With Rangers winning at Tynecastle it’s so far so good as far as the league is concerned. Naturally, being the SPL champions, Rangers FC attract worldwide media interest and this article takes a look at how our victory was reported across the globe.
First we're off to New Zealand for some positive reporting from sportal.co.nz
“Kris Boyd snatched a dramatic last-gasp 2-1 victory for 10-man Rangers within seconds of coming on the park as the Scottish champions staged an incredible comeback against Hearts in the Scottish Premier League.”
Next we visit Ireland for yet more positive journalism from irishnews.com
“Walter Smith insists he had every faith in Kris Boyd to snatch victory for Rangers as they staged an incredible comeback against Hearts yesterday”
Next up is the USA with msn.foxsports.com and we can see a pattern is starting to emerge
“Kris Boyd snatched a dramatic last-gasp victory for 10-man Rangers within seconds of being on the park as the SPL champions won 2-1 at Hearts”
From there we move on to South Africas’ pretorianews.co.za who report
“Boyds Penalty Breaks Hearts”
That brings us to Scotland and theherald.co.uk where you can see the correspondent takes a somewhat different view of events to his offshore counterparts
“Dubious penalty gets Rangers out of jail at Tynecastle”
It’s striking isn’t it? The Scottish reporter's view and those of his more cultured counterparts seem to differ greatly. So much so, you almost begin to wonder if they are reporting on the same match, or if they truly appreciate what a thrilling and worthy achievement it was for the ten-men Glasgow club? Nor is the Herald alone in such negativity: see the Star, the Telegraph and others for more bleating.
I think this just hammers home what our club is facing when it comes to journalism in this country. Where reporters seek every opportunity to criticize our club and downplay our achievements. One consolation has to be that the small-minded mentality hasn't caught on elsewhere and seems to be restricted to the relative backwater that is Scotland. Rangers are a global institution and attract worldwide support and admiration, and for every five lines of negative dross printed in this country, there are fifty lines of positive press being printed elsewhere.
Finally, we take a lighthearted look at Canada and theglobeandmail.com where they perhaps had better stick to ice hockey. I've heard Kris Boyd called many things but......
“Winger’s 90th-minute penalty hands Hearts 2-1 loss in Scotland. Kevin Boyd scored a 90th-minute penalty to give 10-man Rangers a 2-1 victory at Hearts in the Scottish Premier League on Sunday”