Huge differences when Celtic and Rangers sign a player

A quick look at how the media and fans of Celtic and Rangers handle new signings. Or a dummies guide to transfer window signings.

It’s early transfer season and already we are seeing the different approaches when Rangers sign a new player compared to Celtic. There seem to be some principles that the media have to adopt and which fans follow.

Usually a new Rangers signing is painfully drawn out by the media and the club. Often there’s lots of agonising for days about a potential deal and hammering downwards any fee to be paid. The normal stance is of a firm and resolute Ibrox board using their position to drive a deal at a much lower price and long terms to make payment. The media usually take it in turns to lavish praise for refusing to overpay.

Celtic deals tend to happen more quietly and often are announced before anyone knows anything about the deal. When it is public news then the media take Celtic to task for their skinflint, biscuit tin mentality in refusing to pay the asking price and are criticised for their negotiations and encouraged to pay the asking price.

In terms of player value there is also an unwritten magic rule where a new Rangers signing is immediately worth at least two to three times more than was paid, often much more. Hagi is an extreme example where we’ve seen him ridiculously valued at anywhere up to £100m now he’s signed for the light blues for around £3m. The same applies to managers, remember the Warburton for England stories. They were partly true, he did go back home to England when they ‘resigned’ him.

Related to value is the form a player shows on the pitch and who they are compared to. We Celtic fans tend to be a bit more grudging in our opinions when we first see a new player. “Aye, not bad” would typically be fulsome praise after a debut. Often the player is dismissed as not Celtic class when seen hitting a wayward shot well over the bar in the warm up. Henrik Larsson did remarkably well to shake off the memory of his debut where a miss hit pass to a Hibs player led to a goal.

Over at Ibrox, the media gushing prose and fan social media posts are already being written. “The new…. insert here names like Cafu, Beckenbauer, Messi, Ronaldo. Immediately in support of a huge transfer value comes a label of success as the new maestro has been signed and is talked about in excited tones.

It’s happened for many Rangers signings, the latest, Calvin Bassey, is being reported as the new Trent Alexander-Arnold before he’s even in Glasgow. There is a cycle to this,  within a few games the new player is then seen properly, described as average and sometimes disappears from the team quickly afterwards.

Celtic fans tend to adopt a more marmite approach amongst themselves. Usually a good number of them will decide the player isn’t for them and needs dropping. Another bunch will praise the player highly. It’s left to the manager to decide on form and pick his team on merit. But even then the likes of the superb James Forrest will still get stick and questions raised. You can’t please everyone.

Welcome to the transfer window and all that it brings, we wouldn’t want to miss any of it though would we!