Keevins jumps on the “Good girl” bandwagon, and tells us all the Celtic boss will be gone by May

This guy, he loves to manufacture controversy where there is none.

It was inevitable that Keevins would have to have his bite-sized chunk when it came to the “Good girl” controversy from last weekend.

After all, this guy rarely has an original thought when it comes to journalism.

Before I delve into this morning’s offering of garbage in the Record, I’ll point out once again the extent of Keevins’ lazy journalism.

An original thought could have emanated from the fact that the Ibrox side were beaten at home yesterday.

Now, in a season where Keevins has pegged Philippe Clement as a world beater, surely the fact they lost on home soil, was newsworthy, and something worth reporting on?

You know, in a city where a draw is a catastrophe, and a loss induces meltdown on a nuclear scale?

But no, Keevins instead chose to harp on about the now flogged to death Jane Lewis and Brendan Rodgers incident from last week, instead of the fact the title just might have been blow wide open again yesterday.

However, there’s a reason Keevins does that.

It’s because Keevins doesn’t write his Sunday column at 4 o’clock on a Sunday morning, ready for publication at 6 a.m. to be picked up by all of the eager Record and Sunday Mail readers.

No, he doesn’t even write it after all of the football results have been completed on a Saturday afternoon.

I’d confidently say he wrote yesterday’s article well before Saturday’s 3 p.m. kick offs.

Simply because there is no inference whatsoever in it to the fact that the Ibrox side dropped three points for the first time since they were defeated by the manager who will be leaving at the end of the season.

Apparently.

At the end of the article, this is what he has to say:

Rodgers can mull that over while addressing if his team have what it takes to overtake R****** in the league. What happens at Tynecastle will help answer that question. The wrong answer will assuredly bring retribution in keeping with the current uneasy climate.

“If his team have what it takes to overtake R****** in the league”

Keevins closed his article not knowing whether that would be possible or not today, because he did not know the result of the match at Ibrox at the time.

A real journalist worth his salt, would take the time to write about a loss as significant as yesterday’s for the Ibrox side.

For Keevins, that is something that is very newsworthy.

A real journalist would have taken the time to write about the resignation of Mark Lawwell, and the impact that has had on the “uneasy climate” at Celtic.

I think that impact was there for all to see last Wednesday night.

It’s clear that it was known within the walls of Celtic Park before kick off that Lawwell was leaving.

Celtic played with a vigour and determination not previously seen this season.

The boss appeared much more jovial in his post match interviews.

He even managed to have a bit of a laugh with Jane Lewis when she spoke to him on behalf of the BBC.

Something Keevins completely neglects to mention in today’s article.

Clearly, though, that would not have suited the narrative.

Instead, and I’ll move onto the article itself now, Keevins decides he needs to tells us again, that he reckons the Celtic boss will be gone by the end of the season.

Whether we win the league or not.

By 2 o’clock this afternoon, we may well have the destiny of the league title very much in our own hands again.

Add to that, Brendan Rodgers is a much happier man in the knowledge that Mark Lawwell is no longer head of recruitment at Celtic Park.

If Rodgers sees his future at Celtic Park, then he needs to have a significant impact on who becomes the next head of recruitment at Paradise.

It needs to be someone who will meet the needs of the manager, and the squad.

But Keevins believes none of this is newsworthy.

Instead, below is an example of what he thinks is:

The night before, BBC Scotland’s prime-time news broadcast The Nine unearthed a professor of linguistics to offer an academic’s opinion on someone saying “good girl” to a female television journalist. The professor concluded that Rodgers’ words had been “ill thought out” and that words, when misused, were “as bad as violence”.

As bad as violence?

We bloggers have spoken for long enough about the Pro-Ibrox bent the BBC has.

Does anyone in their right mind not recognise the fact that all they were trying to do by making Rodgers’ comment “prime time” news, was create more controversy, where in reality, there was none?

If Keevins had a brain between his ears, he’d also recognise that fact.

But instead, he uses that particular reference from BBC’s prime time to back up his narrative that Rodgers will be gone by the end of the season.

To add to the fact he wants to elaborate on the “on-going disconnect” between the fans and the manager.

