Rangers fans have been reacting to the news that Michael Stewart has landed himself a job with Celtic TV next season.
The former Scotland midfielder has signed a deal at Celtic Park that will see him working alongside Chris Sutton and John Hartson on the Parkhead club’s coverage amid the coronavirus shutdown.
Whilst Sutton and Hartson are ex-Celtic strikers, Stewart has no prior connection to the club but has been presented as an unbiased commentator across BBC Scotland’s and BT Sport’s Scottish football coverage.
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This move suggests that Stewart will favour the success of Celtic next season.
Not that there was much doubt about this before anyway.
Stewart was suspended from BBC Scotland’s coverage last season after comments he made about former Gers PR guru Jim Traynor.
These suggested Traynor had invented allegations of racism towards Alfredo Morelos from Celtic fans.
It’s not the first time Stewart appealed to the paranoid fantasies of Celtic fan blogs and he also raised questions about the finances of Rangers after they signed Ianis Hagi.
This is commonplace in Celtic fan media which seeks to speculate over Rangers’ finances with obsessive coverage and half-truths into the goings-on at the club.
Some individuals have let this seep into mainstream media to help develop dangerous stereotypes or elevate their own profiles. Rangers know it cannot continue.
And that’s before we talk about the biomechanics, the constant moaning and the moral war-bringing which is so prominent in Stewart’s coverage of Rangers.
Michael Stewart has landed a job with Celtic TV for the upcoming season.. (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
The likes of Club 1872 have been vehement in their response to Stewart’s inflammatory coverage.
However, all of this has naturally increased Stewart’s popularity amongst the Celtic support and it’s little wonder the Parkhead club have moved for him.
BT Sport no longer have the rights to SPFL coverage and it’s not yet clear if the outspoken commentator will have a spot with Sky Sports next season.
Rangers fans think it’s further evidence that he cannot be an impartial pundit on the nation’s leading highlights programme, Sportscene on BBC Scotland:
Tbf no one has worked harder for a job at Celtic than Michael Stewart 😂 https://t.co/SjHXcODTkA
— RossCO (@rosscofaz) July 13, 2020
It’s impossible for Michael Stewart to continue working for the BBC, he is now working for Celtic.
— OnTheRoadToNirvana (@JHC17626935) July 13, 2020
Impartial Michael Stewart 😂
— Butters Fairfax (@ButtersFairfax) July 13, 2020
That explains a lot
— Robert Warren (@burtrey) July 13, 2020
https://t.co/LjNH8jcu0U pic.twitter.com/kDvobDVcnY
— コスプレ (@Ruth_Less_Lady) July 13, 2020
So next season we’ll have people employed by Celtic on the BBC presented as neutral commentators.
Laughable.
— Heart & Hand Podcast (@ibroxrocks) July 13, 2020
See that Michael Stewart has finally got his dream move to Celtic. He’s put in a fair shift over the past few years to get there. Fair play to the lad.
— Chris Graham (@ChrisGraham76) July 13, 2020
In this case, hard work really does pay off 🙄
— Four Lads Had a Dream (@4ladshadadream) July 13, 2020
Henceforth known as "Celtic employee Michael Stewart".
— Craig RT (@notassassins) July 13, 2020
That's him removed the right to ever be impartial to Rangers again!
Oh! Wait! It's Michael Stewart we're talking about.— Iain Paton (@IainPaton7) July 13, 2020