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I'm locking the dug away as we speak.

Managers are taught various things while sitting their licences. One thing that gets a lot of focus is media management. Neil Lennon demonstrated this superbly last week when he took a public swipe at Maurice Ross. The media loved that story, it dominated the back pages and the football news cycle for a few days after. It's clever management from Lennon because it took the focus away from him, his players and their run of results (2 losses and a draw is apparently grounds for dismissal in some quarters now). He was at it again yesterday when post match he had a go at the referee accusing him of having a poor match although he was unable to provide specifics when pushed on it. While not drawing the fire away as much as the Mo Ross outburst it has helped muddy the waters slightly and given the media something to write about other than Celtic shipping 3 goals two matches in a row. I mention this because the next logical step in this deflection is falling out, publicly, with a journalist or media channel. This often helps galvanise support behind the manager seeing as so many are distrustful of the media these days, and again it fills airwaves, blogs and columns as opposed to perhaps more pressing on-field matters. Of course if Lennon really was angry with Ross he could have called him up and told him so, but that's not what this is about. Celtic are feeling some pressure for arguably the first time in 10 years. Rangers haven't yet stuttered (although there's still a long way to go), Celtic's form is poor, their summer buys haven't yet gelled and they're feeling a draft financially for the first time in a decade or so. Should things continue in this manner expect a circling of the wagons down Parkhead way. BBC Scotland though can't afford to alienate Celtic, losing access to one half of the big two is careless but losing access to both would be problematic and difficult for senior management to ignore. So I expect a softening in criticism towards Lennon, perhaps fire aimed at specific players instead, referees certainly and perhaps the SPFL and SFA should events offer them up. Many of us have wondered how Celtic would react to some sustained pressure. When Deila's Celtic side were played off the park by Warburton's in the cup semi Celtic responded by replacing the Norwegian with Brendan Rodgers. That seems unlikely this time for various reason. Money for one, plus this Rangers side isn't just out of the Championship and filled with free transfers from the English lower leagues, we're significantly better than then. It's a dilemma for BBC Scotland, well you reap what you sow, eventually.

The 'supercomputer' has spoken! https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/soccer-predictions/premiership/ Up until yesterday it was predicting that Celtic would win. So I thought that it was a load of rubbish. Now that it is predicting a Rangers victory I think that it is a fine method of prediction.

Thanks. I was going to say volte face but then thought it seemed churlish and 'smart-arshish' to actually point it out. However, as you infer, 'vault' is actually more appropriate since Lille on Thursday may actually bury their hopes for this season. My only fear is that they may actually sack Lenny and install, say, Lambert i.e. someone with more tactical acumen.

Well bang goes that method of deciding who wins the league when they decide to abandon it. Next up, average league points over the last 5 years will be used to project the winner.

It's a deep, deep cover TB, you've no idea how high this goes!

Wow, just wow! Within hours of @JohnMc great post about Lennons media skills in which he predicts that Lennon will soon turn on the media to galvanise his idiotic supporters behind him, bbc Scotland website runs exactly this type of article in which Lennon blames the media for his current troubles, citing newspaper polls about his suitability to continue as manager as evidence. Are you sure you are not the head of the Bheast fc media machine @JohnMc?

Hamilton has proven that he's a fantastic driver and as Rousseau says, he's the best of his generation. He's up there with Schumacher, who I rated higher than the likes of Senna, Prost and Alonso. It's impossible to compare them with the likes of Fangio and Moss though. I reckon Hamilton would still win if all drivers started with the same car, although Max and maybe Leclerc may push him close.

The treachery of predictive text, alex. Many’s a time one of my literary gems has been torpedoed by the little bugger in the ipad.

Another example is with the 3 penalties on Sunday; for once I thought Collum got them all right but Lennon had to turn it into some kind of excuse. Even Sportscene seemed baffled he was baffled.

Excellent post JohnMc

Great post @JohnMc, and while you may be absolutely bang on the money with your analysis of events, I have often struggled to think of Lennon as clever in any way, shape or form. For him to be so clever as to come up with those media manipulations instantly after a game that has gone wrong, I struggle to believe he has that in his locker. I do think he plays the victim card far too often as a defensive mechanism, and I believe that he really believes he is a perennial victim, and that any non-victory for him and his team can be seen as someone else's fault, and he cannot ever find fault in his own performance. I dont recall him ever standing up and admitting he got something totally wrong, even when the evidence clearly suggests it to be the case.

