Simon Jordan is normally quite a fair pundit whenever it comes to talking about Celtic.
The talkSPORT pundit generally talks a lot of sense when it comes to speaking about the Parkhead club but on this occasion, I find his comments a little bit strange.
With Man City winning the title for the fourth season in a row, Jordan went to extraordinary lengths to defend the English Premier League from accusations of becoming boring because only one team has been dominating it recently.
And instead of sticking to the subject matter, Jordan went off on a tangent and took aim at Celtic and the Scottish league to use as a yardstick to defend England’s top tier.
Jordan questions Celtic’s ‘challenge’
As Brendan Rodgers celebrates his third title win as the Celtic manager, Jordan bemoaned the criticism the English league appears to be getting about City’s title win and took aim at Scotland even though none of the negativity is coming from north of the border.
Talking about how other teams are capable of beating each other in the Premier League, Jordan said [Daily Mail], “Those kind of results don’t happen in a one-tier league. Celtic took 10 points off Rangers and won the title because there’s no one else north of the border capable of making a challenge.
“That’s not the case here. There is this view that the English league sneers at other leagues but I think that’s unfair.
“The fact is the Scottish league – despite the inane mutterings of the Highgate-born crooner Rod Stewart who took a broadside at me for opining on the lack of quality in Scottish football – doesn’t have a broadcast deal of any substance, does not produce great Scottish players like it used to and there are no other challengers to Celtic and Rangers, who aren’t as good as they used to be either.”
I’m sorry have Celtic not suffered three defeats and six draws this season? Have Hearts and Kilmarnock not taken points from us? As have St Johnstone, Motherwell and Hibs?
And did Ross County, Motherwell and Kilmarnock also not beat Rangers this season? And, just like the Premier League did, the SPFL went to almost the final game of the season as Celtic and Rangers contested a rollercoaster title fight.
I’ll never understand why pundits from south of the border are so quick to compare both our leagues when it’s clear they are completely incomparable.
It’s a strange stance to take. And if Jordan really wants to hit back at the criticism of the EPL, he really should keep Celtic out of it.