Surprise, Surprise; didn't the Scottish Fish Wrappers, especially the Daily Ranger, excel themselves following Celtic's easy 2:0 victory in the recent Old Firm Game at Ibrox. A cynic might even suggest that there is a pattern emerging here; after Celtic's last win at Ibrox the front pages were splattered with atrocity stories concerning the alleged behaviour of the Celtic players in the dressing room. Those sensitive souls down Kinning Park way were incensed and outraged that they should be so insulted. And now this!

There were so many talking points from that game for the media to cover. The rather easy manner of Celtic's victory which again emphasised their current dominance over Rangers; Rangers' now traditional poor disciplinary record in this fixture exemplified by Amaloser's red card for a professional foul (prompts the interesting thought, when was the last time he did anything professional on a football pitch); Amoruso's behaviour following his invitation to get first use of the rubber duck - Stephane Mahe certainly managed a few column inches when he was sent off in similar circumstances; the continual sectarian abuse from a large majority of the Rangers support before, during and after the game; the racist chants directed against Bobo Balde by a vociferous minority of the Rangers support; the antics of Barry Fergushun, the Rangers captain, who seems to have thrown not one, but two bags of ice at the Celtic dugout at the end of the game.

You have all of the above plus the now compulsory stabbings of Celtic supporters after the game. Yet what do the Fish Wrappers concentrate on? They make the antics of one Celtic supporter - who made some cretinous gesture towards Claudio Reyna when he went to take a corner - their front page story on the Monday morning.

It's fair to say that this individual won't be missed from Celtic Park following his indefinite ban. We are not talking about a future rocket scientist here and if his punishment serves as some kind of deterrent against any repeat of this kind of thing then good. But for the tabloids to describe this as a 'new low' in terms of Old Firm behaviour reveals just how hypocritical and morally bankrupt this section of the press has become.

Mark McGivern in the Daily Ranger could hardly contain his anger. A public flogging of the Celtic fan concerned would not have been enough to temper his rage. McGivern did get a bit carried away in his story, several times claiming that this idiocy was perpetrated by more than one Celtic supporter. Indeed he implied that many Celtic supporters were guilty of this sick behaviour. I guess as a typical journalist he didn't see any reason to let the facts get in the way of a good story.

As a disappointed Hun it would seem that he tried to salve his anger at his team's incompetence by trying to tar the majority of the Celtic supporters at the game as sickos who sought to make fun out of the carnage of the World Trade Centre. The same 'reporter' conveniently overlooked the racist abuse dished out to Balde and to a lesser extent Didier Agathe. He seems to have been deaf to the continual sectarian chants of the Rangers supporters. No surprise that while he feigned disgust at the behaviour of that one Celtic supporter he conveniently forgot to mention the desire of a fair proportion of those inside the stadium to be 'Up to their knees in Fenian blood.' Perhaps McGivern wouldn't be offended by such chants?

He also conveniently overlooked Barry Fergiehun's behaviour at the end of the game. Is throwing ice at the opposition dugout the sort of behaviour he would want to see from the captain of his team?

The sectarian abuse meted out to the Celtic players while they were being interviewed on worldwide TV immediately after the game also seems to have escaped his wrath.

God only knows what apoplexy Iain would have worked himself into if Larsson had scored and indulged in his usual goalscoring celebration of running about with his arms spread like wings. Greater fury hath no man than a Hun watching his team get gubbed.

The priorities of the Daily Ranger are perhaps best summed up by the fact that the front page was given over to McGivern's story on how terrible the Celtic fans are, while an inside page carried a couple of paragraphs mentioning almost is passing that five Celtic fans had been slashed in bars after the game.

Mark howarth in the Scottish edition of the Sun ran a story which mirrored the tone of the Record's. interestingly, Howarth did not actually witness the the incident because he was not at the game but he wrote the story anyway on the strength of some e-mails from irate Rangers supporters who had been at the match and because football hack Iain King assured him that a 'handful' of Celtic fans had been participating in this moronic behaviour.

As witnesses go, you could hardly find better paragons of fairness or objectivity than a bunch of Rangers men who have just seen their team gubbed at home by Celtic could you?

And so, with the whiff of sectarianism hanging heavy in the air, Martin O'Neill attended a press conference to launch a new initiative and was put on the spot by Forbes McFaul, who more or less said that the Celtic manager was 'sidestepping' the issue if he didn't personally grab a microphone during the game and implore people not to sing offensive songs.

Flustered by his lack of response, OFM left the press conference. McFaul, strangely, did not feel the need to pick up on a response from rangers' representative Douglas Odon who was asked what his club had been doing to stop the sectarian singing. "We've done so much the fans hardly dare open their mouths."

At which point everybody in the room paused to look up into the sky where a squadron of pigs were flying over George Square in perfect formation...

HACKWATCHER

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