Where does one start? Well, I should advise him to forget Sevco: Covid is an anagram of DivCo. In many parts of Glasgow -oh, say Castillo con lecce- the name David -as in, say, David King- has been, in the past, often shortened to Div. A quick inquiry to Companies House should provide the answers he seeks. If it doesn't, then he has clear evidence of ludgery, etc. etc... Seriously, though, he is very close. I think that he will need to be silenced.

Just watched the highlights again. Defoes goal really is a thing of beauty. If that was scored in one of the major leagues, pundits would be losing it

Another sign of rebellion on lat night's Sportscene, he was replete in a pair of brogues. After a month of slavish adherence to Gang Hut attire, he has ditched the BIG White Sannies. I hope he has not chucked the footwear into the Clyde? A clear hazard to marine navigation. Michael, like the rest of them utilise Twitter for self promotion. He prepares his audience by flagging up his next appearances. His last Sellik TV promo on Twitter, was the game in Riga. I suspect he has left, or been asked to leave? We should be told.

Script Rewrites? So, it's Thursday night and Big Dick on the national broadcast service is looking over the debris of 24 Europa Cup games. Rangers have won 2-zip in Belgium against a Liege side that had not lost at home in six years, whereas ra Sellik carrying the weight of the Scottish standard, slumped to a 1-3 home defeat against AC Milan. Kemar Roofe's spectacular clincher has seen a significant improvement in the national co-efficient, but no one mentions it. Instead, Big Dick is joined by Pat Bonner for the script rewrite. Tedious Pat is unique, he only covers ra Sellik games, which is just as well because he knows very little about other clubs and their players. He is a helluva nice guy, but how did he manage to secure the position? BBC Radio Scotland do not have anyone else who works to such exclusivity. Anyways, Big Dick concludes that AC Milan have won at Sellik Park by two clear goals, just like Rangers on Saturday, and similarly without getting out of second gear. Swallowing the brave pill, he asks, "are the roof and walls of this Celtic dynasty crashing down, is their dominance finally coming to an end"? Pat was momentarily silenced by such audacity, then stuttered, "oh c'mon Richard, it's very early in the season and no silverware is handed out in late October". Of course, Pat is correct and we Rangers supporters should be mindful of such veracity. However, where did Big Dick find such courage, the Gang Hut will be most unforgiving? Gang Hut Solidarity? Michael Stewart spent the entire evening on BBC Radio Scotland on Thursday evening, from the start of the Rangers game conversation to the conclusion of discussion on ra Sellik's demise at ra Stade de Gadd. Michael is a Sellik TV employee, it was a home game, he should have been on the gantry with Sutton and Hartson? Similarly, on Saturday he was posted missing from the chamber of secrets. Has Michael left Sellik TV? It may explain his vault face, heavy criticism of Lennon and Sellik. What's happened, we should be told? How embarrassing for Mikey, being replaced by the master of eloquence, Tom Boyd. Given the current circumstances surrounding ra Sellik, you wonder why the two heavyweights, ie those employed with the designations, 'Sports News Correspondent' and, 'Chief Sports Writer' are not engaged? Both Chris McLaughlin and Tom English were conspicuous by their collective absence during midweek. Kheredine Idessane replaced McLaughlin and he believed Lennon's new found praise for his players on Wednesday. Tom was covering the rugby. You can see the awkwardness of the situation for Chris, his sister, Creepy Connie is charged with preparing ra Sellik players with mental toughness. Neil might be of a mind to point this out. Tom doesn't do awkward either. From a number of characters pissing out of the Gang Hut, to another clearly pissing in by proxy. Phil McFournames has a 'very well placed source' who has revealed Dermot Desmond has given the nod on Mikey's criticism, such rationale makes it easier to explain both McLaughlin and English disappearing. Surely, Neil is not being deliberately isolated? I suspect there is more than enough material circulating for BBC Scotland to commission a soap, 'ra Sellik Soap'? The title is as much an oxymoron as current PQ Gang Hut solidarity.

Sportsound discussed our game for a couple of minutes again on Thursday night before spending the rest of the broadcast discussing all things Sellick. Sick of them. Discovered Go Radio which to me seems a good alternative to the BBC. They have Barry Ferguson on 3 times a week. They spent the majority of the broadcast on both Thursday and Friday talking about Rangers. https://thisisgo.co.uk/shows/the-go-radio-football-show/