BOOZEGATE: All getting very, very nasty and personal

Kenny Miller is a regular in the News of the World, Barry Ferguson is a regular in The Sun, John Collins was incredibly critical of the Daily Record's role in the transfers of Kevin Thompson and Scott Brown from Hibs.

Football journalism at the highest level is all about cultivating contacts, getting close to prominent players, managers and chairmen. The journalist gains a valuable inside contact for off the record information and the player/manager/chairman has a sympathetic public voice to discreetly get their point of view out to the public.

The downside of this is that rival papers tend to go OTT in their comments about people who appear to side with rival newspapers.

More than a can of worms has opened, or exploded, during the recent international break. Lifetime bans and club suspensions have been handed out but today things have taken a very unusual twist with The News of the World upping the ante to escalate the recent Booze'n'vikkygate episode into a rammy between the two biggest clubs in the country as well as between the two biggest newspaper groups.

From Burley v Ferguson & McGregor we now have Celtic v Rangers and News International v Trinity Mirror.

The News of the World have gone to unseen levels to claim that the DR and one journalist in particular have dropped Ferguson and McGregor in trouble to protect Scott Brown.

I really can't remember any football incident where one newspaper group has given publicity to a rival by 'crediting' their part in a blockbuster story.

The News of the World have some very detailed allegations, there's nothing hit or miss or sketchy about it, they name times and places.

Amazingly the thrust of their story is that the DR protected Scott Brown as they exposed the story. The story was also run by The Sun who have a certain fondness for Barry Ferguson.

Whatever The DR could do to protect their man surely The Sun could do for their favoured player.

For the News of the World to give the DR such publicity is incredible as is the claim that the DR has the power to stir things up against two players in order to protect their man, whatever the DR can do The Sun can do at least equally well.

This story still has some running to do, Ferguson and McGregor won't be the only casualties.

A very messy tabloid war is out in the open which could be much nastier, and certainly more public, than anything in the world of football.

Having a pop at a rival paper is fair game, when the DR miss something The Sun gloats with the Day'late Record, when it's the other way around the DR laughs at the English-based tabloid.

Players need to be very discreet with what leaks out from dressing rooms and behind closed doors, Celtic have had their incidents already this season which quickly find print.

The Booze'n'vikkygate story has fingerprints all over it going back to certain camps and factions.

With a financially lucrative title to be won and lost and desperate times in the newspaper business there is still a lot of muck to be thrown around over the most spectacular and newsworthy international break ever.