Basically, Rodgers is getting attacked from all angles, the media, the fans, plus a professor in linguistics.

Which surely indicates that the man who has a degree in neuro-linguistics, has to have had just about enough at this point.

He’ll be gone by May.

I think we’re starting to recognise that Rodgers is made of sterner stuff than that.

This is his reputation on the line after all.

Keevins should recognise that a hugely significant thing happened on Friday evening with the announcement of Lawwell Jnr’s resignation.

The first step in the war of attrition against the board and it’s hierarchy has taken place.

They could not, in all conscience, retain Lawwell Jnr in place after the debacle that was the January transfer window.

If the right man takes the post, a man who can work in tandem with Rodgers, then Rodgers can build his team the way he wants to.

With Mark Lawwell in place, Rodgers effectively had one hand tied behind his back.

Going forward, if the club makes the right moves in this regard, this should no longer be the case.

As a result, I sincerely doubt Brendan Rodgers will be tendering his resignation come May.

He has too much to prove.

Too much white noise to ignore.

Keevins tries in his article to paint himself as someone who is sympathetic to Rodgers’ plight.

But in reality, this is a plight of Keevins’ creation.

This statement, regarding a female journalist who he believes wished extend the “Good girl” story into another day pretty much sums it up:

But she was at Lennoxtown to see if she could extend the story into another day by questioning the manager. What was to be gained from doing that, other than fanning the controversy? Likewise, the BBC sent Lewis to Celtic’s rout of Dundee on Wednesday night. The pair could have been given a diplomatic break from each other after the events of four days earlier.

The irony in all of this is that Keevins has tried to fan that exact controversy further in his article this morning.

To use this as evidence and reasoning to back up his theory that Rodgers will be gone by May.

Does Brendan Rodgers really look like a man who is wilting under the pressure this has brought to bear?

But Keevins reckons he has it all sown up, have a look at this:

You don’t stay where you’re not wanted and all that. We shall wait and see but it will be a source of light relief for the boss today to immerse himself in some good old- fashioned paranoia. Conspiracy is always a comfort for fans. It takes their minds off the real world.

You don’t stay where you’re not wanted and all that?

There is a minority who may not want Rodgers at Celtic.

I’m even on the fence myself at times.

God knows this season has given me reason to be, but I look at the whole picture, and I see a lot more than Keevins sees, or chooses not to see, at least.

But the minority will be the least of Rodgers worries.

As for the faux outrage created by the media, and continued today by Keevins, in relation to the “Good girl” incident, does Keevins really believe that it will have an effect on Rodgers?

An effect so detrimental it will cause him to leave?

I can assure you, Rodgers has forgotten about that today.

I can also assure you he is well aware of the sports media’s agenda in Glasgow, he’s seen it all before.

It will take a hell of a lot more than that to force his resignation.

The SMSM want every Celtic manager to fail, this is nothing new.

As for Keevins, he couldn’t help himself towards the end of his latest piece of drivel, he had to start on about the good old fashioned paranoia:

Today they can dive into the old baloney about Hearts lying down to R****** while trying their damndest against green-and-white hoops. This stuff is of no consequence to Rodgers. His biggest challenge is to confront the idea that Celtic are clinging on to the title race by their fingertips.

Well, if we were clinging on to it by our finger tips, today is the opportunity to change all of that.

All of a sudden, the landscape is altering dramatically at Celtic in the space of a few days.

The useless head of recruitment is gone, off to pursue other avenues.

The Ibrox side dropped 3 points at home yesterday.

Celtic have to opportunity to go top of the league this afternoon.

I bet all of that makes Brendan Rodgers feel miserable.

Yeah, I could definitely see him wanting to resign if we defeat Hearts at Tynecastle today.

As for Hearts lying down to the Ibrox side, and trying their damndest against us?

That’s exactly what they’ll do today, it’s what they always do.

That’s not paranoia, just a simple fact.

Me personally, I believe the momentum swing in the last couple of days will influence what happens today.

I believe Rodgers will not waste this opportunity.

The opportunity to make a real statement.

I think we will have too much for Hearts.

Dare I say it, I believe we have reached a turning point.

The time of false dawns has passed.

Today we will see the real Celtic.

And the real Rodgers.