football club were separate entities is shameful in the extreme. 

In the lead up to Saturday's match at Ibrox the Daily Record pressured match officials with a week of negativity surrounding decisions from the cup semi final.
The SFA joined in on this madness by allowing an appeal against a deserved red card for Scott Brown at the recent Ross County match, allowing Brown to take part in Saturday's match, while also getting off with a cowardly elbow of Kenny Miller.

The match itself, frankly, didn't surprise me, as a number of Celtic players have a real drive and motivation when they face our team. Oddly though, their conduct when winning is bereft of joy and happiness and instead laced with hatred and anger.

Leigh Griffith's celebration of the second is a case in point. So soon after the penalty opener, this important goal was pivotal, and his 'celebration' was a joyless provocation of the Rangers support at the Copland Road end.

Amidst the post-match reportage, the tabloid focus has been towards two unsavoury incidents involving two Rangers supporters dragging themselves to the gutter occupied by our city rivals, however, if you were just visiting Glasgow, you wouldn't know that Celtic had a track record of racist fans, or that Celtic striker Leigh Griffiths was once charged with a racist offence and once captured on film mocking refugees.

Don't be fooled that our media have any interest in racism. This coverage is simply an opportunity to talk the Rangers support down.

While there is much anger in the Rangers community at those who have let us down, it contrast sharply with a culture across the city, when faced with any negativity, to simply deny, deflect or threaten those who report anything unsavoury at Celtic Park.

Again, while Rangers fill the back and front pages, the BBC have tracked down the former Celtic Boys club manager Jim Torbett in the US, to answer fresh allegations of abuse, and the coverage in the Record and other tabloids is notably low key to the point of ignorance.

With Torbett hanging out in California sharing a house with a former boys club player claiming to be his son, and questions unanswered about Celtic Football Club apparently paying Torbett's firm £1M in the years AFTER he was convicted of his original offences, it seems that the normally story hungry MSM are 'distracted' from what is the greatest sporting scandal of all time in the UK.

Let's be absolutely clear, the issue of coaches abusing children is outrageous, and failure to react to allegations in any other way than reporting to the police should be punishable not just by the footballing authorities, but by the courts

I fundamentally disagree with any decision not to report allegations to the police, and it is now becoming clear that some of the newer allegations refer to incidents in the timeframe AFTER allegations had been swept under the carpet by the club. It's simply unacceptable. 
Furthermore, any explanation that there was misguided decision making to protect the name of the club doesn't sit well against former Celtic and SFA Directors retaining connections to Torbett for many years. 

Were he an isolated individual at work, it would be bad enough, but there were several coaches at Celtic Boys Club at the same time who are under investigation, and were there at the same time as club photographer John Cullen. To have at least 4 suspected Paedophiles in what is a relatively small organisation at the one time is a remarkable coincidence, particularly given the financial and personal ties between some of the individuals involved.

The cover up at Celtic Park is a scandal, and the failure by the SFA, Police Scotland, and the print media to relentlessly seek justice is also a scandal, particularly as the Evening Times and Daily Record gave the original court proceedings in the early 90s a reasonable level of airtime. It seems that today's Editors do not have the integrity or the courage to follow suit.

If the message is not clear, let me make it so; 

Until our print media find some integrity do not fund their biased and corrupt publications.