Stephen McGowan got very hot and bothered when Peter Martin discussed news management of the Ibrox managerial vacancy during the PLZ Show subtitled The Journos.
Celtic hadn’t been mentioned when the Herald reported jumped into deny claims that he is a lapdog or cheerleader for Peter Lawwell. McGowan seemed very animated in his defence.
Over the last 20 years no-one has delivered a more accurate reading of events around Celtic that McGowan who left the Celtic View to join the Daily Express before a long stint at the Daily Mail which ended earlier this year.
Regardless of who is managing Celtic McGowan has been first to the majority of Celtic transfer stories and other issues around the club.
Martin was joined in the studio by McGowan, freelance Alison McConnell and Hugh McDonald of the Daily Mail, three reporters that are widely recognised as being Celtic minded. McConnell and McGowan both previously worked for the Celtic View.
It is an open secret in media circles that Dave Murray handed out exclusives on a rota to his favoured reporters, from blockbuster signings to stadium developments involving floating pitches, Super Casinos and hotels with helipads. Whenever a back page or a splash was required a phone call to Minty almost always resolved that problem.
Nothing was too far fetched for Murray until he grabbed at a pound coin rolled his way by Craig Whyte, even when he owned up to an error of judgement Murray’s hand chosen reporters relayed without contradiction the claim that the former Rangers Chairman had been duped by a billionaire from Motherwell.
This was at a time where Murray kept careful notes of the schooling and team supported by every media figure in Scotland.
8 minutes 20 seconds
McGowan: I’m just bemused that we went from ‘it is Davide Ancelotti’ a few days ago to, now ‘it is Steven Gerrard
Martin: You say that there has been nothing leaked out but I don’t agree with you. I think that significant things have just been let out just to keep the whole thing boiling along, you know. Because that’s what clubs do, they strategically plant little seeds here and there just to keep things going
McGowan: I don’t think clubs do as often as people think Peter (Martin,not Lawwell). I think that’s one of the myths out there that ‘Oh, clubs brief’, you know, Rangers and Celtic don’t brief, they should but they don’t.
Martin: Yeah, well listen the great thing about it is I’ll disagree with you on that. On the basis that.
McGowan: No, no no, you’re not allowed to.
McGuire: This is the great thing, welcome to my world
McGowan: This is your show?
McGuire: No, no, no, just my world, you can fire in for the show, as Hugh does on a regular basis and Ally. You can give me a right kicking, I’ve had three against one on this show on many an occasion but the main point that I’m making is that they do brief, they do brief. At certain times because there are certain journalists who have, at one point or another, a good relationship with a Chairman, with a Chief Executive.
You get the snippets and you do get people that I call, and I want to try and use a word here that does not in any way take me down a road to madness…
MacDonald: Cheerleaders?
Martin: Lapdogs, yes
At this stage McGowan couldn’t hold back any longer…
McGowan: I get that all the time, I get it all the time, ‘Oh Peter Lawwell and Celtic tell him’ this that and the next thing. Rubbish, I also have
McConnell: I also have that.
McGowan: Yeah, complete and utter rubbish
Martin: Listen
McGowan: Celtic do not leak or brief anything to me or anybody else as far as I can see.
Martin: No, no, no, the point I’m making to you is, that may be your personal experience of it. I’m giving you it from another angle where as you move forward in life you do get snippets. I got them, from various sources, that’s how you do
McGowan: That’s journalism,
Martin: That’s the name of the game.
McConnell then jumped in, Martin then went off explaining how for 20 years he had to chase and secure stories to break into television and radio, to get onto shows.
All of this was around the leaking of news from inside Ibrox relating to the management of the current vacancy and the reported candidates.
Why McGowan jumped in with his comments about Lawwell when Celtic weren’t part of the discussion only he will understand.
Martin continued going down a rabbit hole explaining why reporters simply relay on the information that they are fed without questioning it or why they are being selected.
Last February during an appearance on Off The Ball with Tam Cowan and Stuart Cosgrove. McGowan hit out at idiotic bloggers that don’t have a scoobie.
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