Andy Walker Banned From Ibrox

[ian1964 10,409]

 

[the gunslinger 3,366]

the commentary was so so much better. 

 

what he said about us was irresponsible and quite possibly illegal. You can't make unfounded claims about companies finances. 

[Bill 13,717]

I remember thinking at the time that there would be repercussions for Walker.

[WeRthePeople 0]

man should be banned from the planet in my opinion

[gisabeer 409]

The scum have banned him too.  He's taking legal advice!

[the gunslinger 3,366]

41 minutes ago, gisabeer said:

The scum have banned him too.  He's taking legal advice!

good luck with that

[Uilleam 5,409]

OOOOOOOOOF!!!!!!

 

Archie MacPherson weighs in, in today's Times, no less (Oh! Tempora! et cetera).

 

From Rangers' point of view, the piece is, alas, tripe (although I have no idea about his dispute with rasellik, and care not).

 

Walker made completely unprompted, and completely unsubstantiated, allegations about a "Rangers' perilous financial situation." Normally, this would result, at the least, in issue of a 'cease and desist' request to the broadcaster and its mouthpiece. Perhaps this has been done.

 

Capriciously bandying around such assertions, on air, without proof, or, without full understanding, as maybe thought likely in Walker's case, is a dangerous game, and goes beyond "fair comment". It can have a deleterious impact on company share prices (I do appreciate that football may be "different", although the point stands), and may lead to legal action against the perpetrator.

Perhaps, therefore, Walker's "ban" from Ibrox is a lesser punishment.

 

As an aside, Walker's absence from the airwaves is not a great loss, in the opinion of this viewer (and his mates).

 

 

FOOTBALL | ARCHIE MACPHERSON

Old Firm clubs’ unwanted unity is bad news for everyone

Archie Macpherson

Monday May 10 2021, 12.01am, The Times

 

Rangers and Celtic have banned Walker, the Sky broadcaster, from their grounds

 

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/old-firm-clubs-unwanted-unity-is-bad-news-for-everyone-sm2w7nhbk

 

There never has been a time when the Old Firm “beat their swords into ploughshares” and then went on to shower their critics with rose petals. In fact, they now seem to have reached a pinnacle of sensitivity by applying George Orwell’s dictum that sport “is war without the shooting”. In banning the broadcaster Andy Walker from their premises for making what they considered to be unjust comments in his Sky television role they have also created together something unique in my experience — paranoic unity. It is not that I was ever free of accusations of the partisanship that I believe lies at the heart of this current controversy.

 

I was broadcasting and writing at the time Jock Stein was on one side of the city and Willie Waddell on the other. At times there was a simmering, tense atmosphere. The confrontations could be brutal, but these incidents seemed to clear the air and Stein in particular seemed to relish and respect you for squaring up to him. It was not gentlemanly, but it was grist to the mill of human contact, eyeball to eyeball, sometimes in barrages of abuse. Back then when you talked to a manager, you felt you were talking to the entire club.

Of course, there were occasional threats about not darkening their doorsteps and that you would never be allowed to speak to their players again. But these were fleeting eruptions of anger that were never formalised and any errors of judgment were sorted out there and then. Clearly that landscape no longer exists.

 

What does exist is less clear, except to Walker, who knows that both clubs would like to see him out of the broadcasting door. But his existential crisis affects everyone in the media.

 

The Stein/Waddell nexus has given way to a more corporate entity, which by comparison with their age is faceless and more sinister.

 

The trend towards establishing “in-house” communication with the public fosters good relationships with the Old Firm’s respective supporters, and in truth there is no club I know that would want a prying, investigative journalist in their midst, trying to shine light into dark corners, if such existed. Clubs are entitled to have as bland an output as they wish “in house”, but that must not interfere with the right of other media to question, probe and criticise, in that principled public duty of journalism, to enlighten. To hide from that diminishes any club’s credibility.

 

Sky television, meanwhile, might wish to compare anything the banished Walker has said about the Old Firm to Gary Neville’s description of the Glazer brothers, owners of Manchester United, as “scavengers and criminals”.

[Bluedell 5,329]

5 hours ago, Uilleam said:

Clubs are entitled to have as bland an output as they wish “in house”, but that must not interfere with the right of other media to question, probe and criticise, in that principled public duty of journalism, to enlighten. To hide from that diminishes any club’s credibility.

He should acknowledge that Rangers haven't banned anyone due to "question, probe and criticise". They've banned people for lying and for making, as Uilleam says, "assertions, on air, without proof, or, without full understanding".

[Gonzo79 13,587]

Some of the co-commentating these days is dire to listen to.  Walker isn't the worst.

 

 

 

 

[Bluedell 5,329]

50 minutes ago, Gonzo79 said:

Some of the co-commentating these days is dire to listen to.  Walker isn't the worst.

I reckon he's up there. It was a relief to have McFadden instead of him at the last game.

 

However Craigan on his own was painful on the ears, and I had to mute it. It was up there with Mark Lawrenson.