It is easy for those of us who choose to write about Scottish football for either love or some deep lying psychological flaw to sit back and criticise.
I think Matt Vallance sums up things up with his tongue in cheek sympathy for:
The 'Praetorian Guard,' the chief football writers of the various national newspapers. You have to feel sorry for these guys – in every match they cover, at least one team will be wearing either green and white hoops, or a royal blue or navy blue jersey.That is, of course, part of the problem when we hope for consistently strong journalism (not, sadly, in sport alone). The pond is just too wee. The need to keep sources on side gets in the way of the blunt truth.
Which leads to the frustration that many of us feel when we turn to the backpage. There are exceptions of course. But they tend to just prove the rule.
It's also one of the reasons why the now daily macho chest beating on Radio Scotland and elsewhere is so annoying. The hacks with microphones may be the kings of their jungle. But when your jungle is nothing more than a back green, what does that actually mean?
The death of Bob Crampsey took away the last true Sports journalist. There is too much pressure to sell now, so appealing to the OF follower is the only way.
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