As Rangers and Aberdeen played out a Scottish Premiership cracker, Sky Sports sought to reduce the affair to penalty pantomime.
What a shame that the contemptuousness of Scottish football coverage by the broadcaster sought to reduce what was an exciting evening of football to rage-baiting nonsense.
At a time when Scottish football is in an upswing, Sky Sports continue to treat it as the budget footballing backwater they were sold by the hapless hacks of the Hampden boardroom.
And that contempt of our unique game north of the border could be felt come full-time when Sky Sports’ analysis of an excellent Rangers Aberdeen clash was reduced to conspiracy-baiting nonsense about handballs and penalty kicks.
Sky Sports’ tired coverage of Rangers v Aberdeen
Whilst the rest of Scottish football – the managers of both teams included – were reacting to an enthralling match at a raucous Ibrox, Sky Sports were busy manufacturing controversy.
Paying customers are being served up rubbish with Chris Sutton and Kris Boyd the two lead acts and the protagonist or antagonist depending on what side of the Old Firm divide you fall on.
Two jesters who’re poked and prodded into making soundbites about conspiracies and referees on Sky Sports’ shoogly Scottish footballing stage.
With host Eilidh Barbour the Master of Ceremonies, ex-Aberdeen keeper Joe Lewis’s emotions were used as rage-bait in a calamitous few minutes of television which doesn’t shine well on any of those taking part.
Warning, the following clip offers absolutely no genuine insight or analysis into the football match and has been specifically designed just to stoke your tribal footballing allegiances.
Scottish Premiership deserves better
Forget the fact that neither of these alleged handballs are handballs, that doesn’t matter when we’ve got conspiracies to stoke and rage to induce.
That the national game’s broadcaster and its leading cast have mustered this as the pinnacle of their analysis is a smite on both their contribution as pundits and on the organisers of Scottish football.
How can anyone expect the world to take the game seriously north of the border when those showcasing it actively try and do the opposite?
Rangers v Aberdeen had everything; rivalry, bad blood, a title race, goals, red cards, Neil Warnock, a resurgent, pulsating Rangers backed up by a raucous Ibrox stadium under the lights.
It was a match which would’ve surely gripped anyone who watched it – Scottish footballing neutral or otherwise – and not because of manufactured outrage over nonsense penalty calls.
Scottish football will remain a laughing stock so long as these are the narratives that are generated around it but this budget pantomime stopped being funny a long time ago.
Oh no it didn’t? No, seriously Sky Sports, it did.
