Tom English is a hard hitting hack, not afraid to tackle the burning issues in Scottish sport.
If Celtic tweet their condolences over the early death of a legendary Australia cricketer English will be on the case calling the club out for crass actions.
When Brendan Rodgers is appointed as Celtic manager he’s actually raging about not getting the manager’s job at Spurs.
English, chief Sports Writer at BBC Scotland knows it all, he has his finger on the pulse of the sporting nation from Gorgie Road and beyond.
Last night he was on the media gantry at Ibrox, sharing his deep and thoughtful views with listeners to Radio Scotland as he gave an overview of the marvellous drama unfolding. With his wizardly use of words English can paint a vivid picture of what is going on into the mind of the licence payer.
Ibrox created a pulsating atmosphere last night as English explored in his post match overview for the BBC Scotland website. Licence payers are fortunate to have such a talented wordsmith to connect with.
English went into great depth about the atmosphere and passion created but chose to ignore one vital detail, a banner from the Union Bears that is certain to bring further sanctions and stand closures from UEFA.
It seems that English has airbrushed the pre-match Tifo to William Poole displayed by the Union Bears, covering the Family Stand with the slogan SURRENDER OR YOU’LL DIE on display at the front of the stand for anyone unsure of the significance of Poole.
On the BBC Scotland website English conjured up all the colour, passion and excitement:
The new recruits in this Rangers team couldn’t have known the reality of a big European night at Ibrox before this. The joy, the fury, the incessant racket that sweeps about the place whether the home team is under pressure, as they were in the opening half, or pushing hard for a winner, as they were during those late and deafening minutes.
They didn’t know what it was like when they joined, but they know it now. This pulsating night against a slick and dangerous PSV Eindhoven didn’t have the untrammelled mayhem of some of those Houdini jobs that Rangers pulled off on their road to the Europa League final, but it was terrific all the same.
Rangers fans will have been exhausted by it, their emotions surely switching madly as the game wore on. They’d have been anxious and then elated, then anxious, then elated again.
Perhaps English missed the pre-match Tifo, maybe he was downstairs in the media room taking a phone call for a massive breaking story, maybe he was in the pie queue or perhaps visiting the toilets.
He does however spend an awful lot of time on Twitter, the source of most of his opinion pieces as he picks up on virtual views due to his lack of real life contacts.
Maybe later today BBC Scotland will pick up on the biggest issue from last night’s match, perhaps helping with a damage limitation exercise once UEFA charges land.
