It doesn’t take an ordinary radio listener to recognize Simon Jordan’s perspective on the Green Brigade.
In fact, his reporting of this season overall has made his stance on Celtic supporters (and numerous other subjects) very apparent.
It’s fair to say that the club’s declaration of the Green Brigade’s return on Tuesday has elicited a favorable response from most Celtic supporters.
In suggesting that this isn’t the situation on the show on Wednesday, Jordan was clearly mistaken.
Simon Jordan incorrectly asserts that Celtic board value Green Brigade more than supporters
The former Crystal Palace owner stated on talkSPORT on Wednesday: “It doesn’t seem that they actually want [the GB] to do very much.
“Ultimately, what they’re implying is that they’ve got to comply with these season ticket policies, they’ve got to accept the safety and security measures of the stadium, and they’ve got to accept game-by-game review.
Now, the game-by-game review is the condition, isn’t it? Because obviously, they’ve drawn attention upon themselves with their past conduct.
“It would appear, judging by calls that we have in this show, that the Celtic board regard them differently than, perhaps, the supporters do.
“The Celtic board seem to regard them as a necessary evil to serve a greater purpose, and maybe that’s because they want the dissenters inside the tent rather than shouting from outside, 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 discussing the cub scouts seriously.
“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 consists of the council, comprises of the police and includes a football representative from the football club, which will be the stadium manager of some sort, and a fan representative.
“It’s those individuals who have decided whether these guys should be permitted back again. So the police are involved. So you would’ve thought, given the fact that there’s been considerable trouble and incidents inside stadium…
“We’ve had people phoning in and saying ‘these guys are just a nuisance. They have no respect for anything around them, they do as they please, both inside Celtic Park and at away grounds.’
“It’s not just Celtic, it’s their involvement in behaviour around the country at other football stadiums over which Celtic have limited control.
talkSPORT’s biased reporting on Celtic and the Green Brigade
The absence of impartiality in their coverage is evident by their failure to provide the simple caveat that the group have consistently denied Celtic’s claims of “serious and threatening behaviour.”
As is often the case in disputes, there isn’t only one perspective at play here – despite Jordan suggesting so – but two.
When the ban was initially enforced, Celtic circulated a vague video of “evidence” to every supporter in an apparent attempt to sway fan opinion against the Green Brigade – this clearly hasn’t succeeded.
In the absence of neutral reporting on the dispute, talkSPORT have presented it as a straightforward case of one rational side against another unreasonable one.
In truth, most Celtic supporters understand that it isn’t that straightforward.