JACKSON: HE COULD GET FOOTBALL STOPPED
SO now we wait?
The first four words of this column on Monday morning, predicting it would only be a matter of time until Scottish football was pushed to the brink of unprecedented disaster by the arrogance and selfishness of one more moronic player.
Turns out it was wishful thinking. Because by Monday evening, it was already there, staring into the abyss after the brainless Boli Bolingoli boarded flights to Spain and back for God knows what reason.
While proving beyond all reasonable doubt there are some players out there who could pack their intellect into a Balenciaga man-bag and still have enough room left for three pairs of clean pants and a bottle of expensive aftershave.
It’s little wonder Celtic manager Neil Lennon could hardly contain his rage yesterday as he was forced to confront this latest act of idiocy, which came in the same week the Aberdeen Eight had put the entire Premiership at risk because their enormous sense of entitlement demanded a Saturday night on the tiles.
Lennon’s toes must have been curling all the way through yesterday’s media circus not to mention Monday night’s talking to from Professor Jason Leitch, who stressed the professional game in this country could be shut down if there are any further breaches of Covid-19 protocol.
Lennon sat through that entire conference call knowing full well one of his own players had already done enough to plunge everyone else on that call into yet more chaos and crisis.
Let’s be straight here. The SPFL managed to limit the damage done yesterday morning by the skin of their teeth.
The Scottish government had planned to postpone two full rounds of fixtures, beginning with last night’s clash between Dundee United and Hibs. It was only after chief executive Neil Doncaster pleaded for mercy the action was scaled back to three postponements of those matches involving Celtic and Aberdeen. Be in no doubt, that was a result. Doncaster would have had no grounds for appeal if the First Minister – who is also finding it impossible to disguise her disdain – binned the lot of them and threw season 2020-21 into the fire in the process.
There is no room left in the fixture schedule for wholesale rescheduling but there is a real danger any further postponements might render the rest of the campaign almost unplayable. Given the enormous scale of financial damage which has already been inflicted on the Scottish game by this pandemic, some of our clubs are already gasping for air.
If, as Rangers manager Steven Gerrard suggested yesterday, the league season is effectively cancelled by those on the House on the Hill, the casualties will be catastrophic.
The likes of Bolingoli might not be bothered about that. His actions show complete disregard for human life let alone the survival of a few clubs he had probably never even heard of before he arrived here, if he’s even aware of their existence or their struggles now he is back in the country.
If he is willing to risk the lives of his own team-mates then why would he give a toss about the jobs and livelihoods of others all around the industry. Compassion like that simply wouldn’t fit into
They could trail Rangers – or even Hibs or Ross County – by as many as 11 points
the overhead locker. But good luck to him next time he turns up at Lennoxtown for some full contact training. He could well find Lennon is first in the queue, sharpening his studs because what Bolongoli has done here could have enormous ramifications a lot closer to home.
On the grand scale of things – at a time when the landscape of Scottish football is on the line – the importance of Celtic’s bid for a 10th successive title must be kept in perspective.
But not by Lennon and his players, nor Celtic’s supporters for that matter, for all of whom it remains the be-all and end-all.
The brazen contemptuousness of Bolingoli has forced Lennon’s squad into cold storage until a week on Saturday. By the time they next kick a ball they could be trailing Rangers – or even Hibs or Ross County – by as many as 11 points while also attempting to deal with a pile-up of fixtures.
The manager is smart enough to know the heat was already on as soon as his side carelessly gave up two points in the second game of the season at Kilrmanock. Bolongoli has pushed them all into a potential furnace.
It’s not a temperature check they’ll need if Rangers do succeed in opening up such a massive earlyseason lead, Adidas will have to kit them out in full hazmat hoops by the time they return to action at
Tannadice in 10 days’ time, Lennon was asked yesterday if Bolingoli had, in fact, committed a sacking offence by leaving Celtic so horribly exposed.
“That’s for others to decide,” was his terse response and it was delivered with such simmering resentment that Bolingoli already ought to be considering his employment options.
The trouble is quite frequently since his £3million move from Rapid Vienna he’s looked every inch the kind of expensive liability who might one day get football stopped.
Never could anyone have reasonably suspected that he would come quite so close as he did yesterday.