All of that points towards the management, or lack of from Steven Naismith but BBC Scotland had a convenient lifeboat for the struggling Hearts boss to cling onto.
Eleven Celtic title wins over the last 12 years have almost broken the spirits at the BBC Sports Desk with Kenny Macintyre. Tom English and Alasdair Lamont visually and mentally scarred by covering those events.
Michael Nicholson and the board took a vow of silence on the issue, as did the Green Brigade for 30 minutes in a home match against Livingston that finished goal-less.
France turned on the style in patches but it sounded as if Thommo would rather be watching Peterhead against Dundee United on a cold Saturday night and trying to make the best of a lukewarm pie.
A free kick was awarded, Souttar’s red face never changed in shade with his side going on to win the match 3-0 to join St Mirren in second place in the SPFL Premiership table.
All of which points to a club which is running its managerial recruitment process around what is being posted on online message boards and social media sites.
Bitton spent nine years playing for Celtic, well aware of the support that the Green Brigade has for the Palestine movement.
It isn’t the first time that the flag has been spotted among Ibrox fans but the contradiction of flying it while serving members of the Armed Forces are being paraded like a trophy seems to be a step too far.
Beale does have the comfort of a contract that runs until 2026 but it looks unlikely that he’ll be trusted with Thursday’s Europa League tie against ARIS Limassol.
It’s not since the end of April that Celtic fans have seen CCV at his best, in the Scottish Cup semi-final he turned in an awesome performance in what was to be his final outing of the season.