Zappa 0 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 I found Tom English to be consistently anti-Rangers prior to Whyte appearing on the scene. There was a period that he seemed to change his approach and treat us objectively but over the past year or so, I've found him to have reverted to type and be anti-Rangers again. I thought there was a clear change in his opinions and attitude after we went into administration in February 2012. It was as if he'd been wearing a mask and all of a sudden it slipped to reveal his true nature, one he'd never shown to that extent before. He gleefully joined the frenzied Scottish football press & media lust for Rangers blood and got his big steel toe-capped boots out for giving us a kicking. His coverage of Rangers over the past 3 and a half years hasn't all been bad or of the 'anti' variety, but a very significant percentage of it has. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
26th of foot 5,833 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 The thing about Principled Tom is, you must accept that Tom is principled. Right from the off, those principles were bristling. Tom began in journalism, working for Rupert Murdoch. Yep, Principled Tom's first job in the inky business was at Wapping. Who would have thunk it, Principled Tom's starter was full throated consumation of the Wapping Wedge? Spiers too, another snout in the Wapping trough. See principles, see BBC Scotland? 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
forlanssister 3,050 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 English is far smarter than most of his journalistic contemporaries (north of the border) which makes his clearly rather feeble performance on Sprotsound the other night all the more strange. There are periods where he is balanced and fair but he always reverts to type after a while. On a Scotsman webchat asked his favourite colour he replied green, white and gold, couldn't bring himself to say the word orange. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zappa 0 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 On a Scotsman webchat asked his favourite colour he replied green, white and gold, couldn't bring himself to say the word orange. He was probably thinking of Irish colours, then his mind drifted to a rainbow and a pot of gold. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott7 5,168 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 "I think there's an assumption that because he's Irish he must support Celtic. English is from Limerick and that's an unusual town and county by Republic of Ireland standards. For a start it's the only part of the Republic of Ireland where rugby is the top sport...." That's part of the point I was trying to make. To his credit, there is nothing in his broadcasts or his writing to reveal his allegiance. I know who he doesn't like. He did a bit of summarising in the rugby commentaries. I'm no expert in that game but he sounded pretty good. In the Irish match there was no favouring his national team unlike the SNP stalwarts who were sharing the broadcast. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
forlanssister 3,050 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 He was probably thinking of Irish colours, then his mind drifted to a rainbow and a pot of gold. It was clear his preference is for the tricolour with the Papal gold as opposed to the one with the Protestant orange. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Germinal 27 Posted August 5, 2015 Author Share Posted August 5, 2015 (edited) If it's a question of his ability: 'Shudderingly good' - Rugby World. 'Excellent' - Daily Mail. 'Superb' - Herald. 'A richly-textured picture' - Independent. 'I enjoyed this book enormously' - John Inverdale. 'Remarkable & compulsive' - Paul Ackford (used to play rugby for England). 'Marvellous, gripping' - Scottish Review of Books. 'It's terrific' - Alex Massie. Reviews for his book 'The Grudge'. He could walk into a job tomorrow covering rugby alone in any newspaper in the UK, while his other sports knowledge would mean editors would probably crawl over glass to get him, since they'd be getting three or four reporters for the price of one. He lives in Scotland, from what little I know, since that's where his family is growing up. If he was another talentless hack it wouldn't be worth wasting a post on. It's only because he is above the usual mediocre standard that his stance is disappointing. Edited August 5, 2015 by Germinal 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnMc 2,473 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 From memory English went to the Scotsman where writing about rugby was important for their private school Edinburgh readers. Seeing as no one reads the Scotsman now and it can't actually afford to pay journalists anymore he left. I guess he's talking about football now because it makes up 90% of all sport coverage in Scotland. Anyway, as much as I disagree with bans (or removal of press privilege) the BBC's reaction to it is indefensible and he deserves criticised for that. Interestingly he was one of the few journalists willing to criticise McCoist when he was our manager, both for his salary and the teams he put out. McCoist took very little criticism from the media even when he was being pilloried on here and places like it. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
the gunslinger 3,366 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 His balance comes not from hating rangers but hating celtc as well. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluedell 5,329 Posted August 5, 2015 Share Posted August 5, 2015 His balance comes not from hating rangers but hating celtc as well. Can't say I've noticed that. 0 Quote Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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